Co-constructing indicators for transformative change in urban climate transitions

Important results from the project

Mission-oriented policy programmes and transition governance aim at long-term transformative change in response to grand societal challenges. There are still great uncertainties about how to monitor, follow-up and learn the ongoing transformation process in order to recalibrate and adjust policies as the transition unfolds. This project has developed indicators for such change processes in a co-creation process with the municipalities of Stockholm and Linköping.

Expected long term effects

The results of the project are an important element in making processes of transformative change more transparent and better governable. What the project also shows is the importance of reflecting on and actively working with quantitative or qualitative indications of change by those implementing the programme in contrast to external evaluations. The project thus opens up new opportunities and provides concrete strategies for an ongoing and learning-oriented monitoring of transformative change.

Approach and implementation

Carrying out the project involved conceptual work on different types of indicators for transformative change and operationalising these in practical contexts. In three workshops in Stockholm and Linköping, participants went through a co-creation process in different steps: mapping out socio-technical systems within concrete transition arenas (urban planning and circularity), developing future visions and specifying indicators showing whether one is on the right trajectory of change.