Honest

Discover 5 keys to make cities honest:

#ResearchAndInnovation - Justice is hardwired into research & innovation projects on urban sustainability

EU research agendas are steered to investigate how cities can achieve social and environmental sustainability in a just, inclusive and equitable way. Research stems from the concerns and needs of inhabitants in urban contexts and does not impose concepts, practices or blueprints. EU-funded projects aimed at improving urban planning in the field of sustainability have clear justice incentives, address the needs of vulnerable groups and include their voices in the research process, as well as its outcomes and impacts.

Related keys: #Participation #Knowledge #Solidarity

What approaches can activate this key?

Research funding should encourage new research objectives, tools, and pathways to fully examine the extent to which historically marginalised groups are exposed to longstanding exclusion or inequality. Funding schemes should give space for exploring bolder pathways to just and sustainable cities, including alternative economic models, land arrangements or urban development strategies. Some of the approaches identified by UrbanA that could contribute to such a direction would be the broader embracement of citizen science in EU-supported research projects, and co-learning and knowledge brokerage processes.

What governance arrangements enable this key?

More interdisciplinary dialogue is needed if justice is to be given due consideration in policy and funding schemes. This requires a comprehensive vision of change that assists policy makers, municipal technicians, civil society organizations and other urban governance actors to draw links between different aspects and scales of sustainability policy -- from biophysical processes to issues of identity, culture and social justice.

Efforts to strengthen transdisciplinarity in urban sustainability research require work to acknowledge and involve non-academic actors as holders of vital expertise. But doing this crucial work opens up more opportunities to embody justice in the research process. In this sense, other supportive governance arrangements could include committing to meaningful participation processes and tapping into existing community networks.

What drivers of injustice does this key address?

It is often the case that projects of research and implementation on urban sustainability engage with the notion of justice only superficially or mechanistically, for example through loosely defined concepts such as ‘social cohesion,’ ‘diversity’ or ‘participation.’ Instead, justice needs to be understood and studied in its many facets: It has (among others) material, historical and symbolic dimensions. What is often falsely assumed in sustainability research is that justice will automatically trickle down from sustainability interventions into local contexts. But this fails to consider the ongoing effects of perpetuated exclusion and inequality. A problematic and limited engagement with the concept of participation in urban planning and sustainability projects can exacerbate, rather than alleviate inequalities.

Moreover, there is often a Lack of effective knowledge brokerage and stewardship opportunities; access to useful information and know-how produced by academics around sustainable urban interventions is not shared effectively or equally among social groups, sectors or disciplines. To overlook this gap constrains the potential for meaningful work towards sustainability and justice.

Extra insights from UrbanA Community

1. EU research and innovation focusing on the local level should better respond to inhabitants’ needs, rather than answering questions unrelated to their concerns.
2. Guidelines for funding should be co-designed with marginalised groups and/or marginalised groups’ representatives.

Inspirational example: Research supports intersectionality, Barcelona

In Barcelona, the City Council has initiated an effort to address the question of civil participation and intersectional inequities in urban planning by awarding a prize to research projects with a community and ecofeminist perspective.

In 2019, this award went to a project with the title “Network of climate and care shelters from a community and ecofeminist perspective,” which co-designs urban climate shelters in under-served neighborhoods, actively involving immigrant women residents. By recognizing the value of intersectional projects with a gender perspective and women acting as change-makers, Barcelona is exemplifying one way through which research can support sustainable and just urbanism. In Barcelona, this research is part of a wider effort to tackle the climate emergency – while leading with an ecofeminist focus.

A video that summarizes this initiative is available here.

Avenues for action

Use projects to promote transdisciplinary learning

1. Recognise and use research and innovation projects (e.g. EU-funded ones) as opportunities to foster transdisciplinary learning and break silos across environmental, social, economic and political spheres.
2. Build on pre-existing projects by taking stock and planning ways to keep using available project outputs.
3. Remember to integrate a transdisciplinary approach in your communication by using non-discipline-specific language and accessible communication channels, for example. Provide possibilities for discussing the different perspectives to approach the topic of interest (e.g. joint events and publications).

#Economy - The economy benefits people and the environment

The economy of a sustainable and just city focuses on the creation of social, cultural, ecological and other forms of value that benefit people from all walks of life. The inclusive and fair allocation of resources ensures an economy that works for the common good. Production and consumption are organised so as to minimise negative externalities, cultivate non-consumerist values and reduce unnecessary demand. City-makers challenge inherited neoliberal narratives that overemphasize GDP growth, and are open to post-growth and post-capitalist approaches. This openness facilitates experimentation with socially and environmentally innovative concepts such as regeneration, care, sharing and solidarity.

Related keys: #Regional #Solidarity #Finance

What approaches can activate this key? Creating new urban economies that serve human needs requires alternative economic approaches and indicators/Beyond GDP indicators that go beyond the current outsized focus on GDP growth. Research fields such as Degrowth show growth-based economics to be incompatible with sustainability, justice and economic democracy. Existing efforts to put this into practice include Transition initiatives, in which communities come together to remodel their local economies; ecovillages guided by a whole-systems approach that treats economic, ecological, social and cultural dimensions as interdependent; and numerous forms of urban commons. All such initiatives emphasise participation, inclusion and partnership as key foundations of a sustainable and just economy.

What governance arrangements enable this key?

What drivers of injustice does this key address?

Extra insights from UrbanA Community

Inspirational example

Avenues for action

You might be wondering, what everyday actions can I take to put all this theory into practice? Take a look at the avenues for action, below, for some practical guidance.

#Power - Power dynamics are identified and dismantled for more equitable structures

In a sustainable and just city, harmful power relations are addressed for systematic and transformative change to take place. Power relations characterized by inequality, exclusion, exploitation and extractivism are acknowledged and questioned. People have the transformative capacity to challenge, alter and replace existing power relations. Transforming power is about dismantling existing structures and creating alternative practices while also being critical and transparent about new power dynamics that emerge.

Related keys: #Solidarity #Knowledge #Translocal (LINK TO THEIR CLUSTER PAGES)

What approaches can activate this key?

What governance arrangements enable this key?

What drivers of injustice does this key address?

Extra insights from UrbanA Community

Inspirational example

Avenues for action

You might be wondering, what everyday actions can I take to put all this theory into practice? Take a look at the avenues for action, below, for some practical guidance.

#Technology - Digital tools can serve everyone

In sustainable and just cities, digital technologies contribute first and foremost to environmental sustainability and human wellbeing. They provide the means of including people in deliberative and participatory decision-making processes, and support the adoption of sustainable consumption and production practices. Ethical artificial intelligence, open data and open source tools and standards can all support digitalization for sustainable and just cities.

Related keys: #Finance #Accessibility #Power (LINK TO THEIR CLUSTER PAGES)

What approaches can activate this key?

What governance arrangements enable this key?

What drivers of injustice does this key address?

Extra insights from UrbanA Community

Inspirational example

Avenues for action

You might be wondering, what everyday actions can I take to put all this theory into practice? Take a look at the avenues for action, below, for some practical guidance.

#Responsibility - City-makers take responsibility and are held accountable

In creating sustainable and just cities, everyone has a role to play, as well as the responsibility to speak out and act upon current injustices and unsustainable practices, even if individual actions must ultimately be connected to systemic efforts. As such, responsibility is shared by all actors – to the best of their varying capabilities – in a city and beyond its boundaries. Local authorities recognise the significant contribution that community-led initiatives make to achieving the city’s sustainability and justice goals, without co-opting them. Local authorities also protect all citizens from exposure to pollution and climate risks. They recognize citizens’ claims of harm and assist victims of pollution. In short, in the quest for a sustainable and just city, city-makers are aware of and are committed to their responsibilities, while keeping an eye to broader systems change.

Related keys: #Power #Solidarity #Knowledge (LINK TO THEIR CLUSTER PAGES)

What approaches can activate this key?

What governance arrangements enable this key?

What drivers of injustice does this key address?

Extra insights from UrbanA Community

Inspirational example

Avenues for action

You might be wondering, what everyday actions can I take to put all this theory into practice? Take a look at the avenues for action, below, for some practical guidance.