The roles and the goals of the city/region are the two axis of the “contribution” heading. The role, how the city/region acts in relation to climate/sustainability and innovation, is divided into three main categories. The goals, what the city/region has set as the target and vision for its work, is also divided in three main categories.
Many cities/regions belong to multiple categories depending on what part of the city/region that is assessed. In addition, many cities/regions are changing fast. This is why the assessment tool allows for multiple sources for the benchmarking.
Expanding from only how to also what
The roles the city/region have are at the core of this assessment. Regardless of goals, the key is the actual roles the city/region have in society. This is important to understand as too many cities/regions focus on how they can communicate different goals, rather than focus on what roles they actually have. The current focus on scope 1-3 reduction for example, that is important, has also contributed to a situation where many cities/regions only look inwards to HOW they produce things and how they can report reduced emissions from their territorial area, instead of asking WHAT human needs the deliver on, what they export/contribute to the world, and what their actual impact in society is.
A fact that is not discussed enough is that many cities/regions are already significant solution providers, but due to the static problem focus they only see measures to reduce scope 1-3 emission reduction as relevant.
The three main expansions moving forward
- Approach: From a static problem approach to a dynamic solution approach
- Agenda: From a sector driven innovation agenda to a human need driven climate and innovation agenda
- Focus: From a single stakeholder/area focus to a clusters for solutions focus
