CrAFt Cities Session 8 delved into adjusting a city’s climate-neutral programmes and projects and implementing corrective actions most effectively.
Klara Dvorakova, from the University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings (UCEEB) at Czech Technical University in Prague (ČVUT), shared how city organisations in Prague are cooperating to overcome challenges such as the lack of information exchange among them, sharing good practices effectively, avoid competing for the same funds and avoid project discontinuity.
Among the solutions to their challenges, they decided to establish a cross-disciplinary Innovation Team for New European Bauhaus (NEB). They gathered city departments, municipal subsidiary organisations, artists, researchers, etc., to work together, cooperate in organising events, share information among them, etc.
As a result, they introduced NEB principles in city planning —sustainable transport, energy transformation, cooperation with artists, etc. They are also building Smart Prague Space to support the sustainable development ecosystem in the city.
According to Klara, the key to the initiative’s success was building trustamong the participants, adopting democratic decision-making processes and effectively transferring knowledge and learnings.
After Prague’s presentation, the participants split into three groups to discuss how cities agree with their stakeholders to assess their projects’ implementation and adjust when needed.
Several participants agreed that connecting to local organisations and groups based on their interests was the most effective way to approach them.
We also discussed how difficult it is to measure some vital factors for the New European Bauhaus, such as the stakeholder level of involvement, agreement on shared values or motivation to implement change.
In conclusion, listening to stakeholders, building trust with them and ensuring we implement their suggestions are some of the best ways to keep them engaged in our participatory projects.