We are excited to announce that researchers from the LabGov ETS research team, led by Professor Christian Iaione, have contributed to writing articles for the issue 1/2024 of the legal journal on public services, MUNUS, titled “PARTNERSHIPS FOR INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY”.
The full journal has just been released! You can find it at this link: https://www.rivistamunus.it/munus-rivista-giuridica-dei-servizi-pubblici-1-2024/
The Regulation on Democracy and Urban and Climate Justice in Reggio Emilia unifies in a single text the values and methods to ensure participation and collaboration among urban innovators from different categories, according to the quintuple helix paradigm in the definition and management of public policies. This new regulation collects and updates all previous regulations on civic participation.
In September 2022, the City Council approved the establishment of the Consultas, bodies formed by elected citizens to represent their territories and collaborate with the Municipality in policy planning. Through the Area Agreements, citizens can define their needs and propose them to the Municipality for integration into public policies.
Additionally, the regulation introduces the new Title V, which concerns the collaboration of communities and territories in the co-design phase of interventions, updating the previous regulations in line with the new Public Contracts Code and other national and European laws.
The “Partnerships for Sustainable Development and Innovation,” an evolution of the “Citizenship Agreements,” are defined as multi-actor collaborations for various fields such as climate, cultural heritage, urban regeneration, and energy communities. These Partnerships for Sustainable Development and Innovation involve distributed responsibility and collaboration based on trust.
An important innovation is the Community Budget, a tool to measure the impacts produced by the Partnerships for Sustainable Development and Innovation in terms of costs, actions, resources, and especially generated changes.
The Regulation also enhances the relationship between public administration and knowledge institutions, which has been strengthening on other fronts as well, and has consolidated since 2022 with the establishment of the City Science Office (CSO), an office for applied research to public administration where researchers work side by side with councilors, managers, and officials to design innovative policies and facilitate collaboration with social, economic, civic, and scientific actors from Reggio Emilia, Italy.
The Regulation was developed in collaboration between the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, the Department of Law of Luiss Guido Carli University, LabGov ETS – Laboratory for the governance of commons, the City Science Office of Reggio Emilia, also within the framework of the European Horizon 2020 project EUARENAS.EU-Cities as Arenas of Political Innovation in the Strengthening of Deliberative and Participatory Democracy.
The text was also developed with the scientific contribution of professors and experts in administrative law and public policies on social and public innovation, particularly through two study and in-depth seminars held:
– on February 22, 2023, at LUISS Guido Carli, Rome: “Neighborhood, Common Good: democracy and urban and climate justice in Reggio Emilia. An integrated public policy to achieve urban co-governance for sustainable urban development” with the intervention of Giancarlo Montedoro, President of the Section of the Council of State.
– on December 15, 2023, at Chiostri di San Pietro, Reggio Emilia: “The tools of Urban and Climate Justice in Reggio Emilia: the City Science Office, the community budget as an ESG measurement tool, Community and Area Agreements, the Climate Contract, and the Partnerships for Sustainable Development and Innovation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsP3rNLn6yg
Check out the review of the Co-Cities Book by Sheila Foster and Christian Iaione (The MIT Press) in the Journal of Design and Culture (Taylor & Francis) by Jacob DeGeal.
Click here:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:8e42dd61-7c14-4cab-a9e7-a882579c92bb
“While the authors do warn us of the effects of planet-destroying dystopias of late-stage capitalism and labyrinthian bureaucracies mired in their own processes, they do not fall prey to polemic narratives or bias. They remain hopeful, inspirational, and studious, acknowledging the necessary participation of these power-wielding institutions. By establishing the city as commons, monolithic power structures can be systemically reduced and balanced with the needs and wishes of community members. Co-Cities provides a realistic path forward for communities to apply human-focused collaborative action to their own neighborhoods, and optimize governmental buy-in.”
Sheila Foster and Christian Iaione’s great work with LabGov.City, was also featured in Nature Cities magazine, through an interview with Sheila Foster for the article on “New Inroads for Community-Centric Placemaking,” conducted by Anneliese (Lisa) Palmer.
“As urban challenges mount, community-driven placemaking is gaining traction, with cities empowering residents to shape public spaces like parks and plazas through informal partnerships and decentralized decision-making. This global shift toward a range of partnerships is reshaping urban governance from the ground up.”
Here you can find the full article, read it to gain valuable insights!
Each year, the The American Energy Society spotlights the most extraordinary contributions to energy and sustainability.
We are thrilled to announce that among the winners of the Energy Awards 2023 is the book “Co-Cities: Innovative Transitions toward Just and Self-Sustaining Communities” (The MIT Press), by Sheila Foster and Christian Iaione, awarded in the category of Best Book about the ‘Commons’.
Happy to share with you another achievement!
Discover in the fourth issue of “Law and Society” in 2022 the crucial role of cities in the fight against climate change, responsible for 72% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The European Union responds to this emergency with the mission “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart cities by 2030”.
The EU supports 100 cities in the ambitious goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2030, considering that 85% of Europeans will live in urban areas by 2050.
The focus is on energy communities as a key tool for transitioning to low-carbon economies, involving citizens in the production and management of renewable energy. It introduces the “Co-City Protocol,” an experimental method based on five principles of institutional design that, when maximized, ensure greater sustainability.
Learn more and join the discussion for a sustainable future!