The pioneering project "SUETS – Social Urban Emissions Trading Systems" aims at the participatory design and testing of local emissions trading systems in the city of Essen, Germany. It focuses on the research question of the extent to which the municipal climate protection effect can be increased through cross-neighborhood cooperation.
To begin with, a socio-ecological segregation index is developed for two structurally different neighborhoods in Essen, which links the socio-spatial imbalance and ecological maps. The sustainability level of the two neighborhoods is derived from this. The city of Essen awards certificates to both neighborhoods on the basis of this sustainability level and agrees sustainability targets with them. The certificates awarded can then be traded and the proceeds reinvested in sustainable infrastructure and local projects.
The project is breaking new ground in terms of methodology: Instead of limiting the challenge of sustainable urban development to the "ecological footprint", questions of climate justice are to be addressed with regard to the specific problems of a city. A particular focus of the project is on the methodological design, which incorporates creative approaches to social transformation as well as concrete experimental spaces in urban real laboratories. Neighborhood councils are formed to decide on the reinvestment of the funds released on the emissions exchange.
In addition to the measurable effects of local emissions trading systems on a city’s carbon footprint, the research team is interested in the extent to which the participatory generation of transformation knowledge increases the quality of social exchange between neighborhoods. It is interesting to see which methods support this and to what extent the emissions trading systems are able to change social structures.
The research project makes three important contributions to social transformation:
- As a new basis for measuring transformative social spaces, the socio-ecological segregation index leads to a differentiated picture of urban fragmentation.
- The prospect of concrete potential savings in consumption can be expected to revitalize local civic engagement.
- The trading systems provide impetus for the establishment of a new practice of municipal climate protection activities.