Good environmental information is essential for effective sustainable development policy-making and action planning. Accurate information increases the chances for correct decisions. This does not guarantee a healthier environment, but its absence seriously impedes decisions which would lead to a sustainable future. Ideally, local, sectoral, corporate, national, regional, and global reports should complement one other, using, for example, common spatial units and databases. In reality comprehensive and integrated information is often not available for today's decision makers. The Source Book is designed to help to harmonize environmental reporting by encouraging the development of standard methods, practices, and terminology. It evaluates and compares alternative approaches for the development, production, and dissemination of environmental information, and combines the collective experience of environmental reporting, covering all aspects of reporting from user needs to data supply.

This guide is intended to provide municipal staff and community participants with practical information on initiating a state of the environment (SOE) reporting process in their community. The first chapter provides some background on the SOE process, including what a SOE report is, the benefits of a SOE report, who such reports are for, and who has already prepared a SOE report. The second chapter offers information on defining the scope of the SOE report, selecting the best reporting process, getting the public involved, and establishing resource needs. The third chapter explains the fundamental components of a SOE report: its organization, data and information gathering, and how to select suitable indicators for the reporting framework. The fourth chapter identifies some problems in SOE report preparation and suggests solutions. The final chapter gives ideas on marketing the final report, evaluating the report and the reporting process, and follow-up strategies. The appendix contains a list of over 500 measures, parameters, statistics, or variables that can be used to indicate something of significance for a SOE report. It also lists municipal SOE reports completed or under way in Canada.