Feb. 2, 2023, 19:00 – 20:30 (Beijing Time)
Feb. 2, 2023, 11:00 – 12:30 (London Time)
Feb. 2, 2023, 04:00 – 05:30 (Phoenix Time)
Abstract:
Calls for urgent responses to both challenges of climate change and the global biodiversity crisis demand transformative action and a just transition, assuming the centrality of experimental governance to facilitate impactful responses. This presentation will explore two questions.
The first question relates to the realisation that many urban innovations emerge within quotidian settings associated with life practices around urban infrastructure. How do these mundane innovations interact with different forms of experimental governance? For example, is experimental governance a result of these mundane innovations, or is it, on the contrary, an external imposition that reduces their potential?
The second question explores the extent to which the articulation of experimental governance in international climate policy matches the potential and resources of mundane innovations on the ground. To what extent does international policy match the requirements to deliver place-based action and take advantage of mundane innovations? Do mundane innovations support efforts towards a just transition?
To answer these two questions, I will present the insights of the ERC project LoAct, Low Carbon Action in Ordinary Cities. The presentation will focus on the combined insights of an analysis of existing policy narratives of climate change action in urban areas and the actual projects that take place on the ground. The analysis shows the potential of mundane innovations to create locally adapted forms of experimental governance but also shows that mundane innovations are either ignored or misunderstood in climate change policy.