11 – Sustainable cities and communities
Locally-led Adaptation as a Silver Bullet? Complexities, Needs, and Responses in Climate Adaptation at the Volta Coastline, Ghana
Sea-level rise increases the exposure of low-lying communities to climate risks along the eastern coast of Ghana, while adaptation responses are reactive and insufficient to secure fishing livelihoods in highly vulnerable areas. To better address needs, Locally-led Adaptation (LLA) promotes just climate governance by shifting power to local actors to enable context specific and place-based…
Drawing rural paths onthe urban margins:An Ethnographic Study of Peacebuilding, Displacementand Place-making in Medellín Largest Informal Settlement
This thesis provides an in-depth ethnographic analysis of La Nueva Jerusalén, Medellín’s largest informal settlement, exploring the complex interplay between displacement, place-making, and a territorial perspective within the urban margins. It examines how displaced populations engage with and transform their newly inhabited urban spaces, forging communities at the intersection of rural and urban dynamics amid…
Understanding the Complexities of Urban Flood Governance: A Case Study of Ruiru, Kenya
Urban flooding presents a significant challenge in developing cities, where rapid urbanisation, population growth, and infrastructure development intersect with natural processes and climate change. This study examines how governance structures influence urban flood management in Ruiru, Kenya. Through thematic analysis, this study explores local experiences with flooding, evaluates existing governance structures, and examines their effectiveness.…
BUILDS-UP – Building Universal and Inclusive Local Design – a Swedish-Ukrainian Partnership
Regional focus: Ukraine Time: December 2024 – December 2026 ICLD is part of a cooperation project funded by the Swedish Institute, under the Ukraine Cooperation Programme. The project BUILDS-UP is led by Malmö University, with ICLD and NGO Poruch as partners. Project summary: The BUILDS-UP cooperation project addresses challenges from the war, and supports Ukraine’s drive towards…
Åre and Panajachel, Guatemala
Project: Local democracy, gender equality & education – A joint learning project The municipality of Åre in Sweden and the municipality of Panajachel in Guatemala are collaborating to address the issue of gender inequality and the exclusion of minority groups in municipal decision-making processes. This effort aims to strengthen local democracies in both municipalities through…
Jönköping – Berdychiv, Ukraine
Building Better Cities Together The partnership between Jönköping and Berdychiv focuses on strengthening citizen participation and digital innovation in urban planning. While technical foundations for city planning are already in place, they are now incorporating democratic tools—especially citizen dialogue—to ensure inclusive development of new urban districts. In Berdychiv, guidelines for citizen dialogue already exist, and…
Umeå kommun and Cape Agulhas local municipality
Youth democracy in Umeå municipality and Cape Agulhas municipality In Cape Agulhas, youth leadership is not being adequately developed due to a lack of knowledge on local government matters and motivation. Municipal leaders are not mitigating this adequately which can compromise the democracies of the future. At the same time there is a lack of…
Umeå and Bogotá, Colombia
Project: Exploring gender equality and care: a territorial approach Umeå and Bogotá, Colombia, will together address the in Bogotá, around 1.2 million of women dedicate more than seven hours a day to unpaid work. The objectives are focused around Policy implementation as well as Information sharing on this issue: • To implement the cultural transformation…
Växjö and JB Marks, South Africa
Projekt: Efficient and Responsive Traffic Planning The new project focuses on the promotion of road safety by increasing the mobility for children, minorities, underrepresented groups, and the socety as a whole. The project streaches over three years and is based on the SDG no 11. Sustainable cities and communities. The aim with the…
Voluntary Local Review – Kibaha Town Council, Tanzania
This Voluntary Local Review (VLR) aims at understanding how well the SDGs have been localized and implemented in Kibaha Town Council (KTC), Tanzania. The process employed Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to represent local voices in a participatory and inclusive manner. The results show that localization of SDGs has helped the government and citizens to…
