IMPROVEMENT OF THE SYSTEM OF INDICATORS FOR MEASURING THE ECOLOGICAL COMPONENT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONS

202 ISSN 2306-4994 (print); ISSN 2310-8770 (online)  UD 353(477):330.3(477) Baidala V. Doctor of Economics, Professor, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, yiv, Ukraine; e-mail: baidala@nubip.edu.ua; ORCID ID: 0000-0002-1532-2913 Butenko V. Doctor of Economics, Associate Professor, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, yiv, Ukraine; e-mail: butenkovera@nubip.edu.ua; ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8814-9392 Avramchuk L. Ph. D. in Economics, Associate Professor, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, yiv, Ukraine; e-mail: lidiayavr@gmail.com; ORCID ID: 0000-0002-7496-0392 Avramchuk B. Ph. D. in Economics, Land Management Institute of National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine, yiv, Ukraine; e-mail: avramchuk.bogdan@gmail.com; ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8505-2157 Loshakova Yu. Ph. D. student, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine; e-mail: yulialoshakova5@gmail.com; ORCID ID: 0000-0003-1083-1433

.: 1; .: 2; .: 21. Introduction. Over the years, the evolution of the concept of sustainable development has provided various definitions, interpretations and tools. The basic definition of sustainable development involves the relationship of three dimensions -environment, economy and society. Each of these dimensions is as important as the other. Sustainable development has become a political goal of the United Nations. This was stated at several summits and Conferences in Rio (1992) [1], in compliance with the Johannesburg Declaration (2012) and Resolution A/RES/70/1 adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015. Ukraine has undertaken a Voluntary National Review of the Sustainable Development Goals and presents it at the High-Level Policy Forum on Sustainable Development on July 10-17, 2020 in New York [2].
Ukraine, alike other UN member states, participates in the global process of sustainable development. In recent years, considerable work has been done to adapt the sustainable development goals considering the domestic context. As a result a national strategic framework for Ukraine for the period up to 2030 has been formed.
Within this strategy there appears a necessity to develop a regional policy based on the principles of sustainable development. To do this, it is obligatory to have indicators that make it possible to determine the state and dynamics of regional development within sustainable development components.
Sustainable development of the region involves taking into account economic, environmental and social aspects, which can be measured by many indicators. However, each region is a complex, dynamic system represented by the availability of different resources, territorial features, and different expectations and capabilities of territorial communities. Therefore, determining of specific indicators of sustainable development appears to be a complicated task.
Undoubtedly, all aspects of sustainable development are important. However, for this research it was decide to focus on the ecological composition at the present stage, developing indicators of the ecological development of the region.
Whilst developing mentioned indicators, the capabilities of statistical information of the region and existing methods of their calculation at the state level were used to the maximum.
Analysis of research and problem statement. Ukrainian scientists are actively engaged in research on the sustainability of regional development, specifically the problems of forming a methodology for assessing the sustainability of regions in Ukraine. In particular, B. Danylyshyn [3] studied the problems of the formation of modern state regional policy and economics of environment in sustainable development context. Z. Gerasymchuk [4] conducts a thorough study of the methodology and mechanism of regional sustainable development policy implementation.
. Goryana [5] investigated the existing methodological approaches to assessing the sustainable development of regions and proposed a method of calculating a single integrated indicator of sustainable development. N. Schlafman and N. Umanets [6] substantiated the expediency of creating a single sustainable regional development model for further development of regional development strategies. Researchers have also adapted global methods for assessing regions' resilience and systematized measures to ensure SDGs in Ukraine [7]. S. Kozlovsky [8] and coauthors determine the feasibility of developing an indicative plan for developing the region and as a tool for using targeted planning. I. Zaykov et al.
[9] studied the impact of demographic processes on the national economy of sustainable development using statistical analysis, which used the main national and regional indicators of sustainable development. The issues of sustainability analysis are becoming especially relevant now. Nevertheless, the problem is that not all developed methods are suitable for practical application due to a lack of sufficient statistic data and lack of a single unified assessment methodology, which complicates the analysis of both global and regional trends. Unsolved aspects of the problem. Despite a number of scientific studies on this issue, the formation of a technique for estimating sustainable development of regions in Ukraine is insufficiently investigated.
The purpose of the article. The study aims to propose improvement to the system of indicators for measuring the ecological component of sustainable development of regions for regular monitoring of their progress in achieving sustainable development goals and their further use in assessing the sustainability of the regions of Ukraine.
Research results. To assess the process of regional development, it is necessary to form a set of appropriate indicators that determine the ecological component of sustainable development.
The study was based on the following assumptions: − indicators should be representative for the structure and dynamic behavior of the system; − indicators should be built on a spatial and temporal scale that corresponds to ecological, economic, and social phenomena; − indicators must be presented in a format suitable for decision-making, that is quantitatively, legibly and transparently; − indicators must be sufficient for forecasting. For Sustainable Development Goals to become effective strategic planning elements at both national and regional levels, it is necessary to create a relevant tool for their assessing. Poltava region was used as an example to calculate the integrated indicator of the ecological component of sustainable development of the region. The air index ( AIR ), the land resources index ( LAN ), and the water resources index ( W T ) were included in calculating the integrated indicator for the following reasons.
Land plays a fundamental role in the ecological component. Conserving and restoring land resources can play a crucial role in opposing climate change by providing biodiversity and supporting important economic services that simultaneously offer the common organization prosperity and well-being. Productive lands can be an engine of economic growth and a livelihood source for many regions of Ukraine, including Poltava region. Therefore, the relevant integrated indicator of regional sustainable development's environmental component includes the land resources index ( LAN ). Poltava region has relatively significant land resources. The land fund of Poltava region is 2875.1 thousand hectares. Agricultural development of the region is 75.3 %, plowing -61.7 %, forest cover -9.95 %. Over the past 10 years agricultural development of the region has decreased by 0.5 %, on the contrary plowed land gradually increased by 0.3 %. Poltava region is one of the most prosperous regions in terms of fertile soil reserves. Arable land is 90% represented by fertile black soils and their varieties (about 18 types) [10][11][12].
The state of the air environment in Poltava region remains one of the important regional environmental problems. The level of air pollution in the region is determined by the volume of pollutants' emissions from stationary and mobile sources. Therefore, to assess the change in the dynamics of the integrated indicator of the ecological component of sustainable development of the region, the air index ( AIR) is included.
In hydrogeological terms, Poltava region belongs to the Dnipro artesian basin and occupies the central and southeastern part of the Donetsk-Dnipro basin. Analysis of water sources' current ecological state shows that the negative processes in rivers, reservoirs, and ponds continue. Most rivers and streams are silted up, overgrown with swamp vegetation and shrubs, have lost their natural significance, have no drainage capacity, resulting in which floodplains are swampy and flooded, and are not used in agriculture [10; [13][14][15]. Thus, an important characteristic of the region's ecological component of sustainable development is the water resources index ( W T ).
All indicators that affect the components of the above indices are measured in different units and interpreted differently [16][17][18]. Therefore, they should be brought to a normalized form so that their changes, like the indices themselves, are in the range from 0 to 1. Under these circumstances, values close to 0 will correspond to the worst indicators of the indicator, and the best ones will approach 1 accordingly.
The relevant set of components of the integrated indicator of ecological development of the regional level formed on the basis of statistical data is given in Table 1. The weights of indicators used in the calculation of these indices were determined on the basis of an expert survey of specialists in the fields of ecology, agriculture, as well as representatives of local communities.
The values of the calculated indices and the integrated indicator of the ecological component of the regions` sustainable development are introduced in Table 2.   The integrated indicator of the ecological component of sustainable development [19][20][21], in general, can be understood as a quantitative tool that analyzes changes, measuring and reporting progress towards sustainable use and management of environmental resources.
For sustainable use and management of economic, social, institutional, and other resources also see the feasibility of calculating the relevant indices and aggregates using the above methodology.
Conclusion. Creating integrated, aggregate indices of sustainable development is a crucial task. As a result, it is a convenient tool for rapid analysis of development and, therefore, the ability to adjust actions in natural resources management and environmental protection at the regional level.
The calculated integrated indicator can be used to justify decisions by quantifying and simplifying many indicators, to facilitate access to information for different categories of users and helps to interpret changes.
The use of an integrated indicator of the ecological component of sustainable development also has prospects for management decisions at the regional level, which in turn will analyze the reasons for their deviation from the relevant indicators in the country as a whole.