How to support German cities in implementing the SDGs –
- Author(s)
- Kerstin Krellenberg, Florian Koch
- Abstract
Non-technical summary. Scientists often argue that today’s efforts towards sustainability in cities call for a strong exchange on knowledge with non-scientific actors. But do urban practitioners think the same way? Do they see the need for scientific support in their work? In our research, we directly asked these questions to urban practitioners. This article evolves around their answers and describes the activities we conducted in order to start the necessary discussion with them. Technical summary. Given the challenges cities are facing in their efforts towards sustainability, we scrutinize if urban practitioners believe that scientific knowledge can support them in implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and if, how. To find evidence, we conducted a ‘co-design’ approach in Future Earth in terms of knowledge production, targeting at German cities. In consequence, the aims of this article are twofold. First, we aim at describing the implementation of the co-design process itself as a potentially useful tool for the interaction with urban practitioners and the evaluation of their specific needs. Second, we present the main results of the co-design process and its contribution for SDG implementation in cities. Combining the two aims, we argue for novel research approaches that allow for more collaborative activities as well as for adequate funding opportunities in the light of urban sustainability transformations. Media summary. Co-design to support SDG implementation in cities towards sustainability transformations.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Geography and Regional Research
- External organisation(s)
- Hochschule für Technik und Wirtschaft Berlin, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung
- Journal
- Global Sustainability
- Volume
- 4
- No. of pages
- 9
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1017/sus.2021.16
- Publication date
- 2021
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 507020 Urbanism
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law, Global and Planetary Change
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/a917dd57-8c68-47a7-841b-90267d74e55e