Organizer: Pia Laborgne
Format: Online, Evening
Abstract:
Integrativity in complexity: knowledge co-creation at the food-water-energy nexus Major challenges in urban governance concern interlinking food, water and energy systems, making these linkages understandable to all stakeholders (government, science, business, and citizens), and facilitating cooperation and knowledge exchange. An approach to transform knowledge creation and local governance are Urban Living Labs. They can provide a framework for the creation of socio-technical interfaces such as new communication and participation platforms. Those interfaces can potentially improve processes of local knowledge co-creation, cooperation and citizen participation. A major challenge is the complexity of the FWE nexus which accentuates concerns around the integrativeness of the ULL approaches. The session thus intends to focus on “integrativity in complexity”, discussing different approaches to making visible and understandable the nexus connections as well as to the active integration of different societal groups. Major questions to be discussed are: • How can visibility and comprehensibility of the FWE nexus be improved locally? • How can knowledge co-creation be realized linked to a crucial but rather abstract concept as the FWE nexus? • How can we make sure not only to address and integrate the “usual suspects” but different societal groups, especially those often the most vulnerable to environmental and infrastructural problems? • How can the ULL and FWE nexus thinking be embedded into the local communities? • How can knowledge co-creation contribute to scientific knowledge building regarding the urban FWE nexus as well as to local sustainability governance? The session will consist of five very short presentations and of a fishbowl discussion on questions around the realization of integrativity of urban living labs in view of complexity and different social groups.
Themes: Knowledge-to-Action, Sustainability for Who?