The latest SDG Academy kicked off the academic year by bringing together researchers, policymakers and citizens for an inspiring discussion on how local climate action can become more inclusive, effective and lasting. Hosted by the Amsterdam Sustainability Institute (ASI), Ananya Tiwari and Daniël Hogendoorn shared perspectives on meaningful citizen engagement, participatory approaches and the challenges of turning local climate initiatives into long-term change.
Connecting people and policy for lasting local climate action.
That was at the heart of our recent session, bringing together Ananya Tiwari, an interdisciplinary social science researcher at Alternet, and Daniël Hogendoorn, Senior Strategist at the City of Amsterdam. While Dagan Cohen, Director of the Amsterdam Donut Coalition, was unable to join due to illness, we hope to welcome him to an SDG Academy session in the future. Stay tuned!
We had a nice mix of students, staff and externals attending, who were quite engaged in the discussion that followed the presentations. As the event was held in a hybrid format, some participants also joined online and followed the discussion from home. Thank you to everyone who joined us, both in person and online!
So now let's dive into the recap:
Shifting from participation to ownership
Ananya shared insights from her research and work at the science-policy interface, focusing on how citizens can be meaningfully incorporated into local climate strategies.
Her work with Living Labs brings together academia, public authorities, civil society, businesses and communities to co-design and test solutions.
Examples from Turkey, Ireland, Spain and Italy demonstrated both the potential and the challenges of this approach. Across these cases, a recurring challenge was the gap between people's willingness to act and their ability to influence or implement change. Ananya highlighted several lessons: engage diverse communities, combine academic knowledge with real-world experience, build long-term relationships, provide adequate resources, monitor each project, and be clear about what participation can realistically achieve.
At the end of her presentation, she shared the user guide for the SSH CENTRE for Energy, Climate and Mobility, filled with interesting solutions, which can be accessed here.
If you are interested in learning more about her work and diving deeper into her research and findings, you can also access her website.
Designing participation with power and context in mind
Daniël brought a municipal perspective to the conversation, exploring what participation looks like when climate ambitions have to be translated into real decisions and processes. It is important to note that he participated in the session in his personal capacity. The views and perspectives expressed during the discussion were his own and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the City of Amsterdam.
His presentation challenged us to think about how participation is designed, who has influence, and how power dynamics shape the outcome. He also reflected on different approaches to public dialogue and participation, and the importance of establishing clear expectations from the beginning.
Q&A
The conversation that followed brought both perspectives together and questions among participants. A central discussion emerged: how can pilots and participatory projects become lasting change rather than one-off initiatives?
Both speakers pointed to the complexity of this challenge. Short-term funding, institutional fragmentation, political cycles and the need to coordinate across departments can all make continuity difficult. At the same time, successful approaches require commitment, monitoring and collaboration well beyond the initial project phase.
Afterwards, we enjoyed some drinks and snacks, giving the speakers and attendees an opportunity to continue the conversation, exchange ideas and interact in a more informal setting.
The bigger takeaway
Meaningful climate action is not only about having the right solutions. It is also about creating the conditions for people, institutions and knowledge to work together over the long term.
Thank you to Ananya and Daniël for sharing their perspectives and to everyone who joined the discussion. And a special thank you to Dagan for preparing his presentation. We hope to have another opportunity to hear his perspective with the ASI community in the future.
Some slides can be shared upon request. Feel free to send us a message, and we’ll do our best to help!
Stay tuned for our next events by viewing the ASI Agenda here!