Knowledge of just urban sustainability

There is a need to review the current social organisation of knowledge in a city. This is the conclusion of the first of a series of articles to be published in the journal Local Environment by researchers at the Mistra Urban Futures Local Interaction Platforms.

Whose interests are being served, Tim May and Beth Perry ask in this article. There is a gap between the content of the knowledge and the context in which it is being implemented, the authors say, and new ways of practising collaborative research are required to open up to engagement with new forms of knowledge. Differences in context, practices and forms of knowledge must be acknowledged. Then it should be possible to contribute to just and sustainable futures for the many, not the few.

There will be differences regarding the ‘what’ and the ‘how’, i.e. the issues to be discussed and the capability to take action. But in order to achieve that, it requires both an effective organisation and inclusion also of those who often are excluded, say May and Perry.

The article is part of a forthcoming supplement to Local Environment, the International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, published by Taylor & Francis. The supplement summarises the experiences of the GAPS project, Governance and Policy for Sustainability, that was a comparative project between Mistra Urban Futures’ platforms in Cape Town, Manchester (now Sheffield/Manchester) and Gothenburg.

For further information, please contact Beth Perry or Jan Riise