METROGOV - Knowledge and capacity building in the field of planning and governance for metropolitan regions in a context of socio-environmental challenges (DAAD)

Duration: 4 years

Funding: DAAD and FAPESP

Nowadays, the challenges of metropolitan areas are widely discussed, in particular with regard to large agglomerations in the so-called Global South. Processes of state rescaling, the new roles performed by state actors, private corporations and societal actors push towards a reconfiguration of planning and governance by new discourses, institutional arrangements, tools and practices. Global agendas and agreements such as the New Urban Agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement are facilitating the emergence of new global platforms dealing with contemporary socio-environmental trends and urban challenges. Considering these current global driving forces, this project proposes to consolidate an already existing international partnership aiming at generating knowledge and capacity building in the field of planning, governance and policy-making for sustainable metropolitan regions in a context of socio-environmental challenges, taking a comparative Brazilian-German perspective.
Brazil and Germany are federal states, sharing the challenge of improving intergovernmental coordination on a metropolitan and macro metropolitan scale; and – from a governance perspective – strengthening institutional arrangements and deepening cooperative practices with non-governmental stakeholders, in order to enhance governability, effectivenes and democratic legitimacy of public action. A comparative study on metropolitan environmental planning and governance, as proposed in this research and academic exchange project, considering the particular conditions of multi-level-systems and power relations, contributes to a better understanding of how these institutional and political conditions support or hinder possibilities of effectively tackling climate change  and initiatives for the benefit of metropolitan sustainability. The project also facilitates the integration of planning education. UFABC and TU Dortmund have come to an agreement about the participation of UFABC in the International Joint Master of Science “Regional Development Planning and Management” (SPRING). In the medium term, we expect that this academic cooperation project paves the way for the creation of joint PhD programs with the German Partners, allowing permanent interaction and exchange between the involved programs.  The project is linked in Brazil with the FAPESP-funded thematic project “Environmental governance of the Sao Paulo Macrometropolis (SPMM) in face of climate variability (Macroamb)”, under the coordination of Prof. Pedro Jacobi, IEE-USP (duration: May 2017-May 2022). Its main goal is to analyse institutional arrangements, processes of cooperation, environmental policies and territorial dynamics in the context of the SPMM, adopting an interdisciplinary perspective. The two main subprojects on environmental governance and territorial planning are coordinated by Klaus Frey and Sandra Momm, respectively. In the German context the initiative can build on two ongoing projects. At TU Dortmund the project ZUKUR (BMBF) was directed towards identifying, exploring and reducing barriers between long-term policies and goals of resilient regional development for adapting to ecological, social and economic challenges. ZUKUR shares with the Macroamb project the concern of adopting an integrated research focusing on the potentials and conditionalities of public policies, planning practices as well as instruments and overarching governance-forms to contribute to actively build future-oriented and sustainable regions.

Publications:

Karsten Zimmermann; Sandra Momm (2022). Planning systems and cultures in global comparison. The case of Brazil and Germany, International Planning Studies, DOI

Zimmermann, Karsten; Lee, Dahae (2021). Environmental Justice and Green Infrastructure in the Ruhr. From Distributive to Institutional Conceptions of Justice. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, DOI

Frey, K.; Ramos, R. F.; dos Anjos, L. A. P.; Milz, B.; Jacobi, P. R. Polycentric Water Governance in the Urban Global South. W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Sustainability in Natural Resources Management and Land Planning, World Sustainability Series, DOI

Torres, Pedro Henrique Campello; Leonel, Ana Lia; Pires De Araújo, Gabriel; Jacobi, Pedro Roberto (2020). Efecto Nueva Zembla y Justicia Climática en Brasil: adaptación sin justicia no es adaptación, es espejismo. Terra. Nueva Etapa, v. 59, p. 1-14, 2021.

Momm, Sandra; Kinjo, Victor; Frey, Klaus (2020). Tramas do planejamento e governança na transformação de rios em metrópoles globais: uma reflexão sobre casos internacionais e em curso na Macrometrópole Paulista (Brasil). Cadernos Metrópole 22 (48), May-Aug., 2020. DOI

Torres, Pedro Henrique Campello; Jacobi, Pedro Roberto; Momm, Sandra; Leonel, Ana Lia (2021). Data and knowledge matters: Urban adaptation planning in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Urban Climate, v. 36, MAR 2021, DOI

Presentations:

Frey, K. Ramos, R. F.; Campos, T. L. de O. B. Subnational Water and Climate Governance: Challenges for Adaptation Policies in the São Paulo Macrometropolis of Brazil. 26th World Congress of Political Science (virtual mode). Lisbon, 10-15 | 07 | 2021.

Frey, K.; Ramos, R.F. Climate change adaptation strategies in Germany and Brazil: analyzing water and river governance from a South-North perspective. 5th International Conference on Public Policy - 5th July - 9th July 2021, ICPP5 - Barcelona 2021 (hybrid event; virtual participation)