A User Guide to Engage Citizens in the Valencia Climate Alliance: Insights from Social Science and Experiences of European Cities

Valencia has designed an action plan to achieve the ambitious goal of net-zero emissions by 2030. Like other cities engaged in the climate transition, Valencia needs support from other levels of government, businesses, academia, and citizens. Acknowledging the need for socially just transitions and challenges in engaging with citizens for co-creation of local climate action initiatives, this guide shares lessons learned from European cities and social science research to engage citizens in planning and implementing far-reaching climate strategies. This guide adopts a 5-steps approach to engage citizens with climate targets: discovery, entry, climate targets, implementation, and monitoring. The examples of participation initiatives from European cities and Valencia show the importance of considering the diversity of citizens’ motivations, backgrounds and trust requirements.