52. Thanks, Melbourne!

It's been a fantastic year in Melbourne with so many opportunities to meet people, attend events, engage in projects and write papers! Along the way I have had the chance to meet with many researchers working at universities and practitioners from municipalities in Melbourne. Based on all these conversations, I have put together a paper (with a colleague) with the title: "The Rise of the UniverCity? Cross-sector Partnerships for Urban Sustainability". The abstract reads: "There is increased interest in the role of universities and municipalities in cross-sector partnerships on sustainable development and climate change. This paper investigates recent experiences with collaboration between municipalities and universities on urban sustainability in Melbourne, Australia where the City of Melbourne has defined an Eco-City vision. Collaboration is described and analysed in Melbourne from two viewpoints. First, looking at innovative actors and networks that act as bridging organisations between municipalities and universities. Second, looking at projects and activities in terms of five channels for action on urban sustainability. In essence, this paper reveals a web of actors and networks as well as activities and projects in Melbourne that could be the foundations for an emerging “UniverCity for Sustainability” where researchers and practitioners work extensively and strategically together on urban sustainability. However, tapping into the full potential of research-practice collaboration on urban sustainability in Melbourne demands intensified efforts on practical and strategic challenges. Key conclusions of this paper for Melbourne are that universities and municipalities need to establish persuasive incentives for collaborative efforts that are connected to work activities for practitioners and researchers, link activities and projects under a deliberate framework, facilitate placements of researchers (and students) at municipalities, promote regular physical and virtual interactions, and engage in urban sustainability experiments through living labs that involve physical changes in buildings, infrastructure and precincts."

51. Co-creation for sustainability

I have recently been engaged in some collaborative work on a paper entitled "Beyond the third mission: Exploring the emerging university function of co-creation for sustainability". It will soon be published in the Science and Public Policy journal. This paper explores a global trend where universities are collaborating with local government, industry and civic organisations to advance the sustainable transformation of a specific town, city or region. With empirical evidence, we argue that this function of "co-creation for sustainability" could be interpreted as the seeds of an emerging, new mission for the university. We demonstrate that this still evolving mission differs significantly to the economic focus of the third mission and conventional technology transfer practices, which we argue, should be critically examined. After defining five channels through which a university can fulfil the emerging mission, we analyse two frontrunner "transformative institutions" engaged in co-creating social transformations in pursuit of materialising sustainable development in specific locations and regions. This study seeks to add to the debate on the third mission and triple-helix partnerships. It does so by incorporating sustainable development and place-based co-creation with government, industry and civil society.

50. Energy efficiency improvements and fossil fuel subsidies

Scientists have repeatedly warned that GHG emissions must peak before 2020 if the world is to avoid a temperature rise of over 2 degrees. But countries are locked into negotiations on a global climate deal that will only come into effect in 2020. I am always surprised to hear energy efficiency down-played. In so many cases, the focus is almost entirely on increasing renewable energy, which is so important, but it goes hand-in-hand with massive energy efficiency improvements. Another key area is the continuation of fossil fuel subsidies, which is simply absurd in the context of climate change. It is therefore great to see that the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently released a report proposing 4 key initiatives that could significantly reduce GHG emissions within a short period of time, while enhancing economic welfare.

A partial phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies: The IEA suggests the phase-out of fossil fuel subsidies in importing countries and a cut of 25% in subsidies in exporting countries by 2020.

Targeted energy efficiency measures in buildings, industry and transport: Energy efficiency measures in buildings and industry could deliver almost half the carbon cuts needed by 2020 to keep the world on track for global warming of less than 2 degrees.

Halving methane emissions from oil and gas extraction and transport: Measures to reduce methane releases from oil and gas operations, for example through flaring or leaks, could deliver a further 18% of the emission savings needed and could be accomplished at relatively low cost since the technology is available.

Limiting construction and use of the least-efficient coal-fired power plants: A further 20% of the emissions savings needed could come from CO2 pricing, CO2 standards for industry and limits on the use and construction of inefficient coal plants.

49. Teaching sustainability research - action, innovation and transformation

I will be teaching a course to international Masters students when I return to Sweden on how to do sustainability research. Essentially the course prepares students for undertaking a thesis. First, I will cover the basics of data collection, looking particularly at how to do interviews and carry out a literature review as well as case studies, questionnaires and site visits. Second, I will help the students to understand data analysis, and how to use theory and apply an analytical framework. And third, and perhaps mostly importantly, I will engage the students in why sustainability research is relevant, and what types of topics and research problems are "worthy" of research. It is here that I think sustainability research needs to reflect the "urgency" of bringing about sustainable development and responding to climate change. I will focus on three main approaches that can shape sustainability reserach - action research, social innovation and tranformation design.

"Action research is a research initiated to solve an immediate problem or a reflective process of progressive problem solving led by individuals working with others in teams or as part of a "community of practice" to improve the way they address issues and solve problems. It sometimes called participatory action research."

"Social innovation refers to new strategies, concepts, ideas and organizations that meet social needs of all kinds - from working conditions and education to sustainable development and health - that extend and strengthen civil society. Research has focused on the types of platforms needed to facilitate such cross-sector collaborative social innovation."

"Transformation design is a human-centered, interdisciplinary process that seeks to create desirable and sustainable changes in behavior and form – of individuals, systems and organizations – often for socially progressive ends. It is a multi-stage, iterative process applied to big, complex issues – often, but not limited to, social issues."

48. One Planet Councils

Today, I attended a presentation and discussion on One Planet Councils, which is based on the One Planet Living framework developed by BioRegional and WWF. It sets out 10 principles for sustainability and provides a very understandable metric - we have one planet, so we need to live within its capacity. If everyone in the world consumed as many natural resources as the average person in Australia we would need four planets to support us. This is clearly unsustainable! One Planet Councils allows Australian local governments to assess their sustainability programs against this simple concept - do we consume more or less than our share of one planet's worth of resources? Ironbark Sustainability has teamed up with  One Planet Living, BioRegional, and the Victorian Local Governance Association to introduce One Planet Councils within Australia. The session highlighted three rather interesting points for me. First, applying One Planet Living to neighbourhoods has significant positive health impacts for residents, predominantly related to using cars less and walking more as well as healthy eating and lifestyles. With health problems and assocaited costs rising in many industrialised countries, the planning of our cities may well become a key approach to tackling this issue. Second, major property developers are now seriously looking at applying One Planet Living across their developments as the benefits associated with lower energy and transport costs as well as a better quality of life are highly valued by customers. Third, some retail stores are applying One Planet Living in their product lines, including what is called "choice editing" when a company removes certain products from its stores, which are identified as not being consistent with One Planet Living. These are all exciting developments!

47. Cities, Sustainability and Solutions!

After many months of work the Special Volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production on Advancing Sustainable Urban Transformation is now published!!! It's been a great experience to be a guest editor working with researchers and practitioners from all around the world. Over 50 authors have contributed to 20 articles based on 35 cases and 130 surveyed examples of urban initiatives on sustainability in many countries. The abstract to the lead article reads "Despite increased awareness of the urgency to respond to climate change and to promote sustainable development, there are few powerful initiatives that are decisively shifting urban development in a sustainable, resilient and low-carbon direction. This Special Volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production explores sustainable urban transformation focusing on structural transformation processes – multi-dimensional and radical change – that can effectively direct urban development towards ambitious sustainability goals. The 20 articles are based on 35 cases and over 130 surveyed examples of urban initiatives on sustainability in many countries. While cities in Europe dominate, there are also examples from North America, South America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. The combined articles in this Special Volume contribute to knowledge and understanding on sustainable urban transformation across a range of areas, including governance and planning, innovation and competitiveness, lifestyle and consumption, resource management and climate mitigation and adaptation, transport and accessibility, buildings, and the spatial environment and public space. Overall, this Special Volume documents and analyses real-life action in cities and communities around the world to respond to sustainability challenges and it provides critical insights into how to catalyse, intensify and accelerate sustainable urban transformation globally. A main finding of the articles is that governance and planning are the key leverage points for transformative change."

Read the lead article and see the entire Special Volume.

46. 100 Resilient Cities

To enable 100 cities to better address major 21st century challenges, the Rockefeller Foundation is inviting cities from around the world to apply for the:

100 Resilient Cities Centennial Challenge

In August, cities can be nominated through a formal application process.
Winning cities will be announced in three rounds over the next three years, with the final round of winners named in 2015.
Each winning city will receive:

1. Membership in the 100 Resilient Cities Network which will provide support to member cities and share new knowledge and resilience best practices.
2. Support to hire a Chief Resilience Officer to oversee the development of a resilience strategy for the city and be part of a learning network of other CROs.
3. Support to create a resilience plan, along with tools and resources for implementation.

Now is the time for action to ensure our cities remain places of opportunity for the next 100 years.
- See more at: http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/100-resilient-cities#sthash.atfkTk7y.dpuf

The Rockefeller Foundation has launched a program called "100 Resilient Cities" with the aim to enable 100 cities to better address major 21st century challenges and become more resilient. Cities can be nominated through a formal application process. Winning cities will be announced in three rounds over three years. Each winning city will receive the following:

1. Membership in the 100 Resilient Cities Network which will provide support to member cities and share new knowledge and resilience best practices.
2. Support to hire a Chief Resilience Officer to oversee the development of a resilience strategy for the city and be part of a learning network of other CROs.
3. Support to create a resilience plan, along with tools and resources for implementation.

I could imagine Stockholm is a likely candidate. Stockholm has been ranked very highly in sustainability and environmental awards, and the city is home to the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC). This is an international centre that advances transdisciplinary research for governance of social-ecological systems and resilience.

Melbourne must also be a chance to join such a network. Both Stockholm and Melbourne are members of the C40 Cities Climate Leadship Group. Based in Melbourne, the Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab (VEIL) works extensively with resilience. It seems to me that the presence of research-innovation collaborations like the SRC and VEIL are critical to cities becoming more resilient making programs and activities likes "100 Resilient Cities" a success.