How do we measure social progress? Traditionally, we have relied on monetary or material indicators to understand societal progress. The Young Foundation is currently part of a consortium of organisations asking what alternative measures exist and developing a way to move ‘Beyond GDP’ in Europe.
This project will provide guidance on what existing robust measures could be used to measure progress at the local level, identify areas for further research and recommendations on how best to implement measures at local level. Specifically, The Young Foundation is focusing on documenting existing measures. The project aims to encourage greater use, consistency and development of measures of social progress across municipalities, cities and regions.
Our work will encourage a common understanding on what types of data help measure social progress and establish local, national and international networks to strengthen understanding of indicators of social progress. The project builds on the Wellbeing and Resilience Measure (WARM) developed by The Young Foundation. WARM allows local agencies to take the temperature of their communities, from levels of anxiety to how much people talk to their neighbours.