A Candidate SDI is an indicator identified as related to or relevant to sustainable development. Each Candidate SDI measures a key characteristic of an endowment (or major endowment category) in the SDI Framework. Each Candidate SDI must relate to the SDI Framework, measure an issue of concern, and meet form and format requirements. The initial Candidate SDI List will consist of those already identified by the President's Council on Sustainable Development, the United Nations Council on Sustainable Development, the Council on Environmental Quality, and various Federal agencies. The primary products of Step 3 are a Candidate SDI List containing 300-400 indicators, an electronic database, and a supporting document explaining the relationships between the Candidate SDI and the SDI Framework.
The SDI Group will form several teams consisting of experts from the Federal government, academia, and non-government organizations (preferably the same teams from Step 2). These teams will map the initial candidate SDI to the framework and identify associated endowment characteristics, issues, goals, and needs. The teams will then go through each endowment in the SDI Framework and add missing or combine duplicated Candidate SDI. For simplicity, the teams will focus on the first four levels in the SDI Framework, a total of approximately 40 major endowment categories. Using the Candidate SDI selection criteria, the teams will then identify the most appropriate Candidate SDI for each endowment characteristic. In some cases, the teams may decide to identify an endowment characteristic and associated issue, but leave the actual Candidate SDI blank. The teams would define the SDI only if it makes the Proposed SDI List.