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Making Sense of Systemic Change

Systemic change is like a birthday present: everyone wants it, but no one is quite sure what’s inside. Or so the saying goes. The concept feels just beyond comprehension. What does it look like to change everything, everywhere, all at once? Both the climate crisis and pervasive social challenges (think housing, energy poverty,...

Fail Better! Lessons from Effective Climate Action

Cities have been identified as key actors for reaching adequate emissions reductions, but still fall short on the effectiveness of their actions. The City of Helsinki is no exception. But we have recently begun to pay attention to these notions by critically reviewing and renewing our city climate action...

Bloomberg Quicktake – Vienna’s Radical Idea? Affordable Housing For All

In many countries around the world, housing presents the single-highest household expense. Cities, in particular, are struggling to keep housing affordable. Amidst this crisis, there is one place that seems to handle the situation relatively well: Vienna. The Austrian capital is known as one of the most liveable cities...

Urban Insight Podcast – The World’s Healthiest Building

Sweco's Urban Insight's mission is to share solutions for future city planning and initiate a dialogue about sustainable urban development. Between 2018 and 2021, Urban Insight reached 22.3 million people through news, press and media. During 2021, three episodes of the Urban Insight podcast will focus on the process and...

How Cities Can Use the Law to Advance Climate Action

This article was written by and for the C40 Knowledge Hub, delivering cutting-edge insights and practical resources from leading climate cities directed at those working in city government. It was originally published here in August 2021. We’re featuring the article with kind permission by the C40 Knowledge Hub. Legal intervention is a powerful means...

Why We Need More Green Roofs. Porto Answers a Critical Question

Critical Concrete was formed in 2015. Since then, they have been combining sustainable constructions work, renovations, educational programmes, and research projects to enhance socially beneficial buildings that support community cohesion, accessibility, and equity. In the process of retrofitting their workshop in Porto, Portugal, the Critical Concrete team designed and installed...

Tactile Paving: Improving Accessibility Through Design

If you ever happen to look down while walking city streets, you may have noticed that there’s a whole world of design beneath our feet. Blind and partially sighted people face barriers and dangers while walking that other people wouldn’t even consider. Raised curbs, road crossings, and haphazard or potholed...

Problem Solving and the Art of the Reframe

This article was written by Leon Voon, Lead Designer & Co-Head at Experience Strategy Design, Government Technology Agency of Singapore, and was originally published on Apolitical, the global learning platform for government. It was originally published here in September 2020. We’re featuring the article with kind permission by Leon Voon and Apolitical. As a policymaker,...

Karl-Filip Coenegrachts: Creative Bureaucracy, An Oxymoron?| TEDxGhent

In this thought-provoking TED talk, Karl-Filip Coenegrachts gives an overview of what creative bureaucracy means and why we can't continue to use 19th-century bureaucracy to solve 21st-century challenges anymore. This talk was held at the TEDxGhent event on the 23rd of December 2020. Karl-Filip Coenegrachts is specialized in European Law...

How Feedback Can Help You Flex Your Problem-Solving Muscles

This article was written by Klaudia Bencze, Social Media Team Leader, European Committee of the Regions in Brussels, and was originally published on Apolitical, the global learning platform for government. It was originally published here in July 2020. We’re featuring the article with kind permission by Klaudia Bencze and Apolitical. Do you remember the...

How Public Servants Can Engage Unlikely Allies to Deliver Climate Policies

This article was written by Juan Azcarate, Deputy Director of Energy and Climate Change in Madrid City Council, and was originally published on Apolitical, the global learning platform for government. It was originally published here in August 2020. We’re featuring the article with kind permission by Juan Azcarate and Apolitical. Public servants who...

How Can We Use Behavioural Insights to Engage People?

This article was written by Emma Sisk for Apolitical, the global learning platform for government. It was originally published here in August 2020. We’re featuring the article with kind permission by Apolitical. A majority of people across most OECD countries do not trust their government. In 2018, the organisation went so far as to call out what...

Smruti Jukur Johari: What if the Poor Were Part Of City Planning? | TED

"Poverty only changes affordability not aspirations". In this thought-provoking and incredibly intelligent talk, Smruti Jukur Johari breaks down the myth about people living in slums and informal communities. She underlines the crucial necessity to involve the slum's residents in urban planning to improve liveability. The TED talk was presented...

Better Together: How Cities Can Collaborate for Faster, More Effective Climate Action

This article was written by and for the C40 Knowledge Hub, which delivers cutting-edge insights and practical resources from leading climate cities for others working in city government. It was originally published here in September 2020. We’re featuring the article with kind permission by the C40 Knowledge Hub. Collaborating with other city governments has...

How to Achieve a Walking and Cycling Transformation in Your City

This article was written by and for the C40 Knowledge Hub, which delivers cutting-edge insights and practical resources from leading climate cities for others working in city government. It was originally published here in March 2019. We're featuring the article with kind permission by the C40 Knowledge Hub. Walking and cycling are...

How to Drive a Modal Shift From Private Vehicle Use to Public Transport, Walking and Cycling

This article was written by and for the C40 Knowledge Hub, which delivers cutting-edge insights and practical resources from leading climate cities for others working in city government. It was originally published here in March 2019. We're featuring the article with kind permission by the C40 Knowledge Hub. For the last 100...

Soft Factors to Encourage an Inclusive Culture of the Bicycle

This article was written by Lucas Snaije, Community & Communications Manager at BYCS, an Amsterdam-based social enterprise driven by the belief that bicycles transform cities and cities transform the world. It was originally published on the BYCS blog in 2020. To mark World Car Free Day 2020, Lucas Snaije discusses the need...

How to Design Bicycle-friendly Cities | The Life-Sized City

Here is a list of some of the key elements in designing a city for bicycles. Not a complete list, but the music track was finite so yeah. But here is some serious T4under2° - AKA Transport for under Two Degrees - transport that can help get us on...