Author: Nayla Saniour & Ella Davidson
Redesigned by: Carla Alvarez
How can collaboration across diverse communities accelerate sustainable development?
El Día Después (EDD) is a multi-stakeholder platform for networks to address the sustainable development goals, specifically SDG 17. There are four communities within this project: environment & health, cooperation & global governance, city transformation, and inequality & new economic model. Within these groups are experts and professionals from the field who collaborate to create different services towards change. Through these collectives, lessons can be drawn from meetings that can catalyse and accelerate the transition towards models and systems that support cities, the environment, and global governance.
Impact on climate neutrality
It is often hard for a platform to emerge in which there are multiple collaborators in different sectors, creating a reliance on single decision-making bodies. Through the EDD platform, action toward climate neutrality can be created more easily.
This platform explicitly explains that through a multi-stakeholder format, collaboration in this project will help create tangible solutions toward city transformations in the three lines of work: Sustainable urban recovery, sustainable mobility, and energy sustainability. This comes under SDG 17 ‘Partnership for the goals’.
Outputs also can influence public policies at local and national levels for example, ‘The agreements of the Ville’ which was a response to the COVID pandemic in Madrid as a response strategy.
Though the initial stages of the project were more COVID centered, more transformative partnerships have been able to be incubated in regards to green employment and transformation of what sustainability looks like in four of the biggest cities in Spain, in addition to increasing preparedness for emergency response which was triggered by the pandemic.
Context
- The COVID-19 pandemic was the primary reason for this platform to be established as a space to understand the crisis and what solutions could be formed. It carried on from a previous multi-stakeholder program ACELERA 2030.
- Four different organisations were instigators of this: Ilberdrola (global company in renewable energy), itdUPM (public university innovation center, ISGlobal (Global health research centre), SDSN Spain (the Spanish Sustainable Development Solutions Network).
- There are approximately 20 professionals/experts in each of the four communities with EDD. These are the main stakeholders who are able to influence change. There are approximately 20 professionals/experts in each of the four communities with EDD. These are the main stakeholders who are able to influence change
An innovative approach
This platform is creating an ecosystem for ideas to be created through various actors and stakeholders to approach problems in Madrid. By establishing themselves as a platform at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, EDD has demonstrated a quick and effective approach to the crisis that has ensued since. In creating a platform focussing on different areas they ensured that solutions through collaboration were able to be found.
This platform is creating an ecosystem for ideas to be created through various actors and stakeholders to approach problems in Madrid. By establishing themselves as a platform at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, EDD has demonstrated a quick and effective approach to the crisis that has ensued since. In creating a platform focussing on different areas they ensured that solutions through collaboration were able to be found.
Main positive lessons
- Facilitation is crucial and can be undertaken by a diverse stakeholder community to create solutions
Main barriers found
- There are still some barriers to having to rely on digital platforms entirely, but this can slowly be remedied as the effects of the pandemic lessen
Potential for reapplication and scale-up
This project is seemingly easily scalable in a general sense where the overall idea and blueprint can be applied to other countries. It has proven useful for both public administrations and decision-makers and will continue on a long-term scale. For example, this collaboration platform is being taken to other Spanish cities and into South America too to adapt it to their contexts.
There would be a need for key players/companies in a country to step up to the plate to start the process. Which would likely need help or a framework from the original platform to establish itself and create their own platform that fits the needs of the place it is being used. This would also be dependent on the government structures in the country and how receptive they are to it.
All images on this site are sourced from diadespues.org. Video content is sourced from El Día Después YouTube channel.