Paper short abstract:

How are Norwegian cities and citizens responding to the pressing challenge of climate change? By dialoguing about two different climate change governance initiatives we aim to engage with innovative co-presentation formats and examine lessons for the governance of urban transitions.

Paper long abstract:

How are Norwegian cities and citizens responding to the pressing challenge of climate change? Drawing on our research experiences with two diametrically opposed yet concurrent initiatives, we aim to engage in a dialogue that examines how transitions towards more sustainable forms of city are shaped and performed in Norway. The first initiative is 'Cities of the Future' (CoF), a top-down, innovative and knowledge-intensive program running from 2008 to 2014. CoF was a networked structure to foster comprehensive collaboration among governance levels for the sustainable development of metropolitan areas. The second experience is our participation in the IEE-funded project 'useITsmartly'. This project engaged high school students in finding solutions for behavioral change towards more energy efficient ICT use and for communication strategies that lead to action and practice changes.

By dialoguing about these experiences we aim to engage with innovative co-presentation formats and examine similitudes and differences between two radically different approaches to climate change governance. What kind of lessons can we draw for the governance of climate change from putting these two experiences together?