Dialogue for decision-making: unpacking the ‘City Learning Lab’ approach

Sukaina Bharwani; Mònica Coll Besa

SEI working paper

Dialogue for decision-making: unpacking the ‘City Learning Lab’ approach

This paper describes an approach designed to facilitate multi-disciplinary problem-solving at the intersection of climate change and rapid urbanization in five cities in Southern Africa.

Sukaina Bharwani, Mònica Coll Besa / Published on 22 February 2017

Citation

Arrighi, J., Koelle, B., Coll Besa, M., Spires, M., Kavonic, J., Scott, D., Kadihasanoglu, A., Bharwani, S. and C. Jack (2016). Dialogue for decision-making: unpacking the ‘City Learning Lab’ approach. Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre Working Paper no. 7, The Hague, Netherlands.

The approach was developed and is being used by the Future Resilience for African Cities and Lands (FRACTAL) project, which aims to advance and integrate scientific knowledge into climate-sensitive decisions at the city and regional scales. FRACTAL is designed to strengthen collaboration between researchers, city officials and other key decision-makers in Southern Africa, and improve decisions on issues of water, energy or food security over the next five to 40 years. The use of such shared learning-processes for urban decision-making in Southern Africa is new.

The paper presents a review of key research relevant to the City Learning Lab process, including an exploration of the global socio-political and environmental context; a discussion of the complexity and interconnected nature of city systems; a review of knowledge production and inclusive decision-making within a city context to reinforce resilience; and a discussion of how to maximize individual and collective learning.

The paper concludes with an outline of the City Learning Lab process and how it connects to those themes, and explains how it will be used in the five cities, starting in March 2017.

Learn more and download the paper (external link to weADAPT)