What does environmental justice look like at 50°?

The European pilar of our Environmental Justice program was kicked off in Barcelona! Last September, we teamed up with Virage Énergie, the City of Paris, the Seine-Saint-Denis Department, the Occitanie Region, and the Interministerial Directorate for Public Transformation (DITP) for an in-depth immersion in local public innovation practices, at the intersection of the institutional, cooperative, and academic worlds.

In the summer, the Catalan capital suffers from increasingly extreme temperatures, droughts, and prolonged heat waves that could reach 50° in the coming years. This exacerbates social challenges—such as high population density, housing stock ill-suited to cold or heat, and limited green spaces in certain neighborhoods— ...) and has significant consequences for public health and the quality of public spaces, for example.

Metropolitan areas, cities, regions, collectives, and civil society organized around the cooperative movement... each has its own way of approaching the ecological transition and environmental justice. Over the course of these meetings, one observation became clear: here, collaboration between public actors and researchers is not a luxury, but a given.

We had a whole bunch of questions: How are local governments preparing to address pre-existing inequalities in their ecological transition policies? What kinds of partnerships between public and private actors and civil society are needed to address ecological and social challenges and support the most vulnerable people? What lessons can be drawn from the still-recent implementation of the network of climate refuges outlined in the 2018–2030 Climate Plan?

We spent three intensive days exploring these questions, beginning with several field visits to the cities of Cornellà de Llobregat (external link), Cerdanyola del Vallès (external link), and Barcelona (external link) to discover some examples of climate refuges established by these local governments. Beyond this institutional dynamic, we also examined climate refuge projects led by civil society, through the action research conducted by the Aqui collective (external link).

The second part of the trip allowed us to compare the perspectives of various actors driving local resilience initiatives, such as Ruben Suriñach Padilla (external link), who, through Ecohub (external link), is mobilizing cooperative and social economy movements to better address the challenges of a just transition.

On the research front, Mar Satorras (external link), from the Institut Métropoli Investigadora’s Sustainability Division (external link), shared her work on indicators and survey methods for identifying the people and neighborhoods most vulnerable to heat waves, and for involving those affected in the data collection process. To what extent do adaptation and greening policies in metropolitan areas contribute to the gentrification of neighborhoods? Isabelle Anguelovski (external link), director of the Barcelona Lab for Urban Environment, Justice, and Sustainability (external link) (BCNUEJ), presented her research on this topic. Finally, together with the Transformative Innovation team from the Region of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya) (external link), we learned how the region is driving a strategy for a just and inclusive ecological transition through a systemic, coalition-based approach supported by research. For a more detailed overview of the program and the organizations we met, click here (external link)!

Indoor public spaces (community centers, libraries, museums, etc.) or outdoor spaces (parks, tiny forests, schoolyards (external link), etc.), as well as some private spaces (the lobby of a movie theater, etc.) and small businesses (external link): the network of climate-friendly shelters proposed by the Metropolitan Area and the City of Barcelona primarily certifies existing spaces. They all meet a simple set of criteria: free access, air-conditioned or cooled spaces, places to sit and rest, and free access to drinking water. Barcelona now has more than 360 shelters, the majority of which are community centers. The goal is for every resident to have a shelter within a 10-minute walk of their home.

These spaces do not necessarily offer additional amenities or services such as extended hours, specific activities, etc. Their map, widely distributed throughout the city, offers a perspective on the city through the lens of the heatwave: as Mar Sartorras points out, it is necessary because “residents don’t always feel they can come to these places simply to feel comfortable and cool off.”

However, the ones we visited seemed to be primarily frequented by their regular users, without necessarily any efforts made to expand attendance to isolated or vulnerable populations, or strong synergies with key stakeholders such as local social services, the nonprofit sector, or the social and solidarity economy.

This exploration of the links between social policies and transition policies—and the inclusion of those most directly affected—was a recurring theme throughout our trip. For example, participatory science projects are being conducted to ask children about their experiences with thermal comfort in their homes and to formulate concrete proposals for public policy (external link). Women over the age of 67 are also among the groups considered most vulnerable; as such, we were particularly inspired by the Women’s Information and Resource Center (external link) in Cornellà de Llobregat, a true public service dedicated to women and the development of gender-equitable public policies. At the forefront of efforts to combat violence against women and promote a feminist culture within the administration, it integrates gender issues across all areas, including the city’s resilience policy.

The main challenges include the collaborative design of shelters, their integration into the range of public and private initiatives aimed at caring for the most vulnerable during heat waves, adapting them to the needs of people who may spend extended periods of time there, and finding ways to broaden the range of people who are welcomed into them. To test a variety of approaches, the Aqui cooperative is working with a group of residents on a vacant lot provided by the city to explore the idea of a Climate Land Trust (external link)—that is, a sanctuary conceived by a group of citizens as an iterative process: gardening, collective construction of shade structures and water collection systems, etc.

This journey has allowed us to draw some lessons about what climate shelters might look like, which are summarized here. To learn more, we recommend reviewing the guide to inclusive climate shelters (external link)produced by the BCNUEJ, based on the article “Seeking refuge? The potential of urban climate shelters to address intersecting vulnerabilities (external link).”

How to identify the most vulnerable areas and people? What data should be aggregated, and what new data should be generated to develop and implement more equitable ecological transition policies? Local governments in the Barcelona metropolitan area rely on various indicators:

• the Climate Change Vulnerability Index (external link)(IVAC), which combines exposure data (residential density, age of buildings, thermal discomfort in winter and summer, vegetation cover, etc.), sensitivity (gender, poverty rate, educational attainment, energy poverty, etc.) and adaptation (potential for self-generated solar power, etc.).
• the Urban Vulnerability Index (IVU), (external link) which identifies, within a specific urban area, the mutually reinforcing social and residential risks that hinder social inclusion and opportunities for social mobility among residents.
• the Climate Gentrification Vulnerability Index (IGV), (external link) developed by the BCNUEJ, which compensates for the IVAC’s lack of a forward-looking dimension regarding population displacement phenomena. It highlights the “green paradox”: greening policies can stimulate real estate investment and displace the most vulnerable populations, relegating them to areas that are more polluted and lack green spaces.
• the Climate Gentrification Vulnerability Index (IGV) (external link) developed by the BCNUEJ, which compensates for the IVAC’s lack of a forward-looking perspective on population displacement. It highlights the “green paradox”: greening policies can stimulate real estate investment and displace the most vulnerable populations, relegating them to areas that are more polluted and lack green spaces.
• The Water Poverty Indicator, which integrates various physical, social, and environmental aspects to offer a multidimensional approach to assessing water stress and the risks of water scarcity (availability of water resources, financial accessibility to water, environmental quality of water, and citizens’ capacity to manage water systems). It aims to enable water network managers to identify and prioritize needs across the Barcelona metropolitan area, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable populations.

As we meet with people, we discover a genuine “culture of indicators,” where data evolves, complements one another, and responds to one another. Initially used for a shared assessment of a region, these indicators become tools for decision-making and monitoring public policies at the neighborhood level, and serve as a common language among elected officials, technical staff, and citizens. While the network of climate shelters follows a minimal set of specifications, annual assessments of their actual quality and usage allow the map to evolve. Residents are involved in this data-generation process through field surveys, focus groups, and regular measurement campaigns. Qualitative approaches enrich the statistical data sets. We measure not only the square meters of shade or the degrees of temperature reduction, but also how people feel, their perceptions, and their lived experiences. The citizen science projects mentioned above serve as an example.

Similarly, on the French side, researchers are working alongside local governments to generate new data, conduct targeted surveys, and develop new indicators to support the socio-ecological shift in public policy: Fiona Ottaviani’s work on a regional sustainable well-being index (external link) (IBEST) and a Barometer of (More Equitable) Transitions (external link) in Grenoble. Florence Jany-Catrice’s consultative approach to developing two territorial health indices that combine environmental challenges and human activities within the region (EMISET, to be published in late 2025) in Hauts-de-France and the Rouen Normandy Metropolis; The synthesis report (external link) on the working classes and the ecological transition exploration, and the survey on the wealthier classes and the ecological transition conducted by the Centre des politiques de la Terre in collaboration with the City of Paris; or, in Seine-Saint-Denis, an assessment of vulnerabilities that cross-examines intrinsic sensitivity linked to the context—particularly the social context—and exposure to major climate hazards.

However, certain indicators used in Barcelona, such as the water poverty indicator, do not yet exist in France and would be useful to develop to strengthen these initiatives, as would platforms for sharing these indicators and the accompanying knowledge.

Finally, the last surprising aspect: the collaborative work between local governments and researchers, universities, or action-research collectives to support the development of public policy, as well as the highly integrated, iterative approach. Research is not an afterthought: it is at the heart of the public policy-making process and is provided with resources, recognition, and an impressive degree of openness.

Beyond the citizen science and participatory action research projects described above, each of the local governments we met with has established close collaborations with research labs or institutes: the Women’s Information and Resource Center in Cornellá de Llobregat with the Department of Gender Studies at the University of Barcelona (external link); the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the City of Cerdanyola del Vallès, which are jointly engaged in European research projects on urban planning; the Metròpoli Institute, the urban planning and research agency of the Barcelona metropolitan area, which employs survey, statistical, and mapping techniques to generate indices broken down at the neighborhood level—cornerstones of urban planning policies and municipalities’ adaptation to climate change.

Perhaps the most integrated approach is the one led by the Region of Catalonia and its Department of Innovation in Support of Policies for a Green and Just Transition, as part of the RIS3CAT (external link) European specialization initiative: its team consists of a dozen staff members from various departments of the regional government who, with the support of local universities, work with local stakeholders (public actors, businesses, associations, etc.) to identify common challenges, form coalitions, and develop responses led by both public and private actors. This is a concrete example of a mission-driven approach that we’d like to explore further!

And on the French side? The members of our delegation acknowledge—not without a touch of self-deprecation—that the relationship with the academic world often remains complicated. Mismatched timelines, different languages, sometimes vague objectives… Working with researchers feels more like a troubled love affair than a smooth collaboration. In light of this observation, the Catalan example opens up new possibilities: conducting a research project forces dialogue between departments that would normally ignore one another; it provides a framework for project management and lends them greater legitimacy thanks to the robust methodology provided by the academic world; and finally, it fosters a shared culture of curiosity and experimentation.

Although they stem from numerous long-standing collaborations, several initiatives are now taking shape to elevate the interface between research and public policy to a strategic level and focus it on issues of just transition. This is the case with the work of Gustave Eiffel University (which established the Institute for Research in Urban Sciences and Technologies (external link)in collaboration with Nantes Métropole and organizes the Research and Public Action Days (external link) every two years), the Center for Land Policies at Paris Cité University, the network of regional GIECs such as the GREC in the Île-de-France region, (external link) the GIEC in the Pays de la Loire region (external link), the GRECO in Occitanie, the Haut Conseil Breton pour le Climat (external link), and, at the European level, the City-Science Initiative network of practitioners, (external link) which collaborates directly with EUROCITIES.

This marks the end of this first phase in Barcelona, before, we hope, launching the French program by early 2026 and preparing for the next phase in Vienna, which will explore the city through the lens of gender and energy policies.