Urban Arena for sustainable and equitable solutions

Project Information

URBANA

Grant agreement ID: 822357

DOI

10.3030/822357

Project closed

EC signature date 14 November 2018

Start date 1 January 2019

End date 31 March 2022

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Europe In A Changing World - Inclusive, Innovative And Reflective Societies

Total cost

€ 1 499 484,96

EU contribution

€ 1 499 484,96

Coordinated by

ICLEI EUROPEAN SECRETARIAT GMBH (ICLEI EUROPASEKRETARIAT GMBH)
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - URBANA (Urban Arena for sustainable and equitable solutions)

Reporting period: 2020-07-01 to 2022-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Injustice and unsustainability are among our grand societal challenges and have even been exacerbated by recent developments, like the financial, housing and COVID-19 crises. These trends are putting the social cohesion and resilience of European cities to the test. There is also growing recognition that ‘green’ initiatives can have unintended consequences, potentially exacerbating existing patterns of exclusion and inequality, or even creating new ones. Sustainable urban development that fails to account for the needs of all urban residents risks sparking resistance and backlash. Ultimately then, we need to foster ways of integrating sustainability and justice if we are to reach the goals of the European Green Deal and successfully tackle multiple ecological emergencies.

At the same time, EU-funded research and innovation projects, as well as a diverse community of city-makers have led the way in understanding urban social injustice and ecological unsustainability, and have identified numerous interventions that contribute to making cities both just and sustainable. However, this knowledge remains largely fragmented and lacking in visibility. There is therefore a growing need to synthesise it, and to distill from it solutions that are broadly applicable and genuinely actionable.

UrbanA takes up this challenge by supporting city-makers – including policy-makers, activists, entrepreneurs, citizens and other engaged individuals – to transform European cities into sustainable and just urban environments.

UrbanA has done so by facilitating a transdisciplinary and translocal Arena process as a co-creative space to distill solutions for sustainable and just cities. A Community of Practice and a series of four Arena events has brought together over 1000 diverse city-makers from across Europe to:
- Map 40+ approaches to sustainable and just cities
- Uncover 10 drivers of urban injustice and exclusion in relation to sustainability interventions
- Identify eleven governance scenarios and six enabling governance arrangements.
- Collect 17 keys to unlock sustainable and just cities, including actionable recommendations for different actors
- Co-create 9 principles with and for EU policy-makers for sustainable just cities

All of these results and more are hosted on an accessible and engaging digital platform (sustainablejustcities.eu) and an online knowledge commons (wiki). 

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The following work has been undertaken from M19 to M39:
- WP1 coordinated the overall UrbanA project and ensured its smooth delivery in line with its objectives, including the management of a major amendment and a project extension.
- WP2 adjusted the selection process and criteria for Arena participants, in order to ensure a higher degree of diversity and inclusivity. The Work Package also undertook the evaluation of all Arena and Community of Practice activities.
- WP3 continued to expand the project’s wiki, a digital knowledge commons.
- WP4 produced concise, impactful, and policy- and practice- relevant materials, including scholarly and media editorials, on domain-specific (and cross-domain) drivers of urban social inequality and exclusion.
- WP5 co-creatively developed a set of Enabling Governance Arrangements, hosted an Arena event and communicated these outputs across a range of formats.
- WP6 distilled a set of 17 keys to unlock sustainable and just cities, synthesizing the knowledge generated by the previous work packages and brokering this knowledge to diverse city-makers, and making it accessible and actionable through a diversity of formats and a dedicated digital platform. The work package also worked with policy-makers to develop principles for sustainable and just cities, hosted an arena event and an additional policy event, and published a series of policy briefs.
- WP7 has focused on creating high quality, engaging communications products (i.e. videos, blogs, podcasts) to share with key target groups via both UrbanA channels and UrbanA partners’ channels. The work package has also overseen the establishment of a vibrant Community of Practice, which enables the gathering and exchange of relevant knowledge via ongoing and regular webinars.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

#1: Multi-actor and cross-sectoral learning

UrbanA established a series of four Urban Arena for Sustainable and just cities, which convened diverse city-makers (researchers, practitioners and policymakers) in a co-creative process to map, assess, distill and communicate innovative solutions for sustainable and just cities. The project identified and involved diverse participants in the Urban Arenas based on different functional domains, sectors, cities, classes, cultural backgrounds and genders.

#2: Supporting urban strategies, policies and planning practices

UrbanA supports strategies, policies and planning practices by co-creatively mapping, assessing and distilling innovative solutions for sustainable and just urban environments. By involving a broad range of stakeholders in this process, the knowledge generated by the project will be easily applicable without additional translation to policy and practice. In this way, UrbanA contributes directly to solutions that address the drivers of injustice and exclusion in European urban and peri-urban areas.

#3: Promoting sustainable and inclusive strategies and solutions

UrbanA identifies new, participatory and alternative models that contribute to sustainable and inclusive urban development. The project has identified potential strategies (scenarios, visions, pathways) and solutions (actions, interventions) that can advance sustainable, inclusive and resilient urban areas, and engaged a diverse group of stakeholders in the Arena process, in order to pinpoint innovative interventions.

UrbanA for Sustainable and Just Cities