Finding the resources to invest together

Re-coding value and benefits

Finding resources – financial and other – to implement the outcomes of a co-creation process is one of the biggest challenges faced by many cities. This was emphasised during the co-creation processes carried out in five European cities – Valencia, Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain), Wrocław, Łódź (Poland), and Ghent (Belgium) – as part of the Fair Local Green Deals project.

Although the public sector plays a crucial role in ensuring the public good and preventing negative externalities, other sectors in society also have valuable resources that the public sector lacks and can innovate in ways that differ from public sector approaches.

But how can we re-value the resources we already have?

The following material is designed to help you experiment and test an alternative approach within your local context and with your citizens. In the book “The Power of Many” (page 44), you’ll find reflections that apply a justice lens to the issue of investing in climate action, illustrating how co-creation can open up new pathways. The book also offers exercise suggestions (pages 50-51) for a simple workshop with your citizens or stakeholders, encouraging collective reflection.

These exercises challenge the concepts of value and risk by assessing what everyday objects bring to people. By participating, you will gain insight into how you perceive and categorise (non-financial) resources that you and society possess but that are currently unrecognised by the market. You can then apply this understanding to bolder examples, such as adaptation measures for heat waves.

Below you can download an editable PowerPoint template for your workshop.

Finding the resources to invest together