Regenerative

Discover 4 keys to make cities regenerative:

#Regional - Regional integration makes cities stronger

Sustainable and just cities have strong, circular and equitable links with one another in the context of a wider region, supporting both urban and rural areas. They support decentralized and collaborative economic and planning approaches, in which individual responsibility is balanced with the well-being of the region as a whole. These cities are attuned to the interconnected natural and human systems in their region: infrastructure, resource and waste flows, as well as cultural and social behaviours. With growing translocal challenges, cities can reorient goods and services to their nearby surroundings, decreasing environmental impacts and increasing resilience to crises.

Related keys: #Participation #Knowledge #Nature

What approaches can activate this key?

Enhancing the mutually beneficial development of cities and their regions for the broader purposes of sustainability and justice can be activated by three groups of approaches and goals. The first is to enable dialogue and mutual learning between civil society, the scientific community and policy makers, paying close attention to the inclusion of diverse voices and of knowledge coming from experience. This can take place via Co-learning and knowledge brokerage, Multi-stakeholder partnership - policy, Data Collection, Pathways and scenarios. The second is to support and strengthen innovative governance processes that allow for effective and empowered participation by all stakeholders, for instance via Democratic innovation through recognition, Governance and participation processes or Participatory budgeting. Finally, the third is to ensure that the initiatives and policies that are shaping the territory and people’s mindsets and behaviours can engender learning in a systemic and integral way from interventions, namely in terms of their design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and adaptation. Some concrete approaches are Community gardens and food, Social food movements, Sustainable food supply chains, Nature-based solutions, Governance for urban climate mitigation and adaptation, and Regeneration of disused urban land.

What governance arrangements enable this key?

Developing a comprehensive vision of change that can include and integrate aspirations from the regional level down to the local and community level is crucial for achieving greater sustainability and justice. Such a vision needs to go beyond words and actually shape policies, urban planning and small-scale interventions. As such, its implementation needs to come along with capacity- and relationship-building processes to empower it. [[Build bridges between separate stakeholder groups|Building bridges between separate stakeholder groups] and Committing to a meaningful participation process are two such governance arrangements. They enable communication and broker information between different stakeholders and within institutions (effectively breaking silos), building up trust, as well as furthering inclusive and decentralised democratic participation.

What drivers of injustice does this key address?

Seeing cities as interdependent and integrated members of a region addresses the lack of coordinated policy and effective decision-making by urban governance institutions at different scales (Unfit institutional structures). It also addresses the insufficient, ineffective and limited participation in urban development: Lack of effective knowledge brokerage and stewardship opportunities and Limited citizen participation in urban planning). Regional thinking can bring a deeper capacity to listening, planning, intervening and learning in a way that breaks the status quo in terms of both sustainability and justice, especially in regard to decision making for investments and the distribution of resource flows (Uneven and exclusionary urban intensification and regeneration).

Extra insights from UrbanA Community

• "Cities have a role to put inhabitants in direct contact with natural processes to foster care for nature and for each other (e.g. river, agroforestry, food production)"
• "Cities translate broad strategies (global, European, regional) into reality, yet these strategies are frequently decoupled from local realities and capacities."
• "Local voices are frequently excluded when it comes to making decisions on regional structures (such as managing natural resources or infrastructure) that influence life in their neighbourhoods."
• "Most people living in cities have a daily life that is somewhat separated from a direct and conscious experience of big issues like climate change, loss of biodiversity or hunger."

Inspirational example: Access to natural landscapes, Cascais, Portugal

The municipality of Cascais, Portugal, took the lead to enable a regional governance scheme for a national park and erode the usual separation of urban and natural areas when it comes to having access to high-value natural and cultural landscapes.

One-third of Cascais’ territory is classified as the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park. It is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site for its outstanding natural and cultural landscape value and is managed by national authorities. With more than 14.500 hectares, the reality is that there are many stakeholders for the park -- public and private -- affecting its use and conditions. This complex governance situation usually results in untapped potential in terms of the social fulfilment and well-being of the population in the region, as well as for enhancement of ecosystem services.

Cascais had the political vision and will to initiate a collaborative and proactive governance scheme for the park’s management. It facilitated partnerships between stakeholders to restore its biodiversity and landscapes and to promote responsible and sustainable uses, like recreation. One such example is the Pisão Farm, owned by a social NGO, in which 360 hectares have been restored to merge the natural and cultural values of sustainable forest and agriculture management with landscape and ecosystem restoration. The farm is now a valuable tourism and leisure centre visited by thousands each year.

Avenues for action

Adopt and promote regional product labels

1. Create and democratise regional platforms for e.g. information-sharing, participation processes and citizen-led initiatives. Use these platforms to engage citizens in regional policies.
2. Collaborate with municipalities across administrative borders.

Read more about projects like GRTA from Geneva, which promote direct sales and local food production and consumption. The Monnaie Leman case from Geneva also promotes regional integration. Further examples of Sustainable food supply chains are available too.

Think and act beyond municipal and regional borders

1. Adopt a flexible and cross-border (“bioregion”) lens in policy-making. Instead of being bounded by administrative and political borders, reconsider the spatial scale based on human and ecosystemic communities.

Get inspired by Agrocite in Colombes, Paris, which supports the emergence of alternative models of living, producing and consuming between the urban and rural.

Facilitate regional exchange with shared online platforms

1. Create and democratise regional platforms for e.g. information-sharing, participation processes and citizen-led initiatives. Use these platforms to engage citizens in regional policies.
2. Collaborate with municipalities across administrative borders.

Explore this civic innovation map, developed by citizens as a means of learning about and engaging with civic innovations from across Ibero-American communities.

#Art - Art creates a sense of belonging, and has the power to transform places

Sustainable and just cities promote cultural, artistic and creative activities. Artistic practices help overcome verbal and emotional barriers, and can build shared values such as justice and belonging. The arts play a crucial role in political expression and education, in that they enable much needed social dialogue within and between communities. From there, people can make use of this exchange of local knowledge to promote visions for sustainable and just cities. Moreover, a sense of belonging and togetherness created in urban cultural and historic areas helps empower communities for a just transition.

Related keys: #Accessibility #Diversity #Knowledge

What approaches can activate this key?

Art and culture have an important role in supporting a sustainable and just transition in cities. One potential pathway is to achieve a tangible or physical urban transformation by performing an inclusive and environmentally-friendly process of urban development through cultural solutions. Moreover, art can also be a tool to connect with traditionally excluded communities in a more creative manner, promoting collective thinking and raising awareness about justice and sustainability issues via approaches such as Culture for Empowerment.

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.

#Participation - Meaningful participation is empowering

Sustainable and just cities offer all people the opportunity to deliberate on and co-create plans and policies. The historic lack of platform and unequal power given to some groups in decision making are actively addressed. Participation is not just a buzzword with a standard set of expected steps or outcomes. Rather, it is an evolving process that empowers people to shape their cities in ways that respond to their needs and aspirations. By governing through meaningful participation, outcomes are more inclusive and effective, and are genuinely supported by the public.

Related keys: #Power #Diversity #CivilSociety (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.

#Adaptation - Change is inevitable, and adaptation essential

Sustainable and just cities go beyond being open to change, they have a spirit of continuous adaptation. Disruptive changes, such as climate change and global pandemics, aggravate systemic inequalities. City-makers stay alert to these, as well as unintended consequences from their actions and are prepared to learn from potential failures. They embrace just transformation through a flexible and reflexive approach. They adapt along the way, based on emerging opportunities, needs and ongoing experience.

Related keys: #Knowledge #Translocal #Technology (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.