Social involvement on urban climate action and governance: lessons from Barcelona and Seville

Climate action has been consolidated in cities through new social initiatives and institutional strategies. This article aims to contribute to understand social involvement in urban climate action and governance through a comparative analysis in two Spanish cities (Barcelona and Seville) guided by three research questions: 1) What spaces for collaboration with the administration and/or with other organizations for urban climate action and governance have been generated?; 2) What are the motivations and expectations of social organizations to get involved in these spaces?; and 3) To what extent active organizations in climate action collaborate (or not) with the administration for climate governance, and what limits do they perceive? This research combines a review of climate change policies and social initiatives, with interviews with key organizations in urban climate action to show the expansion and differentiation of the collaborative spaces for climate action and governance with the administration and with other organizations in both cities; and a variety of motivations for getting involved (or not) in those spaces. A better understanding of the limits and opportunities of the new public-civic partnerships is key to build rooted and transformative responses to the climate emergency.