You have declared a climate emergency…now what? Exploring climate action, energy planning and participatory place branding in Canada

Abstract

The negative impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly clear and cities around the world are a driving force behind these problems, accounting for over 70% of all greenhouse gas emissions. In recognition of the need to act quickly, over 2300 jurisdictions, including 653 in Canada, have recently made climate emergency declarations (CEDs). Yet because most of these CEDs have only been made over the past few years, very little research has been completed focused on what cities are doing after making these decisions. Informed by a literature review on CEDs, urban governance, citizen engagement, communication and place branding strategies, we seek to advance understanding in this important area. To do so, we present a study that centered around two Decision Theatre workshops conducted with climate, energy and communication professionals (n = 12) working for or with local governments in four Canadian cities that have declared CEDs. Workshops were transcribed and analyzed via thematic analysis to identify and understand a series of solutions and challenges facing cities. The top solutions recorded were creating targets/action plans, the importance of collaboration, and sharing information with communities. The top two challenges identified were the diversity of city staff and getting the message out. The study closes with a discussion of the broader implications of this work, including recommendations for cities and calls for future research in this critical area.