Center for Global Economic & Environmental Opportunity (GEEO), University of Central Florida

Summary

Transforming the City of Orlando's sustainability commitments into measurable action by designing and launching an open-source SDGs dashboard. Localized to the city's priorities and aligned with the UN Global SDG Indicators framework, the dashboard tracks 500+ indicators in real time, giving local government a data-driven foundation for policy progress and a scalable model now adopted across East Central Florida.

Key Achievements

• Delivered a localized, open-source SDGs dashboard, built on the OpenSDG platform, the first tool of its kind for the City of Orlando.

• Enabled real-time tracking of 500+ indicators, giving policymakers the data infrastructure to act on sustainability commitments.

• Sourced and validated data from public, private, academic, and institutional partners, including the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), aligned with ISO 37120 indicators.

• Closed local statistical capacity gaps by designing standardized processes for data collection, storage, and accessibility.

• Positioned the dashboard as a scalable model, adopted by 5+ municipalities across East Central Florida.

The Challenge

Local governments are increasingly expected to report on global sustainability commitments, but most lack the infrastructure to do so. The City of Orlando faced this gap directly: relevant data existed, but was scattered across public, private, academic, and institutional sources with no centralized, localized system to track it. This mirrored a broader regional need. The East Central Florida Regional Resilience Collaborative (ECFR2C), a partnership of local governments, academic institutions, and non-profits across the region, had committed through its Strategic Resilience Action Plan to aligning local resilience and sustainability goals with the UN's SDG framework. Without a centralized system, the City risked falling behind on both its own commitments and this shared regional direction.

How We Helped

• Audited existing data sources and evaluated the OpenSDG platform to design a dashboard localized to Orlando's priorities.

• Directed data collection and validation across 500+ indicators from public, private, academic, and institutional sources.

• Built the data infrastructure: roadmaps, guidance, and standardized processes for collection, storage, and accessibility.

• Formed cross-sector partnerships with city/county sustainability offices, academic institutions, and networks including SDSN, ICLEI USA, and the Brookings Institution.

• Directed a communications overhaul, redesigning the GEEO website and running an SDGs outreach campaign to build institutional visibility.

• Designed a framework mapping faculty research and coursework to the SDGs.

The Impact

• Provided the City of Orlando a durable, standardized data infrastructure to sustain SDG-aligned policymaking going forward.

• Created a scalable model that is directly driving SDG adoption across additional East Central Florida municipalities.

• Established a cross-sector network spanning public, private, academic, and institutional partners that continues to support SDG-aligned work regionally.

• Advanced the ECFR2C's Strategic Resilience Action Plan by supporting regional SDG-aligned data infrastructure.

• Laid the academic groundwork for UCF to pursue a future Voluntary University Review (VUR).