Sufficiency Initiatives and Municipalities

Opportunities and Limitations for Bringing People and Politics Together

Bibliographic Data

ID22017908
AuthorsMichael Buschka (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy), Philipp Schepelmann (0000-0002-1776-7035, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy), Fiona Breucker (Institut Jacques Delors), Jenny Kurwan (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy)
Year2024
Volume9
Publication date2024-10-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueUrban Planning (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2183-7635 • E-ISSN: 2183-7635
PublisherCogitatio (PUBLISHER • PT)
DOI10.17645/up.7960
OpenAlexW4403100437
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited32

This article examines the potential and challenges of sufficiency initiatives within the urban environment, focusing on their ability to bring people and politics together. Drawing on research from the EU-funded “FULFILL” project, which includes surveys, interviews and case studies in five EU Member States, this study explores the role of civil society initiatives in fostering sufficiency—a concept that advocates for meeting human needs within planetary boundaries by altering lifestyles, societal norms, and regulatory frameworks. Sufficiency initiatives find themselves in a precarious position against a backdrop of growth-oriented urban development and face barriers such as lack of resources, legal and regulatory challenges, measurement difficulties, and inertia of municipalities. However, the study also identifies examples of fruitful cooperation between municipalities and initiatives and identifies enablers for successful collaboration, including aligned goals, engaged individuals, and effective communication. By providing an outlook for short-, mid-, and long-term governance perspectives, this article argues for strategic niche management in the short term, development of metrics for sufficiency in the medium term, and a systemic shift in urban dynamics in the long term. As urban sufficiency initiatives offer services and infrastructure to promote sustainable living, they are critical players in guiding cities towards ecological and social resilience. This article contributes to the discourse on urban sustainability by highlighting the importance of municipalities in nurturing sufficiency initiatives that can drive social well-being and environmental stewardship

Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Law · Public Administration · Urban Planning and Governance

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