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On 22 June, we officially launched Tallinn’s Peer learning hub on Sustainability Governance during the Urban Future conference in Stuttgart, Germany. Together with representatives from Demos Helsinki, ICLEI and the cities of Mannheim, Stuttgart and Espoo, we delved into what it means to build sustainability governance in cities, and how the SDGs are becoming a mature tool for cities to work towards sustainable development.

Making governance fit-for-purpose

Erkki Perälä, Senior Expert and Program Lead from Demos Helsinki, started by reminding us that many of the institutions of today were built to meet the needs of a different era: that of industrialisation. The needs then were to have a clear division of tasks and a linear view on value creation and progress. Today, we know that we live in a complex world, and that to turn things around, we cannot apply the same logic and government functions of the past.

Since January 2023, Demos Helsinki and the city of Tallinn has partnered to explore the concept of Humble governance as an alternative way of thinking about how we deliver on our sustainability ambitions. “Humble governance” is a process guided by horizontal principles to make sure that all governance decisions are compatible with sustainable development. In Tallinn, the four principles being tested are: Directionality, Collaboration, Experimentalism and Sincerity.

A big part of Humble governance is about acknowledging that in order to achieve sustainable development, we need an iterative process of consensus-building and devolved problem solving, while adopting a collaborative and experimental mindset. We also need a clear direction, provided by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to be sincere about achieving them.

Do, do and do! How cities must tackle the SDGs

In the panel discussion following the opening presentation, the cities of Tallinn, Stuttgart, Mannheim and Espoo shared some of their work on integrating the SDGs into local governance processes. Jasmin Miah from ICLEI further provided her bird’s-eye view from working with networks of cities from around the world.

Krista Kampus, executive director for the Tallinn Green Capital, started by highlighting the importance of co-creation, seeing local stakeholder as active co-creators rather than passive end-users of policies and programmes. That’s why Tallinn has set up a whole unit working on service design. In Tallinn, working with SDGs has further led to strengthened engagement across departments and with different stakeholders. This work has been ongoing since the adoption of Tallinn 2035, the long-term strategy guiding the development of the capital.

Bettina Bunk, Coordinator for International Goals and Cooperation for the city of Stuttgart, explained that similar results have been achieved in Stuttgart, where practical and strategic measures to achieve the SDGs go hand-in-hand. “Cooperative governance” around the SDGs have triggered shared learning processes between the city and other stakeholders, for example around eradicating poverty (SDG 1).

In Mannheim, the head of Department of Strategic Governance, Christian Hübel, explained that the SDGs are baked into the city’s management model, starting from its co-created mission statement to linking the goals to the city budget, and reporting both to the city council and the people in Mannheim about the progress made on the global goals.
Ville Taajamaa, SDG manager from the city of Espoo, underlined that the SDGs and Voluntary Local Reviews (“VLRs” are locally produced report about progress on the SDGs) work for cities precisely because they are so holistic in nature.

Krista Kampus picked up on this and highlighted that the whole mindset shift happens when people understand that the goals are indivisible. It is not about achieving the goals one-by-one, but all together. In Tallinn, it has taken around two years to start developing this mindset, and the work is still far from done.

The panel discussion moderator, Lorenz Gross from the OECD programme on a Territorial Approach to SDGs, next turned to Jasmin Miah, Head of ICLEI’s Berlin office, to ask for a reflection on her organisation’s work on “Local Green Deals” and whether the focus on the EU green deal reflects a shift away from the SDGs as the main framework for transformation?

Jasmin Miah started off by raising one problem with the SDGs: the lack of adequate enforcement mechanisms and a clear roadmap. In her view, that is why the EU and some cities have turned their attention to the development of green deals. These are not replacing the SDGs, but are seen as a way to implement the goals faster, with clear commitments from local stakeholders.

As the panel moved into its closing round, the focus on action stood out, and the need to act in an environment with a high degree of uncertainty.

“We are building the ship while sailing it”, Ville Taajamaa pointed out, as he shared the news of a new partnership with cities joining forces to develop sustainability governance concepts further together. Under the URBACT IV programme, Tallinn, Espoo and Mannheim will be joining six other European cities in the Cities for Sustainability Governance (CSG) action planning network led by Espoo. This new partnership is another result of collaboration started by the Tallinn Sustainability Governance flagship project.

Launching the Tallinn Sustainability Governance Peer learning hub

The session at Urban Future showcased how we are trying to “walk the talk” of building new governance frameworks and processes through peer learning and experimentation. By co-creating peer learning opportunities and knowledge sharing events like the one in Stuttgart, our goal is to develop a shared space for sense-making and capacity building. This space will take the form of a an International Peer learning hub, open for cities and organisations willing to contribute to improving how local governments deliver on sustainable development.

If you are interested in learning more or joining us, please drop an email to: Stina.Heikkila@tallinnlv.ee