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SQM
é
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Main Projects
Characteristics
Downloads
Links
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Experiences and Resources
SQM - the result of a wide range of research and pilot projects
The SQM system as it
is today, is the result of a long series of research and pilot projects in
different European countries . It has its
origins in the EU research project INSURED (Instruments for Sustainable
Regional Development, 1996-1998) with partners from Germany, Italy, Austria,
Ireland and Switzerland. Acknowledging the need for operational tools and
instruments for practitioners, two of the partners (Ruggero
Schleicher-Tappeser and Filippo Strati) decided to formalise the results of
this project combining them with programme development, management and
evaluation techniques. They decided to call the resulting system "SQM - Sustainable
Quality Management
®",
to develop support software and to promote pilot projects.
Since then the
SQM system has been further developed in a series of research and pilot
projects in a variety of European countries. Financing from the EU
commission and the issue of managing EU structural funds have played an
important role in this development. However, SQM has potentials which go far
beyond this. Looking at the list of main
projects you will find detailed descriptions.
Ensuring important characteristics
The experiences in
these projects indicate that the SQM system is becoming a useful system for
practitioners, having outstanding characteristics
that since its beginnings had been considered to be important for making a
difference. SQM shows promising results:
- in providing a
common platform for intercultural co-operation on the emerging issue of
sustainable development
- in effectively
supporting the systematic involvement of local actors and interest
groups in development processes
- in covering the whole policy cycle - from the initial idea to final
evaluation - with one coherent approach for sustainable quality
management
- in being highly
versatile and developable thanks to a systematic and a modular
architecture
- in making use of
new technologies in order to enhance transparency and communication
- in providing
instruments which not only help to improve the orientation towards
sustainable development but which also help to improve efficiency in
programme and project management
Download background materials
In our list of downloads you will
find
- a comprehensive interactive slideshow which gives an
introduction to SQM and the philosophy behind.
- quite a number of articles and lectures
- all available SQM-related project reports (most of them also
accessible through the list of main projects)
- SQM.appraise, a small tool for standard SQM appraisals
Links to other websites and resources
Our long list of commented links
concentrates on the issues of sustainable development and evaluation. Please
keep us informed about new websites which should be listed here.
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