Source image: Presentation B. Florian (9 juni 2023)
In 2023 and 2024 the City Science Initiative was looking for ways to make acceleration for climate adaptation in cities possible. Municipalities and other local governments are designed for maintaining public space and shared services. Adaptation and innovation require different competences. Two explorations were carried out:
1. Universities as Catalyst for Change: with students in different cities worksops took place about their futures
2. ESG for Cities: building upon the new CSRD and ESG frameworks, different scenario's for collaboration between public-private and civic sectors were sketched.
Europe wants to become climate neutral and is pushing for this transition to a sustainable economy with a package of policy initiatives: the Green Deal. Companies also have to do their part: since 2024, ESG has to be reported in addition to financial results. ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance.
In this collection, more information on the Green Deal, the EU regulation CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) and the components of CSRD, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS).
Source image: Presentation B. Florian (9 juni 2023)
'ESG for Cities' (ESG4C) is an exploratory research project initiated by the Chief Science Office (CSO) of Amsterdam and the ESG Innovation Collective (a city-led task force by the City of Amsterdam and the City of Berlin). The research took place between September - December 2023 to find out what the new CSRD laws and the ESG framework can contribute to cities policymaking.
The EU Commission has embraced a new strategy for keeping companies accountable for their ecological footprint and social impact (CSRD & ESRS). In business terms this means that companies have to acquire an ESG rating (Environmental, Social, Governance) in their yearly accounting reports. For the environmental impact assessment, many data sets are available. However, for Social Impact it is unclear how this will be measured. Large consultancy firms are hiring thousands of people to help companies acquire such ESG ratings.
ESG4C has been exploring the possibility of Cities positioning themselves in this landscape as being the experts on Social Impact. By offering certificates for ESG ratings, future public/private partnerships have a new potential for engaging with social and cultural initiatives in cities and regions that were not viable before. In collaboration with researchers from local universities, who can measure the impact with scientific quality, cities can take such a position. As researchers, as civil servants, and as Chief Science Officers this is an opportunity to make a difference for many initiatives in our cities that need this kind of new support.
To prepare ourselves as cities we, as the ESG Innovation Collective, are organizing a thinktank to explore how we can do this. In every city there are already examples of interesting public/private/civic partnerships that can lead to ESG ratings. We gather stories and insights on what works and does not work and hope to have a preliminary framework ready as of January 2024.
In this collection we gather all materials. You find all sessions (to see the overview click 'more information') and the presentations clustered per sector (civic, public and private). In the collection 'Results' you find the summaries of research insights.
Research insights and outlook 2024 (8th December 2023)
The website of the ESG Innovation Collective and their materials on openresearch.
Chief Science Office of the City of Amsterdam
'ESG for Cities' (ESG4C) is an exploratory research project initiated by the Chief Science Office (CSO) of Amsterdam and the ESG Innovation Collective (a city-led task force by the City of Amsterdam and the City of Berlin). The research took place between September - December 2023 to find out what the new CSRD laws and the ESG framework can contribute to cities policymaking.
See 'more information' for an overview of all sessions. Here you find the presentations per sector: public, private and social/civic.
Research insights and outlook 2024 (8th December 2023)
The website of the ESG Innovation Collective and their materials on openresearch.
Chief Science Office of the City of Amsterdam
'ESG for Cities' (ESG4C) is an exploratory research project initiated by the Chief Science Office (CSO) of Amsterdam and the ESG Innovation Collective (a city-led task force by the City of Amsterdam and the City of Berlin). The research took place between September - December 2023 to find out what the new CSRD laws and the ESG framework can contribute to cities policymaking.
On Friday 8th of December, the ESG for Cities research phase was wrapped-up in an online meeting. The research results and insights were presented by Caroline Nevejan. Afterwards, plans for further development in the near future were presented. In this collection you find each presentation.
9:00 Welcome by chair Caroline Nevejan
9:10 Our journey developing the funding framework- the evolution and summary of results [Caroline]
9:30 Collective memory & quotes from the participants
9:50 Amsterdam [Berci Florian]
10.00 Future developments: EU [Christian Iaione]
10.10 ESG Collective & call for action for cities, for private sector [Florian Wupperfeld]
10.20 DAO [Sergei Zhilin & Matthew Gardiner],
10:30 Participants suggestions, comments & feedback on the future path
11:00 End
See 'more information' for an overview of all sessions of the ESG for Cities research.
Research insights and outlook 2024 (8th December 2023)
The website of the ESG Innovation Collective and their materials on openresearch.
Chief Science Office of the City of Amsterdam
Here we gather research, publications and other materials on new economic possibilities because of the new ESG framework.
Here we gather information on ESG form the EU Commission
The ESG Innovation Collective is the world’s first city-led ESG task force consisting of an engaging consortium of stakeholders across public, private, cultural sectors and local community representatives, as well as rating agencies, delivering a newly developed ESG measuring framework that will be a significant opportunity for cultural organisations in cities worldwide and a huge relief for local city budgets.
The Collective is an initiative by Investitionsbank Berlin, Berlin Partner, visitBerlin and Leading Culture Destinations. The leadership group comprises thought leaders such as Prof Dr Caroline Nevejan (CSO City of Amsterdam), Burkhard Kieker (CEO, visitBerlin), Dr Philipp Rode (Executive Director, London School of Economics, LSE Cities), Florian Wupperfeld (CEO, Leading Culture Destinations), Hugo Cox (Journalist, Real Estate & Finance, Financial Times, TIMES, London) and Habidatum (Urban Tech & Data Partner) amongst others.
In the next three months we will launch the first private sector partnered pilot projects in Berlin and Amsterdam at https://www.ihif.com/
The purpose of The ESG Innovation Collective is to drive the environmental and social sustainability agenda forward for citizens and local actors by creating a unified framework for cities defining how the ‘S’ of ESG will be activated in our jurisdictions.
The ESG Innovation Collective has engaged, amongst others, with leaders from policy, academia, urban data, the impact & finance industry, rating agencies, real estate developers and operators, cultural organizations and community leaders gaging needs, drivers and common grounds in order to facilitate action-oriented social investments that can be measurable for investors adding value to their ESG.
We are funded by public sector stakeholders (Berlin, Amsterdam) but also by private sector partners dedicated to driving the ESG agenda forward (Pinebridge, GSK.de).
Source: All Things Urban. Also see: Leading Culture Destinations