A user guide to engage citizens in the Valencia Climate Alliance

SSH CENTRE (Social Sciences and Humanities for Climate, Energy aNd Transport Research Excellence) is a Horizon Europe project, engaging directly with stakeholders across research, policy, and business (including citizens) to strengthen social innovation, SSH-STEM collaboration, transdisciplinary policy advice, inclusive engagement, and SSH communities across Europe, accelerating the EU’s transition to carbon neutrality. 
SSH CENTRE is based in a range of activities related to Open Science, inclusivity and diversity – especially with regards Southern and Eastern Europe and different career stages –  including: development of novel SSH-STEM collaborations to facilitate the delivery of the EU Green Deal; SSH knowledge brokerage to support regions in transition; and the effective design of strategies for citizen engagement in EU R&I activities. Outputs include action-led agendas and building stakeholder synergies through regular Policy Insight events.This is captured in a high-profile virtual SSH CENTRE generating and sharing best practice for SSH policy advice, overcoming fragmentation to accelerate the EU’s journey to a sustainable future.

The documents uploaded here are outputs from the SSH CENTRE's Knowledge Brokerage programme. Through the KB programme, six teams of PhD and Early Career Researchers were partnered with a European municipality to undertake a Knowledge Brokerage Initiative. The Knowledge Brokerage Initiatives undertaken related to key challenges of the EU Green Deal, namely: local climate strategies; resource efficiency/sufficiency and circular economy; Energy Communities; fossil-free heating and cooling; Mobility Communities; and, digital mobility platforms.    

The report uploaded here is from the Knowledge Brokerage Initiative undertaken in Valencia, Spain, which focused on local climate strategies. The report is a user guide for engaging citizens in planning and implementing climate strategies. The user guide outlines a 5-step approach for enaging citizens with climate targets: 1) discovery, 2) entry, 3) climate targets, 4) implementation, and 5) monitoring. Examples from participation initiatives across Europe are drawn upon to show the importance of considering the diversity of citizens’ motivations, backgrounds and trust requirements.