TANGO-W is an applied research project that uses the concept of Urban Transformative Capacities (UTC) to evaluate cities’ potential for sustainability, specifically at the intersection of food, energy, and water systems. By doing so, the project aims to help cities tackle challenges associated with climate change and encourage more sustainable urban development.
The food-energy-water nexus is a framework that takes into account the synergies and conflicts of the production, consumption, and scarcity of food, energy, and water systems. TANGO-W proposes tackling these challenges by using the concept of UTC. UTC encompasses the collective ability of multiple stakeholders to conceive of, prepare for, initiate, and perform transformative change at social, organisational, and ecosystem levels. The idea is to enable systematic change that ensures long-term transformation for food, energy, and water systems, thus enabling sustainable future development.
The project builds transformative capacity on two levels:
1) the urban level, through the design and implementation of Urban Living Labs (ULL)
2) the European level, through establishing a transdisciplinary Community of Practice (CoP) among research partners and municipalities.
Both levels provide spaces for the development of UTC, thereby accelerating urban change in a sustainable direction. The project will result in policy recommendations for replicating UTC practices; training tools connected to working at the nexus of food, energy, and water systems; and pilot courses that support capacity building in the ULL cities — Weiz (Austria), Kalgenfurt (Austria), Stockholm (Sweden), Norrtälje (Sweden), Alytus (Lithuania), Halden (Norway), and Marker (Norway).
TANGO-W is a transnational project funded by the ERA-NET Co-fund Programme. This programme, designed for the implementation of the European Research Area, aims to promote strategic cooperation between EU Member States and associated countries.
On this website, you will find all information and findings from the TANGO-W project including Urban labs, Communities of practices, Outcomes, News and Partners.
Find the TANGO-W project Vision 2050 here.
Photo: Norrtälje municipality
Photo: Norrtälje municipality
Photo: Unsplash.com
Photo: Unsplash.con
