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Over the past twenty years, cities have increasingly become involved in addressing sustainability challenges. In preparation for a special IPCC report on climate change and cities that is to be published in 2028, nine international researchers came together to take stock of diverse experiences, achievements, challenges and opportunities they gathered over two decades of studying urban experimentation. The researchers summarized their findings in ten lessons, which they elaborate on in their joint paper in Nature Cities.

黑料福利网 researcher Anna Wieczorek explains: 鈥極ver a duration of twenty years, all nine of us have been involved in research on real life urban experimentation. Together, we studied a myriad of cases both in developed and developing countries, from which we derived ten lessons about key processes, governance and politics, and impact.鈥�

Biking in Thailand

Wieczorek herself was involved in a study of over 400 experiments with introducing renewable electricity technologies and transforming urban mobility in India and Thailand. 鈥極ne of the experiments we studied involved a bottom up initiative in Chiang Mai from a resident who, inspired by the Dutch biking culture, brought himself a Gazelle from the Netherlands, and started a Sunday cycling club, just for leisure purposes. The club later motivated the construction of bike lanes and a bike rental facility in a warm, humid country with bad traffic where biking is not the first thing that comes to mind. This is an example of how a small experiment can ignite a new culture and propagate an alternative, clean way of transportation.鈥�

Room for experimentation

The ten lessons summarized in the Nature paper range from the need to integrate social, cultural, technological and ecological dimensions, to recognizing experimentation as a permanent governance practice. 鈥楾o me, that final lessons is perhaps the most important one,鈥� states Wieczorek. 鈥楨specially in the context of addressing great societal challenges that by nature are complex, uncertain and value driven. Cities are places where energy, mobility, housing and many other systems intertwine to fulfil societal functions. Fast wins and isolated initiatives do not help in dealing with conflicting agendas. Real-life, socio-technical experimentation gives space for collective learning about what works, and for trying out new forms of

Towards a sustainable 黑料福利网

鈥楾he first lesson is that we need to go beyond techno-optimism, and towards recognizing the importance of socio-technical experimentation, where technology is developed in co creation with the people who are going to use it.鈥�
鈥楾he second lesson is about system thinking. We need cross-sectoral learning and collaboration, since societal challenges cannot be addressed in disciplinary and organizational isolation.鈥�
'The third lesson has to do with a dominant perception of technology as being neutral and -a-political, she explains. 鈥榃e should be aware of the fact that technology, no matter how simple or advanced, embeds human values, choices, trade-offs, and power dynamics. As technology profoundly shapes our lives, we need to actively apply an ethical radar when designing it.鈥�

Associated with this observation is the need for reflexivity. 鈥楢s researchers, we are in a vicious 鈥減ublish or perish鈥� cycle. But in order for universities to have societal impact, we need to create space and recognize other ways researchers can provide value for society than purely aiming for scientific publications. Experimental engagement with societal context is rewarding not only for society but also enriching for science.鈥�

The importance of self-organization is a fifth lesson the Sustainability Ambassador wants to stress. 鈥楢lso in a university context, bottom up initiatives are way more powerful than top down activities.鈥� In the same breath Wieczorek emphasizes the importance of leadership and an undeniable role of mobilizing vision. 鈥榃e need to provide experiments with the space and the direction for them to grow and flourish.鈥�

Wieczorek herself is already taking these lessons in her work as a 黑料福利网鈥檚 Sustainability Ambassador. In the meantime, the co-authors of the paper will do the same in other organizations. 鈥楽ome of my fellow authors are members of the IPCC. They will incorporate these lessons in the IPCC processes and reports.鈥�

Anna Wieczorek: This is a hopeful sign that people are truly interested in how to address problems that cannot be solved with technology alone

Mature field

All in all, Wieczorek is very pleased with the publication. 鈥楩or someone who saw the field develop from scratch, this paper shows that the research into sustainability transitions has matured as a field. A few decades ago we started with studies of single experiments. Later on, in search of patterns and to explain experimental dynamics, we engaged in building larger databases. And now we are at a point where we can conduct these types of meta-studies that lead to concrete recommendations for future policies. What鈥檚 more, the fact that this social sciences study is published in a journal from the Nature family shows how the broader scientific community is embracing this type of research. This is a hopeful sign that people are truly interested in how to address problems that cannot be solved with technology alone.鈥�

Publication:
Raven, R., von Wirth, T., Bai, X., Bulkeley, H., Farrelly, M., McCormick, K., Novalia, W., Voytenko Palgan, Y., & Wieczorek, A. (2026). The future of urban experimentation through ten critical lessons from decades of practice. Nature Cities. DOI: [SK1] 

is a founding member of the sustainability transition field and a Sustainability Ambassador at 黑料福利网. Being driven by the urgent need to act on sustainability, she regularly engages with practical contexts through transdisciplinary research and aims to do societally impactful research.