The role of city-to-city learning in fostering policy innovation

Congratulations to Elena Marie Enseñado, who successfully defended her PhD titled City-to-city learning: Pathways to institutionalising climate change policy. In her research, she explored how climate policy ideas and practices move between cities, what changes these learning processes create and which conditions help turn learning into lasting change.

From a European project to a PhD

Elena has worked at IHS since around 2013, focusing on the urban environment, sustainability and climate change. Over the years, she has worked on climate change adaptation and nature-based solutions. The idea of pursuing her PhD began around 2017, when Elena started working on Peer Powered Cities and Regions (PROSPECT) Funded by the European Commission, the project aimed to facilitate learning between and among cities and regions on sustainable energy and climate change actions. Moreover, it explored how good practices could be scaled up, replicated or transferred to cities and regions elsewhere.

This raised several questions for Elena:
Where do good ideas come from? How do they travel? And how can they be introduced somewhere else? These questions ultimately formed the basis of her PhD on city-to-city learning.

Understanding city-to-city learning

One of the key outcomes of Elena’s research is a four-phase model of city-to-city learning. It examines how climate change policy ideas move from one city to another and how learning develops through individuals and organisations. The model serves as both a conceptual framework and a practical guide to the different phases involved in the process. Alongside this, the research explored the outcomes of city-to-city learning. It also considered the conditions that are important for bringing about these changes. Two studies in England, focusing on Manchester and Liverpool, examined nature-based solutions and related projects. Manchester, for example, had been involved in knowledge exchanges with Wuhan, China, on the development and implementation of sponge city projects.

Learning is not a linear process

Although the four-phase model presents the learning process in a logical order, learning does not always follow a clear or linear path. In practice, different configurations and combinations occur.

Elena explains, "Learning can progress through different phases, individuals and organisations, but it can also stall, stop or become stuck. In some cases, the process may even be reversed, as previously acquired knowledge and practices can be unlearned."

Learning also depends on organisational conditions. Support structures, the alignment of policies or leaders who support transition processes can all play an important role. Moving from experimentation or pilot projects to the level of institutions also requires different organisations and partners to collaborate. At the same time, organisations need to support the individuals who hold the knowledge and memory needed to continue the work over time.

My own PhD learning journey unfolded through exploration, acquisition, utilisation, and internalisation - though more of a maze of slow starts, detours, and delays rather than a neatly charted path of progress.

From research to practical guidance

While writing the introduction and conclusion of her dissertation, Elena saw an opportunity to combine insights from these sections in a separate paper. The Journal of City and Climate Change Policy accepts policy guidelines that provide practical guidance for policymakers and practitioners. Rather than conducting a new study from scratch with a separate methodology and data collection process, Elena turned insights from the introduction and conclusion of her dissertation into practical guidelines.

The paper also created an opportunity to engage with representatives from ICLEI Europe. Practitioners from the European Union had already contributed to Elena’s PhD research through surveys and case studies, and representatives from ICLEI Europe were involved in reviewing and validating the practical guidelines and providing feedback. By translating her research findings into practical guidance, Elena helps policymakers and practitioners identify how cities can sustain and strengthen learning over time.