DEMOCLIM studied the development of new democratic forms of governance in response to climate protests in four Scandinavian cities: Oslo, Bergen, Stockholm and Gothenburg.
The project's starting point was the observed, sharpened conflict over climate policy solutions in cities around the world. The cities must cope with two new and apparently contradictory demands:
1) Reactive social movements. Movements that focus on the distributional effects of climate measures and raise value-related questions. The toll riot in autumn 2019 and resistance to densification are examples of such protests.
2) Proactive social movements. Movements that demand more radical climate policy. School strikes for climate inspired by Greta Thunberg and the organization "Extinction Rebellion" are examples of such protests. Both protest movements challenge the legitimacy of existing policies, and demand changes.
This tension is not only a challenge. It carries also a potential for change, by motivating experimentation and development of new forms of democratic and efficient urban governance.
This potential served as an inspiration for DEMOCLIM, aiming to contribute to democratic development by
1) developing new theoretical and empirical knowledge about co-creative forms of governance in Scandinavian cities;
2) facilitating effective and socially just climate transformation through close cooperation on the development of various forms of co-creation in all cities. The goal was joint learning and collaboration between science, decision-makers and social movements.
The data collection started by mapping of the protest landscape in the four cities. The result laid the foundation for the selection of comparable protest movements across the cities. Both the cities and the protest movements were studied through fieldwork in all four cities on several occasions. We interviewed political and administrative representatives of local authorities and of various protest movements, and we made excursions to relevant areas of the cities. We also arranged six different co-creation events together with the cities. There, various actors, professionals, civil society and academia, explored and discussed the opportunities for co-creation and climate transition.
The project's most important findings can be summarized in the following points:
1. Identifying the democratic space for just climate transition: Comparative similarities and differences between the cities' and movements' channels of democratic participation and engagement
2. Developing a theoretical understanding of climate protests: Theories of populism and social justice as a basis for understanding climate protest and party formation
3. Theoretical and empirical exploration of the transformative capacity of cities: suggestion of co-creational leadership, pragmatic planning roles and context-dependent skills as key transformative capacities
4. Theorizing and empirical mapping of the relationship between ‘the street and the algorithms’: Identification of strategies and measures connecting digital arenas and physical arenas of protests
These research results have been disseminated to professionals, researchers and policymakers, but also to the interested general public and students. As of January 2025, we have published seven scientific articles, 10 popular science contributions, 46 lectures/conference presentations/reports, xx articles in mass media and social media, as well as lectures and events for students at OsloMet, NMBU, Stockholm University and the University of Bergen. Another 10 scientific articles are waiting in the queue of international journals.
Democlim har bidratt til en mer nyansert forståelse av ulike protestbevegelsers motivasjon for å involvere seg i lokale politiske prosesser, og de institusjonelle betingelsene for å ta del i og kunne påvirke byenes klimapolitikk. Funnene viser at bevegelsene som protesterer mot klimatiltak ikke avviser menneskeskapte klimaendringer. Deres motivasjon er å verne om et område eller en aktivitet som er truet av byenes klimapolitikk – i vårt tilfelle fortetting og virkemidler for å redusere bilkjøring og øke bruken av kollektivtransport, sykling og gange. Vi finner også at disse bevegelsenes mulighet for å påvirke klimapolitikken er begrenset til de formelle demokratiske kanalene. Det betyr at de, dersom de er vaktsomme, kan protestere når politiske løsningsforslag foreligger. Dette begrensede rommet for påvirkning skaper mistillit til lokale politikere og administrative og politiske prosesser – de føler seg oversett, misforstått og manipulert. Deres opplevelse er at byene har låst seg til løsninger som ikke er godt faglig begrunnet. De opplever at kunnskapsgrunnlaget er vanskelig tilgjengelig, og at tilgangen til å følge ulike faser i den politiske prosessen er begrenset. Denne opplevelsen står i kontrast til erfaringene bevegelser som ønsker en mer radikal klimapolitikk formidler. Til tross for at de er kritiske til ambisjonsnivået til de valgte politiske løsningene, deler de byenes langsiktige målsettinger. Betingelsene for deres engasjement er derfor annerledes – de har anledning til å spille på lag med byene ved å bidra med konstruktive forslag og kompetanse som byene trenger for å lykkes med sin klimaomstilling.
Ved å sammenlikne det vi kaller for reaktive og proaktive protestbevegelser har vi dermed fått en bedre forståelse for mekanismer som ligger under dagens tendens til backlash i klimapolitikken. For å lykkes med en rettferdig klimaomstilling må byene åpne opp politiske og administrative prosesser tidligere gjennom å gi også grupper som rammes direkte av klimapolitiske tiltak mulighet for å være med å finne fram til løsninger. Utfordringen er å klare å holde fast ved ambisjonsnivået til klimapolitikken samtidig som rommet for mulige løsninger utvides. Det vil være rettferdig klimaomstilling i praksis.
Disse funnene har blitt formidlet via både vitenskapelige, faglige og allmenne kanaler. Vi har blant annet levert innspill til det offentlig oppnevnte klimautvalget, hvor også en av prosjektdeltakerne var medlem. Vi har også inngått i direkte dialog med Stockholm om innretningen av deres nye klimastrategi, Bergen om innretningen på gjestebud-modellen de arrangerte for å få innspill til ny klimastrategi, Gøteborg om utvikling og gjennomføring av et medborgerråd og bidratt til gjennomføring av to samskapingsarenaer i Oslo. Forskningsresultatene har også fungert som en plattform for å inngå nye internasjonale forskningssamarbeid.
DEMOCLIM investigates novel democratic governance approaches to the design and implementation of efficient and socially just climate policies in response to climate protests in four Scandinavian cities (Oslo & Bergen and Stockholm & Gothenburg). Although climate change is widely seen as “the defining issue of our time” (UN 2018), the past couple of years have seen a growing political backlash against core dimensions of more ambitious climate policies in Scandinavian cities and elsewhere in Europe. On the one hand, there have been protests that call into question distributive and justice effects of climate mitigation measures – such as higher toll ring prices and compact city development. On the other hand, there have been School strikes for climate inspired by Greta Thunberg and emergence of new radical climate movements, such as Extinction Rebellion, that use or threaten to use civil disobedience to further demand for more proactive climate policies. Thus, city governments must tackle two seemingly contradictory demands for justice.
DEMOCLIM combines theoretical approaches and several strains of literature in novel ways: research on climate change policies, contentious politics, cleavages, interactive governance and co-creation. The project contributes new knowledge on: a) the interface between climate/social protest movements and urban policy makers and governance; b) the conditions for enhancing the quality of democratic governance and approaches to climate policy implementation that are socially just and efficient at the city level; c) comparison of collaborative governance approaches of cities in the global forefront of climate policy implementation; d) the content and influence of experimental governance as a tool for socially just and inclusive climate transformation. The project contributes to joint learning and collaboration between research and key stakeholders by using interactive research methods.
