SONNET is featured as part of the Wiki on Sustainable Just Cities

From its design through to its outputs, SONNET is committed to the co-creation of knowledge. This has many benefits, including making sure that we account for expertise that is too often overlooked. This commitment of ours makes using a so-called “Wiki” a natural fit.

A wiki is a knowledge source that is collaboratively co-created and modified by all its users. It gathers content based on the ‘wisdom of the crowd’ and, as an open source, enables everyone to contribute to generating knowledge.

The UrbanA project, which fosters more sustainable and just cities, has created a Wiki on Sustainable Just Cities, in which users can contribute information on initiatives, projects and approaches towards more just and sustainable cities. The wiki features a plethora of good urban practices – from ‘participatory budgeting’ and ‘nature-based solutions’ to ‘community gardens’ and ‘democratic innovation’. Plus, it includes a page dedicated to SONNET and what we are doing to support sustainable, just cities.

How does SONNET contribute to making our cities more just and sustainable?

SONNET works closely with six European cities to test how local governments can best support social innovation in the energy sector. Bristol, Antwerp, Mannheim, Warsaw, Grenoble and Basel are using their City Labs to address diverse energy-related challenges, such as energy poverty, raising funds for energy efficiency measures, novel governance arrangements, and more.

The experiences gathered in the SONNET City Labs will become a valuable knowledge source for others that are committed to a just and inclusive energy transition. Knowledge gathered will not only support them in implementing innovative energy solutions that have already been tested, but will also inform guidelines to create new ‘experimentation spaces’ for social innovations in energy.  

What’s more, City Labs are not the only important research output of the SONNET project. In order to better understand how social innovations in energy can contribute to more just and sustainable cities, SONNET is working on a range of other research projects, such as a typology of social innovations in energy, in-depth case studies, citizen surveys, research workshops and more. These will help us understand what factors enable social innovation to become a driver for inclusive and just change across energy systems.

A ‘Big Yes’ to the co-creation approach

SONNET is a transdisciplinary project where all partners – whether they hail from academic institutions or local governments – contribute to knowledge-generation. Every SONNET city works together with a designated academic partner, who accompanies them throughout the City Lab project. This way, expertise of all kinds come together to co-create knowledge and solutions.

The Wiki on Sustainable Just Cities is also a co-creation project, which aims to bring together existing knowledge and make it accessible to as many people as possible. It supports inclusive, co-creative, open access and open source approaches to knowledge-generation.

The message from both the Wiki on Sustainable Just Cities and from SONNET is clear: we need relevant and easily accessible knowledge to build more just and sustainable cities!

How can you become part of the Wiki on Sustainable Just Cities?

If you have tested tools or methods that could contribute to making our cities more just and sustainable, and to transitioning our energy systems, become a co-creator on our Wiki.

To become a Wiki user and contributor, follow the steps below:

1. Send an email to tom.henfrey@ecolise.eu to ask for an account and password.
2. Create your user profile.
3. Comment on existing wiki pages.
4. Start editing wiki-pages.
5. Create new pages on approaches, projects and/or initiatives.

And don’t forget to check out – and contribute to! – the SONNET page, here.