Skills

Very often, it’s not the hard facts that keep projects going and decide over an initiative’s success. It’s a person’s passion and skill set that helps with dealing with opposition, convincing stakeholders, starting a constructive dialogue with citizens, getting political attention, or gathering a crowd around your idea. But what are those skills and tools you need to get the ball rolling? In this section, we want to take a closer look at the soft skills that CityChangers need in their day-to-day life, be it in exemplary articles or skill sessions with insights from leaders in the field.

In the spotlight

Changing Behaviour

Collaboration

Advocacy: Getting people on board

Paw-sitive Cities: Humane Free Roaming Cat & Dog Population Management

ICAM provides an ethical choice for population management of free roaming animals, an issue largely ignored by leaders but a priority for citizens. National responses to the COVID-19 pandemic were a reminder of how a coordinated approach can be highly...

How to Advocate for Urban Agriculture

How do we unlock urban agriculture’s potential? By improving policies, spreading knowledge, and implementing a supportive network. This is the work of European Forum on Urban Agriculture, an EU project determined to help urban agriculture reach its potential. So,...

How to Gain Stakeholder Support for Cycling Policies: A Trending Technique

We’ve all heard of the terms ‘public participation’ and ‘stakeholder engagement’, but what do they really mean? How can you actually persuade someone adamantly against cycling policies to change their mind? Here’s an alternative approach which is winning cycling-sceptics...

Communication & Leadership

CityChanger Alicia Johnson: A Guide to Urban Disaster Preparedness

A city that prepares for the worse is disrupted the least. We explore what disaster preparedness looks like and how municipalities should be planning. The...

Promoting Heat Pumps: A Communication Strategy for Hard-to-Engage Groups

Conservatives fiercely resist behaviour change, but a six-point communications strategy designed to advance buy-in of heat pumps is a working model for engaging hard-to-convince...

Sustainable Art: Driving Climate Conversations and City Transformation One Brushstroke at a Time

This article was written for CityChangers.org by Mahak Agrawal, Steering Board Member of ITACUS and Founder of All Bits Count (ABC). In it, Mahak...

Participation

CityChanger Marjan Ehsassi: Amplifying Voices with Citizens’ Assemblies

When we as citizens feel helpless to interject in the questionable actions of decision-makers, the cracks in democracy are laid clear. But what if...

How an Artist Will Improve Inclusion, Environmental & Communication Strategies

This article was written for CityChangers.org by Dr. Michael Shank, Director of Engagement with the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance. In it, he argues that...

Urban Design Lessons We Must Learn from Communities in the Global South

Implementing spatial changes that benefit citizens isn’t a straightforward process. In many cities, there’s not a process for it at all! Or is there?...

Who should we interview next?

What's new? Our latest articles