Hello friends,
For those of you wondering what Accelerating Action's USP is: here it is.
What I want to get across is how the tool really is unique: or else I wouldn't have needed to create it and our users would have found some alternative by now to solve the same universal problem I experienced when I built the very first early prototype:
How do you actually turn ambition for a sustainable future into action?
In a nutshell
The Accelerating Action Tool is the quick and accurate way to discover, improve and communicate your impact in line with the best practice of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The online subscription-based tool is designed to be used by both beginners and experts wanting to improve the impact of their actions. Use it to assess any type of action: from policies and plans to physical projects and funding applications.
The tool builds capacity of internal teams to make better, informed decisions that contribute to local and global sustainable development.
Unique value
There are many unique benefits and applications of the tool, however, perhaps the core three factors compared with alternative methods and tools are:
It's much faster. Using the tool can take as little as 15 minutes to deliver results compared to hours if you were to use alternative methods.
It's much more accurate. Accuracy is not sacrificed for speed: in fact the Accelerating Action tool is more accurate than most common approaches because it maps users' actions to the 169 SDG Targets (as opposed to only the 17 Goals). The Targets offer more granular detail than the high-level goals and reduce the risk that assessments greenwash (or 'SDGwash') action by only vaguely linking to the 17 Goals (which only explain ambition rather than action).
It's user friendly. This is perhaps the real success of the tool. Many alternative methods and tools are not pragmatic enough to be used by practitioners. The Accelerating Action tool is entirely geared to be used by those who may not be specialists in sustainable development (and yet have a role to play) and/or are time- and resource-constrained and therefore need to spend less time assessing and more time delivering their actions (which is everyone). The tool was created building on lessons learned gained working with local authorities and other local actors across the world. Too many tools place high-level ambitions over day-to-day practicalities and the needs of people.
Additional value-adds: the Accelerating Action tool:
helps you not only assess your impact but improve it,
creates visual infographics to be able to communicate your impact,
doesn't require additional data to be able to use it - use the information you have,
has in-house technical and strategic support,
we continually update the tool's features based on our users' feedback.
Origins
The original concept of the tool was created by Co-Founder and Director Tom Lindsay.
Tom has spent more than a decade working in the field of sustainable development, particularly in the philanthropic and not-for-profit sectors working for initiatives of The Rockefeller Foundation, The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and The World Resources Institute.
Tom's specialism and interest lies in solving a universal problem: how do you deliver high-level policies and plans on the ground? He has been involved in the co-creation of multiple tools over the years to answer this question.
When the SDGs were launched in 2015 he saw this as the framework for sustainable development that could really deliver a better sustainable future. What was troubling though is he found there was more understanding globally of why the SDGs were important and very little on how to deliver them - especially at the pace and scale needed to achieve them by 2030.
Convinced the SDGs were the best framework for sustainable development the world had, he spent the last 6-7 years searching for a tool that could help local actors deliver them.
But he couldn't find anything that helped bridge the gap between the Global Goals and local action. This missing piece could mean the difference of achieving or not achieving the SDGs by 2030. So in early 2021 he built a tool to solve the problem.
When the first iteration of the Accelerating Action tool was created, he realised quickly that this same tool could help others experiencing the same challenges.
Comparison
Below is a comparison between the Accelerating Action tool and a common alternative method: the SDG Impact Assessment Tool:
Speed & Accuracy: The Accelerating Action tool delivers results significantly faster while delivering more detailed results. This is important considering both tools ideally should be designed to be used frequently and should feel easy and not laborious to use. The SDG Impact Assessment Tool states assessments typically take 2 hours while the Accelerating Action tool typically takes 30 minutes: a significant saving when you consider how many times assessments may need to be replicated.
User friendliness: The Accelerating Action tool involves less steps and has a cleaner and easier-to-use interface. The tool's steps follow an 'action-first' approach in that the the whole user experience is defined based on the knowledge that the typical user will know more about their action than the SDGs themselves. As an example, users are not asked to first pick the relevant SDGs (which is the common approach) and instead are asked to pick 'Tags' (preset themes and topics unique to the Accelerating Action tool) relevant to their action. These chosen Tags then automatically create a filtered list of only the relevant SDG Targets and don't demand the user to read through all 169 Targets - whether they are relevant to them or not. The Accelerating Action tool also provides helpful breakdowns of technical language based on the principle that technical language shouldn't be a barrier to helping achieve the SDGs.
Communicating impact: The Accelerating Action tool creates automatic visual infographics to communicate results. While the SDG Impact Assessment Tool also does, the Accelerating Action tool's visuals are arguably clearer and formatted in a way that makes them easier to disseminate to interested stakeholders.
Tailored support: The Accelerating Action tool offers continual support to users. The SDG Impact Assessment Tool offers minimal text guidance and no 1:1 support making it difficult for users to understand how to apply it in their own context.
Continual development: The Accelerating Action tool has in-house software development capacity and the tool is regularly updated based on users' needs. The SDG Impact Assessment Tool has no such dedicated support and has not been updated since launching.
Digital database and exports: The Accelerating Action tool holds all assessments in a shared workspace allowing teams to share and record assessments in one organised place. The SDG Impact Assessment Tool does not offer an alternative.
Validation
The Accelerating Action Tool received attention from the UN as well as other international bodies. In 2021, Accelerating Action became a Specialist Service Provider to UNDRR’s Making Cities Resilient 2030 campaign.
The tool has also been nominated for digital innovation in climate action by both the European Commission and UN Climate Change.
User testimonials
The Accelerating Action tool is used by private sector, public sector, civil society and academic organisations and institutions. The below are just a selection of testimonials:
"The Accelerating Action tool has become an irreplaceable part of the way we design our projects" — Kristina Knauf, Associate at MVRDV's Climate Group (One of the Netherland's largest architecture firms). You can read more on MVRDV's use of the tool in an interview here.
"The Accelerating Action tool is the best, simplest and most effective I’ve seen to date." — SDG Coordinator at a UK city council.
“As Northern Ireland’s economic development agency, Invest NI understands the importance of the UN Sustainable Development Goals... ...we were introduced to the Accelerating Action Tool and it really helped to clarify our thinking. It showed us that our work has a more direct relevance to eight SDGs and the specific targets associated with those and made it clearer how we could help in the achievement of those Goals. I would recommend the tool to any organisation trying to understand how its own sustainability efforts can support the SDGs.” — Paddy Robb Transform Strategy Manager, Invest NI.
"Local governments can use the Accelerating Action tool to understand how their Resilience Strategies and actions align with the Sustainable Development Goals in an easy, user-friendly way. It also helps municipalities moderate discussions about their goals and objectives related to the Sustainable Development Goals, which is a great ally in stakeholder engagement." — Helena Monteiro, urban resilience specialist.
"The Accelerating Action tool is great for checking and showcasing the alignment of our projects with the Global Goals. It gives us the ability to track the sustainability objectives of our work from start to finish, and motivates us toward working for a more sustainable future.” — Tatjana Rebic, Sustainability strategist at Cedervall arkitekter
"The Accelerating Action tool helped students to better understand how their architecture projects could meaningfully focus on relevant SDGs and to be more critical of their work in terms of its potential impact." — Queen's University Belfast.
"The Accelerating Action tool is a smart, innovative and time effective way of calculating individual and/or organisational impact on the Global Goals. The focus on the SDG Targets allows for the results to be more accurate and specific. The Accelerating Action tool can be used as a motivational guide or a reflection instrument which adds a further dimension of value." — Margaret Downey, Saolta SDG Advocate Training Coordinator.