5 Top “Best of” Posts from 2013

As the years draws to an end we will be revisiting our most read posts from 2013 based on a variety of categories. First up, we have our “best of” posts as in best country, best city, best NGO, etc. We regularly feature these popular “best of” rankings that appeal to wide range of readers so without further ado, the top 5:

1. 10 Best Countries to Live 2013. This post was based on OECD’s Better Life Index. OECD is “an international economic organisation of 34 countries founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. It is a forum of countries committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a platform to compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practices and co-ordinate domestic and international policies of its members.” To determined the ranking in the Index, they evaluated 34 advanced countries on 11 topics that “reflect what the OECD has identified as essential to well-being in terms of material living conditions (housing, income, jobs) and quality of life (community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety and work-life balance).”
2. 10 Best Countries for Higher Education Systems in 2013. This post was based on Universitas 21 2nd Annual U21 Ranking of National Higher Education Systems 2013. Universitas 21 “is the leading global network of research-intensive universities, working together to foster global citizenship and institutional innovation through research-inspired teaching and learning, student mobility, connecting our students and staff, and wider advocacy for internationalisation.” Universitas 21 developed this ranking to focus on the “the importance of creating a strong environment for higher education institutions to contribute to economic and cultural development, provide a high-quality experience for students and help institutions compete for overseas applicants.” Countries were ranked according to data collected under four broad headings: Resources, Environment, Connectivity and Output.
3. 10 Top NGO from the Global Journal 100 Best List 2013. This ranking was taken from the 100 Top NGO List 2013 by The Global Journal who “considered a pool of approximately 450 NGOs this year based on three key criteria: impact, innovation and sustainability.” The top 100 NGO list represents organizations from all sectors including: education, peace building, technology, development, human rights, humanitarian, environment, health, children and youth, shelter and law and justice.
4. 10 Best Cities to Live in Canada 2013. Our home and native land is front and centre in this post based on MoneySense’s Canada’s Best Places to Live 2013 list. MoneySense, “Canada’s leading personal finance magazine and leading personal finance website” defined large city as having a minimum population of 400,000 and collected data from a variety of criteria including: walk/bike to work, transit, weather, population growth, unemployment, housing, household income, discretionary income, new cars, income taxes, sales taxes, property tax rate, property tax paid as percentage of income, crime, doctors, health professionals, number of doctor’s offices per ‘000, amenities and culture.
5. 15 Top Countries from 2013 UN Human Development Ranking. This ranking was based on the 2013 UN Human Development Ranking, The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World released by the UN Development Programme. The purpose of this ranking is “to shift the focus of development economics from national income accounting to people-centered policies“. The 2013 edition encompassed 187 countries and territories and included data compiled from eight metrics that measure improvement in education, health, and income.

That’s it for this 5 top post round-up. We’ll continue Monday with our 5 best Meatless Monday posts from 2013.

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