Cristina Luiz Gama, Gisele Mazon, Julia Carboni Fornasa, José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra, Desalegn Yayeh Ayal, Ulisses M. Azeiteiro, Henri-Count Evans, Inga Grinfelde, Jasenka Gajdoš Kljusurić, João Carlos Correia Leitão, Chunlan Li, Newton R. Matandirotya, Bethwel Mutai, Gustavo J. Nagy, Thierry Razanakoto, Jame Schaefer, Haile A. Shishaye, Goran Trbic, Roberto Ariel Abeldaño Zuñiga, Sane Pashane Zuka, Charles Galdies, Adriana Consorte-McCrea, Francisco Platas, Mittul Vahanvati, Pedi Obani, Safwatun Nida, Lucas Gabriel Zanon, Mayara Régia Sousa de Melo, Renato da Costa dos Santos, Alison Glover
Many cities around the world are developing formal planning actions and creating local actions to mitigate the impacts of climate change. However, many other cities are still struggling to know where to start this process, with universities becoming fundamental sources of knowledge in this process. Would universities be promoters of local strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change in the city where it operates? Collaborative planning between the university and the local city prioritizes community involvement in urban planning actions and can support the development of a robust planning document that integrates the university’s scientific experience and is represented in the intended community. Therefore, this research aims to highlight universities as promoters of local strategies to mitigate the impacts of climate change in the city where it operates. The first step is to identify which scientific contributions the university can bring, so that they can be considered in local government strategies, with a focus on mitigating the impacts of climate change, whether in urban planning, implementation, or monitoring actions. In this chapter, we describe the process of developing an action plan and our experience in merging a three-way partnership between the municipal government, a university in southern Brazil and the local community. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.
University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL), Centre for Sustainable Development/Research Group on Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (GREENS), SC, Florianópolis, Brazil; Center for Food Security Studies, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa Univesity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; The Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) and Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal; Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Eswatini, Manzini, Kwaluseni Campus, Matsapha, South Africa; Center for Sustainable Development (Greens), Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina (Unisul), Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil; School of Urban and Regional Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China; Kgotso Development Trust, Beitbridge, Zimbabwe; Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Centre, Beitbridge, Zimbabwe; Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay; CERED, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar; Marquette University, Milwaukee, United States; University of Sierra Sur, Oaxaca, Mexico; University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Land Economy, University of Malawi, The Polytechnic, Blantyre 3, Malawi; Institute of Earth Systems, University of Malta, Msida, Malta; Academy for Sustainable Futures, Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom; Casa de Cultura de la UAEMéx en Tlalpan, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico; School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom; Science Education Department of Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, Indonesia; University of São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil; State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil; Universidade do Contestado-UNC, Mafra, Brazil; The Open University, Cardiff, United Kingdom; Centre for Sustainable Development/Research Group on Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (GREENS), University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL), Tubarao, Brazil; Center for Sustainable Development/Research Group on Energy Efficiency and Sustainability (GREENS) and Research Group on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Business Management (GRUPEM), University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL), Tubarao, Brazil; University of Southern Santa Catarina (UNISUL), Tubarao, Brazil; Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (CEENRG), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
