Description
Cities are central to the climate and ecological crisis, but they can also be the solution. Carbon emissions, inequality, and political decisions converge in the city, where their impacts are amplified and felt most acutely. Yet beyond the crisis, cities are also where communities form, cooperatives develop alternatives, and local government decisions can be made much faster than at the national level.
The Cities Beyond Growth project focuses on the educational dimension of fostering necessary change. Between 2024 and 2026, the project designed, tested, and refined a two-part educational program—a general online course and a locally tailored module with in-person sessions—offered to approximately 1,300 stakeholders worldwide and implemented across six specific cities. The goal was not only to build knowledge, but also to design educational processes that directly empower communities and local government representatives to become driving forces for inclusive, democratic post-growth transitions in their own cities.
The project offers concrete examples, strategic pathways, and policy recommendations across five domains of basic needs: energy, housing, food, mobility, and digital technology. Developed for policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and anyone working to transform cities, it provides both inspiration and practical guidance for building cities where people and planet can thrive within planetary boundaries.
In collaboration with: Transnational Institute, FUHEM, NaZemi, Oikos, and IPE – Institute for Political Ecology.
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