CoprodAction is a research project at the SOC – Scientific Area of Social Sciences and Humanities – of the Institute for Regional Science (IfR) at KIT. It is part of the HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships – European Fellowships programme.
CoprodAction aims to gain a better understanding of how people shape, negotiate, imagine and jointly manage their environment. The main objective of CoprodAction’s research is therefore to understand the extent to which the application of collaborative practices influences or contributes to improving quality of life and the co-production of a more sustainable and resilient urban environment.
CoprodAction addresses the issue of social restructuring resulting from rapidly advancing climate change, in conjunction with the current COVID-19 pandemic, which has created significant additional challenges in cities around the world, particularly in the Global South. The case of Quito illustrates both critical encounters with these multidimensional problems and innovative community-based experiments that have successfully led to the co-production of a more sustainable and resilient urban environment.
The main objective of CoprodAction is to understand the extent to which the application of community-based practices influences the co-production of such environments or contributes to improving the effectiveness of urban planning and social justice. To this end, CoprodAction employs both qualitative-quantitative and socio-spatial approaches. The research is informed by theoretical investigations into practices and concepts, including a comparison between the conceptualisation and implementation of co-produced urban areas.
Furthermore, the empirical research encompasses traditional spatial analyses, ethnographic analyses and collaborative analyses, as well as joint mapping exercises and ongoing co-production workshops with local stakeholders such as citizens’ organisations, NGOs, local authorities, urban planners and other relevant interest groups. The project will provide an in-depth understanding of how such alternative knowledge can contribute to the development and implementation of innovative approaches to the management of contested urban areas, with the findings being transferable to other geographical contexts in cities across Latin America and the Global South.
Finally, a new and broader conceptual framework for co-production will be defined, along with preparatory processes and mechanisms for successful co-production. Furthermore, a jointly developed proposal will be presented for updating and adapting the model for the planning and redesign of a resilient, sustainable and equitable urban environment.