A new study with contributions from EORC researchers Michael Thiel and Florian Betz explores how Earth Observation and geospatial data can support the assessment of progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the regional level in Central Asia.
The article, “Assessing performance toward sustainable development goals in Central Asia’s regions,” develops an index monitoring SDGs on the Oblast level across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. The analysis combines official statistics with Earth Observation-derived information, resulting in a set of 61 indicators that capture the social, economic and ecologic dimensions of sustainable development.
While SDG monitoring is commonly conducted at the national level, substantial differences can exist within countries. The study therefore focuses on the regional scale, providing a spatially more differentiated picture of sustainable development across Central Asia. The results reveal pronounced regional disparities and demonstrate how geospatial and Earth Observation data can complement conventional statistics, particularly in a data-scarce region like Central Asia.
The study highlights the potential of satellite-based information: Earth Observation can contribute directly to integrated assessments of sustainable development and provide spatially explicit information for regional planning and decision-making.
The open-access article is available in Discover Sustainability:
Benedek, J., Temerdek-Ivan, K., Betz, F., Lagutov, V., Thiel, M. & Czárán, L. (2026): Assessing performance toward sustainable development goals in Central Asia’s regions. Discover Sustainability.
