QUICK READS
Quick Reads are short overviews of key NetZeroCities concepts providing essential information in a practical and visual way. More comprehensive resources and additional information will be available in the knowledge repository.
MONITORING & LEARNING FOR IMPACT
Rapid decarbonization by 2030 requires measured impact as much as strategic objectives. Effective monitoring helps quantify progress of the portfolio of actions implemented, strengthens transparency, legitimacy and assesses the effectiveness of solutions. System-wide transformation for decarbonisation requires multi-sector monitoring and rapid evaluation cycles, while also measuring co-benefits as part of an integrated approach. Understanding the bigger picture also requires both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Monitoring progress thus allows cities to evaluate, adjust and improve actions towards climate-neutrality, accelerating learning and thus impact, reducing risk of greenwashing.
As the pathway to full decarbonisation by 2030 is often not yet clear, it also involves experimentation, testing of solutions and pathways towards climate-neutrality. Decarbonisation demands both early wins that are visible to all and more gradual changes that enable significant transformations later on. Cities are already recognising that these multidimensional outcomes, beyond sole reductions in emission levels are important to understand the way forward. Learning can be challenging when these gradual changes, such as governance shifts or behavioural changes, are difficult to even detect, measure and make sense of. These qualitative insights are highly subjective, based on the perception of local communities and citizens who need to be engaged in learning. Therefore, cities which are intentional about learning and impact, grow their capacity and confidence to drive the transition.
As the pathway to full decarbonisation by 2030 is often not yet clear, it also involves experimentation, testing of solutions and pathways towards climate-neutrality. Decarbonisation demands both early wins that are visible to all and more gradual changes that enable significant transformations later on. Cities are already recognising that these multidimensional outcomes, beyond sole reductions in emission levels are important to understand the way forward. Learning can be challenging when these gradual changes, such as governance shifts or behavioural changes, are difficult to even detect, measure and make sense of. These qualitative insights are highly subjective, based on the perception of local communities and citizens who need to be engaged in learning. Therefore, cities which are intentional about learning and impact, grow their capacity and confidence to drive the transition.
MONITORING & LEARNING IN NETZEROCITIES
Many cities already have extensive in-house expertise developed through years of reporting and dedication to learning. NetZeroCities will enable them to build on this and support cities where there has been more limited capacity with a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework.
At city level
Progress monitoring for Mission Cities will allow tracking advancement towards pathways outlined in Climate City Contract (CCC) Action Plan. Based on the outlined pathways, Mission Cities will be able to choose from four comprehensive indicator sets analogous to four key fields of action (GHG impact, social innovation, green infrastructure and finance). The baseline for the cities’ progress monitoring will be an agreed GHG baseline as well as baseline data for monitoring of co-benefits, against which progress can be assessed and actions be developed.
Through continuous learning and sensemaking cities will observe, reflect, take stock and synthesise these progress data to generate real-time insights. It enables more agile governance : understanding which solutions are working, in what contexts, for whom and why. Cities’ response to these insights with actions will support the scalability and transferability of interventions across critical emission domains and city-contexts.
Through continuous learning and sensemaking cities will observe, reflect, take stock and synthesise these progress data to generate real-time insights. It enables more agile governance : understanding which solutions are working, in what contexts, for whom and why. Cities’ response to these insights with actions will support the scalability and transferability of interventions across critical emission domains and city-contexts.
In clusters
Peer-to-peer learning spaces are important to build trust and synergies, creating a safe learning environment in which cities feel empowered to exchange insights on barriers and failures, encouraging necessary course-correction of their respective pathways. Collective sensemaking will support the measurement of progress towards climate-neutrality. Actors in cities will examine and evaluate both qualitative and quantitative data and compare them with the expected impacts and outcomes. This includes hard-to-measure early indications of positive change, co-benefits of decarbonisation, as well as risks and assumptions. The insights collected through these learning activities will be collated and synthesised to make them useful to others within the municipality, across the city, as well as with other Mission Cities through clusters. This ensures that lessons learnt are widely shared and will help inform cities’ actions and decision-making.
At Mission level
Mission-wide monitoring will help evaluate the performance of the Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities and its contribution to making Europe a climate-neutral continent by 2050. It will also be used to evaluate the criteria for the Mission Label awarded by the European Commission for outstanding Climate City Contracts (CCC).
Overall, it is important to use the potential of Open Data as a means to enhance the Mission work. By making data available to relevant actors, there is greater transparency, accountability, interoperability and potential for collaboration, so that new approaches and tools can be developed and deployed rapidly.
Overall, it is important to use the potential of Open Data as a means to enhance the Mission work. By making data available to relevant actors, there is greater transparency, accountability, interoperability and potential for collaboration, so that new approaches and tools can be developed and deployed rapidly.
Inspiration
UNDP Sensemaking
UNDP Sensemaking practice set up for a network of Accelerator Labs in 115 countries designed and deployed complexity and systems thinking tools/methods to enable peer-learning models and accelerate learning across a global community of public sector practitioners towards 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Urban Living Labs
Urban Living Labs initiatives provide a setting in which multi-actor coalitions can test, develop and co-create innovative solutions to generate accelerated learning about urban challenges. For example: AMS Institute - Urban Living Labs (ams-institute.org)
Healthy Clean Cities
The Healthy, Clean Cities Deep Demonstration orchestrated by EIT Climate-KIC supported a cohort of ambitious EU cities to establish a strategic learning practice. It co-developed an impact logic for place-based experimentation and deployed ‘sensemaking’ cycles to generate actionable insights to inform design and implementation.
CITYLOOPS
The CityLoops project has developed an advanced indicator framework for measuring (climate) and other impacts of materials circularity. The framework is applied in 7 pilot cities across Europe.
Science-based targets
Science-based targets (SBT) are promoted by ICLEI, C40, WRI and CDP, among others. SBTs and their indicators are based on a carbon-budgeting approach and are applied by an increasing number of cities globally (link to related Guidance).
Going Further
ON MONITORING & REPORTING
ON LEARNING
- Human Learning Systems reports and related resources
- UNDP Sensemaking Workshop and Facilitation Guide
- Measurement for Learning: Values & Principles (Centre for Public Impact)
- Clarke, T., Preskill, H., Stevenson, A., & Schwartz, P. (2019).
- Building a Culture of Learning: Teaching a Complex Organization How to Fish. The Foundation Review, 11(1).
- MOTION Handbook: Developing A Transformative Theory Of Change (Transformative Innovation Policy Consortium)
- MOVE21: Reflective Monitoring Guide
- Reflection Methods: Tools to make learning more meaningful - Practical Guide for Trainers and Facilitators (Wageningen University & Research)
- Hivos Theory of Change thinking in practice: A stepwise approach
- Building a Culture of Learning at Scale: Learning Networks for Systems Change. A Scoping Paper (Orange Compass for the Paul Ramsay Foundation)