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Informed Cities looks at the knowledge brokerage processes between cities and higher education institutions, and in particular evaluates governance mechanisms for monitoring local sustainability and the role of research within this. The first part of the book provides an analysis of tools for governing sustainable cities and develops a typology of existing tools. It then considers approaches to monitor local sustainability on a European level, focusing on a number of key tools such as the Covenant of Mayors, Reference Framework for Sustainable Cities, and Green Capital Award. The second part of the book introduces an explorative application of two tools that the author team have used in practice to monitor local sustainability, Urban Ecosystems Europe and Local Evaluation 21, presenting and evaluating European level data collected from local governments. The third part of the book looks deeper into a number of case studies discussing how a working and rewarding city-university connection can be created and nourished in an administrative and political setting. Finally, the last part of the book reflects on lessons learned from the application of the tools and accompanying research process and makes recommendations for further developing monitoring tools for urban sustainability on a European level.This book will be essential reading for professionals in urban and regional planning who are tasked with monitoring the effects of sustainability policies, as well as for graduate students in planning, environmental governance, sustainable development and related disciplines.

Die Agenda 21, die als Abschlußdokument der UN-Konferenz über Umwelt und Entwicklung 1992 in Rio de Janeiro verabschiedet wurde, stellt den Kommunen die Aufgabe, mit allen Interessengruppen ihrer Bürgerschaft über einen Konsultationsprozeß einen Konsens über eine lokale Agenda zu erzielen. Diese Agenda soll die wirtschaftliche und soziale Entwicklung ebenso einbeziehen wie die Erhaltung und Pflege der natürlichen Ressourcen. In der vorliegenden Publikation berichten Autoren aus mehreren deutschen Kommunen über ihre Konzepte, Methoden und Wege bei der Ausarbeitung einer lokalen Agenda. Sie bietet daher Kommunalpolitikern, Mitgliedern von Bürgervereinen, Beratern und anderen Interessierten eine wichtige Handlungsgrundlage und Informationsquelle.