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Periodic Report Summary - PRIMUS (Policies and Research for an Integrated Management of Urban Sustainability)
Quality validation date:2012-12-12
Abstract
Project Context and Objectives: The Informed Cities Initiative: Making research work for local sustainability was a European project which aimed to enhance connectivity between research and policymaking in sustainable development, with a focus on tools for urban sustainability management. Informed Cities was funded by the 7th Framework Programme of the EU, under the acronym PRIMUS (its full title being ?Policies and Research for an Integrated Management of Urban Sustainability?), and ran for three years, from 1st May 2009 to 30th April 2012. The concept underpinning the Informed Cities Initiative was the need to bridge the gap between research at European level and policy-making at (and for) the local level. The theme chosen for this co-ordination action was 'sustainable urban management', so as to highlight the ways in which the various policy areas of urban development (energy/water/waste, transport, planning and design, social inclusion) are integrated, rather than focusing on a single policy theme. This was based on the premise that the decoupling of environmental degradation and economic growth can only be achieved through better management and governance of all of the inter-dependent factors which make up urban development. Indicators and information systems, efficient and effective policy processes, and innovative public participation are the main instruments to achieve this, enabling us to set targets, gain wide acceptance, and implement behavioural changes in society. Informed Cities has two separate but linked elements: improving processes for knowledge brokerage for urban sustainability, and the explorative application of two European monitoring tools for local governments. The two tools were: a) Local Evaluation 21 (LE21): an online assessment which analyses the quality of local management and governance processes for sustainability, and can serve as a guide for political decisions on improving local management and governance mechanisms. b) Urban Ecosystem Europe (UEE): a set of advanced sustainability indicators enabling local governments to measure their performance in response to the renewed EU Sustainable Development Strategy, the Urban Thematic Strategy and the Aalborg Commitments, providing as a basis to develop measurable targets and timeframes for the mid-term. The original aim of the project was to recruit 100 local governments from across Europe to use both tools, through contacts with cities that had either previously applied the tools or that the research team already developed relationships with through other initiatives. The project was built around a series of events aimed at improving links between researchers and policy-makers: Informed Cities Fora, European Round Tables, and Implementation Workshops. There were two Informed Cities Fora (in Newcastle, 2010 and Naples, 2011), bringing together European local government representatives and researchers/research organisations active in the field of local sustainability. An additional three Informed Cities European Round Tables brought together National government ministries and agencies from a majority of EU Member States, responsible for national policies for urban sustainability management in their respective countries, and constituting an important link between European research and local policy making. The aim of the Implementation Workshops, which were originally to be undertaken in 12 countries, was to offer tailored support for those local governments applying the tools for monitoring delivery of urban sustainability, thus demonstrating in practice the connectivity between research and policy-making. The aim was to give local government representatives advice during the application phase, and to find out how connectivity between research and policy making works in practice. In reality, the recruitment of 100 cities was a far greater challenge than had been predicted and the Workshops were in fact used to encourage local governments who had expressed an interest to utilise the tools. Project Results: The Informed Cities project was built around a series of events aimed at improving links between researchers and policy-makers: Informed Cities Fora, European Roundtables, and Implementation Workshops, which aimed to encourage local governments to use the tools. Ten Implementation Workshops were held in: London, UK; Katowice, Poland; Sibiu, Romania; Brussels, Belgium; Rome, Italy; Turku, Finland; Madrid, Spain; Dessau, Germany; Coimbra, Portugal; and Belgrade, Serbia. Two Informed Cities Fora were held in Newcastle (2010) and Naples (2011); both Fora were attended by well over 100 participants. Three Informed Cities European Roundtables brought together national government ministries and agencies from a majority of EU Member States, who were responsible for national policies for urban sustainability management in their respective countries. The first Round Table meeting discussed the outcomes of EU-funded research projects with the researchers involved, producing detailed information on the application of tools developed for the local level. The aim was to understand the different barriers to, and specific requirements for, the effective application of research results in each of the Member States. The second meeting allowed a cross-European group of local governments to monitor and pre-evaluate the 'explorative application' of the two tools, UEE and LE21. It also provided a starting point for organising a series of national (country-specific) Implementation Workshops. The final meeting discussed the outcomes of the Fora and workshops, and the potential benefits of a future Round Table for participants. It also defined proposals to enhance future integration of the research results into national policies related to urban sustainability management in the Member States. All of the events and meetings within the ICI initiative gave practitioners (staff from local, regional and national government) and academics the chance to explore discourses around knowledge brokerage for local sustainability. The project considered local governments? application of European monitoring tools. It aimed to explore why monitoring tools are not applied by more local governments, and demonstrate the tools? potential and capacity. Two tools, Local Evaluation 21 (LE21) and Urban Ecosystem Europe (UEE), were selected for a Europe-wide explorative application by the Informed Cities Initiative (ICI). The explorative application of LE21 and UEE aimed to involve 100 local governments representing at least 15 EU Member States. However, this target proved challenging, despite ICI members petitioning local governments through a number of channels. Economic limitations, in the form of local resources needed for applying the tools, restricted participation. This was especially the case in countries like the United Kingdom, which during the explorative application was experiencing severe spending cuts at local government level. Ultimately, 57 local governments representing 18 European countries applied LE21, and 53 local governments representing 16 European countries applied UEE. 32 local governments applied both tools. To present the outcomes of the explorative application and the knowledge brokerage process, the PRIMUS Final Report (to be published as a book after the project ends) on making research work for local sustainability was prepared. The report contains extensive details and analysis of data obtained via the explorative application of LE21 and UEE by European local governments which has been analysed and aggregated by the project Partners. The report combines findings on both policy processes (qualitative data) and indicator-based data on urban sustainability (quantitative data). In addition, a knowledge brokerage guide entitled Knowledge brokerage in action in European cities was produced, which functions as a ?how to guide? and contains key insights for five successful European brokerage initiatives. Potential Impact: In total, over 200 cities (local governments and/or research organisation) participated in the Informed Cities Initiative, through involvement in one or more of the events, or in using one of two tools. The debates held throughout the project explored in practice the connectivity between research and policy making and delivered recommendations for general enhancement of this connectivity in the future, in the field of sustainability management and in other thematic areas. To present the outcomes of the project, the Informed Cities initiative has produced three publications: ? European Frameworks for local sustainability. The role of researchers, policy-makers and European institutions in shaping local commitment, exploring the usefulness of European schemes, such as the Covenant of Mayors or the Aalborg Commitments, in supporting the local sustainability process and presenting recommendations on the role of researchers in shaping local processes ? Knowledge brokerage in action in European cities, analysing five examples of cooperation between researchers and local policy-makers with a focus on sustainable development coming from different European cities, including Oslo (Norway), Tilburg (Netherlands), Newcastle (UK), Norrköping (Sweden) and Turku (Finland) ? PRIMUS Final Report (to be published as a book after the project ends) on making research work for local sustainability, based on the information collected throughout the project. The publications demonstrate the usefulness of collecting data on local sustainability governance and outcomes across Europe, as serving both to show progress on local sustainability and to motivate others to undertake similar efforts, with the help of the tools available. This project has continued the discussion on the need for co-operation between policy-makers and researchers in achieving local sustainable development, on how this can best be facilitated, and what the European Commission?s role should be. The following lessons were highlighted: ? Close co-operation between researchers and local government staff is essential to enhance the connectivity between research and policy-making in the target setting phase. ? Policy makers may not have either the time or the experience to read scientific papers thoroughly. There is a need to translate research outcomes into a format that enables policy makers and wider audiences to identify their content and value. Summaries, recommendations and key messages are suggested in many studies (European Commission, 2008; ODPM, 2005). ? Despite current political demands for evidence-based practice, university research may have a greater value if it is independent of the political process, emerges from the confines of a specific academic discipline, and is a peer-reviewed published output that is written in a style which is accessible to practitioners (staff from local, regional and national government). ? In practice, many cities participate in several schemes and try to adapt tools and identify pragmatic synergies between tools to suit their individual requirements. ? None of the existing tools for local sustainability fulfils all of the diverse needs of European local governments. Nor does it seems likely that the different actors responsible for the various tools will join forces and create a common European commitment and monitoring scheme for local sustainability. Furthermore, valuable insights into successful knowledge brokerage initiatives have been gathered and a proposal for a reporting mechanism on Urban Sustainability in Europe has be developed, the authors of the report recommend putting in practice a set of 10 key features for an ideal European commitment and monitoring scheme for local sustainability. The aims of an ideal scheme for local sustainability are to discover and better understand changes in local sustainability. Accordingly, the final check-list should serve as a research agenda for the European Commission and offer a major opportunity for the development of common solutions to benefit all local governments in Europe. List of Websites: http://www.iclei-europe.org/informed-cities
Collaboration sought:N/A
Related Programme(s)/Projects
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Organization:ICLEI EUROPEAN SECRETARIAT GMBH
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Additional information
Subject index:Social Aspects, Scientific Research, Research ethics, Sustainable development , Business aspects
Subject descriptors:Ergonomics, Ethical aspects of research, Sustainable development , Management issues , Urban planning
Subject class:Environment, Materials, Industrial Manufacturing technologies
Remarks:Source: SESAM
Record control number:54156
