Sustainability transitions require a profound transformation of social and cultural systems to ensure fair, inclusive, and meaningful futures for people, places and the planet. The Socio-Cultural Transformations team operates at the intersection of culture, democracy, justice, equity and sustainability, supporting local governments in integrating social and cultural considerations into climate action. The team’s work focuses on:
- sustainable transformation of the built environment and access to affordable housing through circular and regenerative design, aesthetic quality and social inclusion - all guided by the New European Bauhaus principles;
- integration of social equity and climate justice into urban plans and policies with particular attention to empowering disadvantaged groups, gender equality and intergenerational justice;
- strengthening of local democratic processes, participatory governance and civic engagement to encourage social acceptance and equitable outcomes of local sustainability transformations;
- revitalization and adaptive reuse of cultural heritage alongside the mainstreaming of heritage in sustainability practices, strengthening its resource-efficiency, resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change, socio-economic, technological and other systemic challenges;
- advancement of culture-led climate action, recognising culture, heritage and the arts as drivers of place-based regeneration and vectors for addressing the climate emergency.
By facilitating co-creation, peer learning, capacity building, technical assistance, policy work and advocacy, ICLEI Europe supports local governments in building the skills, partnerships, and influence needed for context-specific and culturally grounded sustainability transitions.
