How to organise for change: Local practice vs global transitions

Edited book, 2016

Local Interaction Platforms (LIPs) are core tools in Mistra Urban Futures’ vision of Realising Just Cities. But how can a Local Interaction Platform (LIP) be defined? What conditions must be in place before setting up a LIP? This chapter investigates what LIPs are and how they came to be established. It examines, too, the importance of the LIPs approach in light of the United Nations’ 2016 Sustainable Development Agenda which expects governments to establish national frameworks for achievement of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and that all stakeholders – governments, academia, civil society and the private sector, and others – contribute to realising the agenda. With their transdisciplinary approach and focus on co-producing knowledge, LIPs have become a key methodology for realising Goal 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals – just and sustainable cities. Four LIP directors – Stephen Agong from Kisumu, Mikael Cullberg from Gothenburg, Beth Perry from Greater Manchester and Warren Smit from Cape Town – together with the director of Mistra Urban Futures, David Simon, dig deeper into what the Local Interaction Platforms really represent. They share their personal views on LIPs and discuss what roles LIPs play in Mistra Urban Futures’ mission. We uncover what is meant by platform and interaction, and how to achieve active intermediation. Finally we explore what lessons have been learned so far from working through LIPs. The chapter is based on an interview session with Ylva Norén Bretzer in March 2016.