TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bansard, Jennifer S.
A1  - Hickmann, Thomas
A1  - Kern, Kristine
T1  - Pathways to urban sustainability
BT  - How science can contribute to sustainable development in cities
JF  - GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society
N2  - Recent years have seen a considerable broadening of the ambitions in urban sustainability policy-making. With its Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, the 2030 Agenda stresses the critical role of cities in achieving sustainable development. In the context of SDG17 on partnerships, emphasis is also placed on the role of researchers and other scientific actors as change agents in the sustainability transformation. Against this backdrop, this article sheds light on different pathways through which science can contribute to urban sustainability. In particular, we discern four forms of science-policy-society interactions as key vectors: 1. sharing knowledge and providing scientific input to urban sustainability policy-making; 2. implementing transformative research projects; 3. contributing to local capacity building; and 4. self-governing towards sustainability. The pathways of influence are illustrated with empirical examples, and their interlinkages and limitations are discussed. We contend that there are numerous opportunities for actors from the field of sustainability science to engage with political and societal actors to enhance sustainable development at the local level.
KW  - cities
KW  - science-policy interactions
KW  - SDG 11
KW  - sustainable development
KW  - urban sustainability
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.28.2.9
SN  - 0940-5550
VL  - 28
IS  - 2
SP  - 112
EP  - 118
PB  - Oekom Verlag
CY  - München
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Fuhr, Harald
A1  - Hickmann, Thomas
A1  - Kern, Kristine
T1  - The role of cities in multi-level climate governance
BT  - local climate policies and the 1.5 degrees C target
JF  - Current opinion in environmental sustainability
N2  - The past two decades have witnessed widespread scholarly interest in the role of cities in climate policy-making. This research has considerably improved our understanding of the local level in the global response to climate change. The present article synthesizes the literature on local climate policies with respect to the 1.5 degrees C target. While most studies have focused on pioneering cities and networks, we contend that the broader impacts of local climate actions and their relationship to regional, national, and international policy frameworks have not been studied in enough detail. Against this backdrop, we introduce the concept of upscaling and contend that local climate initiatives must go hand in hand with higher-level policies and be better integrated into the multi-level governance system.
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cosust.2017.10.006
SN  - 1877-3435
SN  - 1877-3443
VL  - 30
SP  - 1
EP  - 6
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Oxford
ER  -