The SDKI program has been built around three key themes that explore fundamental concerns about sustainable development.

Transport-Related Energy Sustainability in Canadian Urban Areas
The urban 'sprawl' surrounding many cities has many potentially detrimental effects including the loss of valuable agricultural and eco-sensitive (e.g. wetlands, forests) lands and enhanced energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from increasing private vehicle use.

Forestland Disturbances Monitoring and Mapping for Sustainable Development Planning and Reporting
Management policy for sustainable development depends on timely and credible information. National programs are being launched throughout the government to develop reliable methods and systems to monitor and report the state of Canada's forests.

Sustainable Management and Rehabilitation of Mine Sites for Decision Support
Waste by-products of mining activities can have environmental, social and economic impacts. Elevated concentrations of heavy metals and acid generating tailings leave an environmental footprint on active mine sites that require long-term monitoring and, for mines that have been abandoned or improperly contained, can result in the destruction of surrounding ecosystems.

Two other projects look at the integration of geospatial and geoscience information to assess overall development impacts and the effective communication of science outputs to user communities.

Pathways: supporting decisions in natural hazard mitigation and sustainable management of groundwater resources
The SDKI project Pathways bridges policy and science by working with decision-makers to incorporate earth science information in their decision processes via modeling methods and web-based tools.

Visualization of Integrated Knowledge for Sustainable Development Decision Making
Geographic visualization presents a picture of geospatially-referenced data for users to see and for them to analyze. It goes beyond the downloading of maps, remotely sensed images or other geospatial data, allowing interactivity with environmental and socio-economic data sets.

SDKI projects will provide integrated earth science information to key partners and agencies positioning them to make more informed decisions on sustainable development. The information provided under SDKI will make an overall measurable contribution to monitoring and managing Canada's natural capital, as recommended both by NRCan and the National Round Table on the Environment and Economy (NRTEE).