Case Study Library

To tackle air pollution and climate-related challenges, Milan has devised and executed a groundbreaking initiative to engage citizens in sustainability planning – the Permanent Citizens' Assembly on Climate. By fostering inclusive deliberations, the Assembly puts forth tangible recommendations for the city's long term sustainable development agenda. Its innovative model guides an equitable transition that positively impacts all residents ensuring durable civic participation in policymaking.

The project considered the main needs that the Senate is facing: -The need to facilitate citizens' access to public information, large number of requests, long time for responses -Time consuming processes, the need to streamline internal processes -The need to improve transparency of national decision-making process -Low digital skills of employees The project is innovative by digitizing internal workflows (mostly used only paper format), employee training and external processes for citizens

Individuals often experience managing tasks related to individual finances and debt as burdensome and shameful. As a response, Financial advice clinics in Finland provide anonymous, low-threshold guidance and advice for citizens with small and large financial questions without booking an appointment. Citizens have the possibility to meet professionals from different fields simultaneously, and receive help for their financial issues at the same location.

The Sola calculation tool allows estimate the economic impact of 25 distinct social phenomena at municipal, regional and national level. Impact assessments at one, five and ten year intervals can lead decision-makers to better understand how to invest in wellbeing and accelerate impact investing. Results of the tool have been used in several municipalities as part of health and wellbeing promotion. A MOOC course has been developed and similar calculation tools are recently being used in other…

Santo Stefano di Sessanio is a rural village affected by long-standing depopulation and marginalisation phenomena that need to be effectively tackled. Seizing the opportunity of funds for socio-economic revitalisation, a participatory process was promoted to identify a framework of proposals responding to real local needs and aimed at improving the attractiveness and liveability of the village, while strengthening the local community's sense of trust, spirit of cooperation and responsibility.

DCCEEW partnered with the CSIRO to develop a novel approach to track social licence for the energy transition. A valid and reliable survey instrument was designed and deployed to measure Australian attitudes and behavioural intentions towards the energy transition. As the energy transition has been met with concern from communities, results from this survey are key to developing evidence-base policy, and to bassline and track social licence to ensure a speedy and just energy transition.

Cyd (pronounced “Keyed”) is the community-led platform for procurement and commercial practitioners across the public sector in Wales. It’s helping the Welsh public sector to learn from and support each other to implement policy through their day-to-day activities, in line with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. The characteristics of Cyd are: user-centred, design-led, iterative and incremental, collaborative, multidisciplinary, and working in the open - inherently…

Digital attacks such as online fraud, data misuse, phishing and cyberbullying are on the rise. Many victims do not know where to turn. The "Cybercrime Helpline", a call center service by the City of Vienna, offers fast and uncomplicated support. Existing services were integrated into rapid iteration cycles, organizational interfaces were created and the working method was established. The extension of the successful service by a highly topical subject area underlines the innovative approach.

Launched in 2021, the Smart Agriculture Boxes Project aimed to address critical challenges faced by farmers in Mpumalanga South Africa through the creation of an growing box.  These challenges included limited land availability, water scarcity, and the imperative for sustainable agricultural practices. The box has a water-efficient design, maximizes crop yields, and is mobile and relocatable. The initiative recognized the profound impact of these issues on food security, poverty, and…

The City of Austin has piloted an anticipatory governance tool named the Civic Research Agenda (CRA) to help the City become future-ready in the face of complex civic challenges. The CRA leverages a strategic foresight methodology to proactively plan for plausible future scenarios and identify implications for decision-making today, thus moving the City away from reactionary and short-sighted policy making and enable it to “look around the corner” to future challenges and opportunities.