How can we ACT for just sustainable cities?
The Urban Arena #4 focused on policy actions for city-makers to make their cities more just and sustainable. This blogpost is based on the discussions from session 3: “What do we mean by action?” facilitated by Ian M. Cook (Central European University) and session 6: “Triggering action — plenary of takeaway actions”.
“Action” is not just a buzzword for us!
Most of us struggle to define alone how we can and should act. In order to materialize thoughts into actions for better, more just, and sustainable cities, we need to make the different forms of action more visible and approachable.
Anthropologist Carole Ferret presents that there are different dimensions of human actions. Action can be, for example, operation (doing it yourself) or manipulation (making someone else to do it); active, passive, or interventionist; alone, done by a third party or together with the “object” of the action, direct (leads to objective) or indirect (step along the way), continuous (regular) or discontinuous (one off), easy or difficult and so on.
All these dimensions, and more, were mentioned during the Arena participants’ dialogue on the meaning of actions and types of actions.
Think and do
Actions are defined by their meaningfulness and the actors involved. We act in order to solve problems and go beyond the intellectual analysis, we can also be practical and feed the virtuous loop of improving and positively impacting our environment. Thinking, talking and silence can also be part of actions. Reflections and conversations can challenge your thoughts, encourage you and inspire others to get out of their own comfort zones. Eventually, these are healthy steps on your way to implementing solutions for sustainable just cities.
Care and take care
The first ideas about action tend to circulate around acting for a specific objective and the results of the action. It is still important to give space to emotions in the conversation and to acknowledge that many important actions are driven by frustration, oppression, exclusion, despair and anger. Actions can be a way to show these emotions and values, “bringing your own compass into the world”. Acting can be simply about caring, the opposite of indifference.To balance out the previous, there needs to be space for fun in acting. The risk of burnout is strong in action-oriented environments, especially in activism. In order to sustain actions, sometimes it is good to step away from the urge for constant productivity and give space for (self-)care and rejuvenation.
How can city-makers act for just sustainable cities?
City-makers are policy-makers, activists, administrators, entrepreneurs, academics, citizens and those who are interested in transforming cities into sustainable, inclusive and thriving urban environments. They have the power to have an impact, which is why UrbanA challenges city-makers to act for just sustainable futures. Participants shared in a final plenary their individual commitments triggered by the Arena to promote and strengthen justice in their cities:
- Starting an initiative
“I am going to invite an ecofeminist space (that is currently very white and middle class) to meet a group of migrants.”
“I would like to organize urban walks and implement art and co-creation techniques — bringing UrbanA ideas there.”
“I would like to bring the Green Drinks initiative in my current city to overcome the language barriers and connect the local change-makers”.
2. Joining local initiatives
“Civil society needs maintenance — so I will get more engaged with energy civil society.”
“I commit to actively participate in a housing project in my city.”
3. Challenging yourself and others
“I want to become more power literate and understand how power relates to sustainability.”
“I want to engage in more risky/sensitive discussions about race and gender.”
4. Making it concrete
“I want to get my hands dirty — I’ll go out and plant trees and support urban gardens,”
“I want to reconnect with something real and not get lost with the virtual world.”
5. Supporting each other
“I cannot commit to doing more…but my action is to be available here, for you! With resources, and suggestions. I’ll try to tell you YES and support you.”
“ I will reach out to you more! I am sure there will be many opportunities for us to collaborate. The sense that this [UrbanA] doesn’t end today is beautiful…we are not alone!”
“My action will be reminding myself I am not alone in the struggles for sustainability and justice! In other words…Hope!”
6. Using the keys for just sustainable cities
“I want to use the keys as a resource for the organization I work with.”
“ I want to use the keys more to evaluate the sustainable just cities process.”
Ps. Stay tuned…We are launching the 17 keys to unlock sustainable and just cities on October the 20th !
Reference
Ferret, C (2014) Towards an anthropology of action: From pastoral techniques to modes of action
