• Energy Research

This article contributes to the ongoing discussion on rural development programs aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Global South. The research question examines how the Smart Rural Communities (SRC) framework can support the SDGs as an international cooperation model. The article presents findings from fieldwork action research including a critical analysis of the hegemonic discourse on smart cities and provides final recommendations. Additionally, it introduces the concept of SRC. The fieldwork action research was conducted in post-conflict rural areas in Colombia’s Bolivar region and remote settlements in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province. Led by Ayuda En Acción in collaboration with co-operatives such as Mundukide Foundation, Alecop, and LKS from Mondragon Co-operative Corporation, these interventions aimed to engage local communities through Living Labs. They utilized Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and social innovation to promote the well-being of rural residents. The article comprises (i) an introduction; (ii) a literature review; (iii) a presentation of the fieldwork action research in Colombia and Mozambique; (iv) findings from a SWOT analysis and policy recommendations for SRC Living Labs; (v) conclusions addressing the research question. The SRC framework offers valuable insights for international cooperation models striving to achieve the SDGs in the Global South.

New data-driven technologies in global cities have yielded potential but also have intensified techno-political concerns. Consequently, in recent years, several declarations/manifestos have emerged across the world claiming to protect citizens’ digital rights. In 2018, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and NYC city councils formed the Cities’ Coalition for Digital Rights (CCDR), an international alliance of global People-Centered Smart Cities—currently encompassing 49 cities worldwide—to promote citizens’ digital rights on a global scale. People-centered smart cities programme is the strategic flagship programme by UN-Habitat that explicitly advocates the CCDR as an institutionally innovative and strategic city-network to attain policy experimentation and sustainable urban development. Against this backdrop and being inspired by the popular quote by Hannah Arendt on “the right to have rights”, this article aims to explore what “digital rights” may currently mean within a sample consisting of 13 CCDR global people-centered smart cities: Barcelona, Amsterdam, NYC, Long Beach, Toronto, Porto, London, Vienna, Milan, Los Angeles, Portland, San Antonio, and Glasgow. Particularly, this article examines the (i) understanding and the (ii) prioritisation of digital rights in 13 cities through a semi-structured questionnaire by gathering 13 CCDR city representatives/strategists’ responses. These preliminary findings reveal not only distinct strategies but also common policy patterns.

Against the backdrop of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) taking effect in the European Union (EU), a debate emerged about the role of citizens and their relationship with data. European city authorities claim that (smart) citizens are as important to a successful smart city program as data and technology are, and that those citizens must be convinced of the benefits and security of such initiatives. This paper examines how the city of Barcelona is marking a transition from the conventional, hegemonic smart city approach to a new paradigm—the experimental city. Through (i) a literature review, (ii) carrying out twenty in-depth interviews with key stakeholders, and (iii) actively participating in three symposiums in Barcelona from September 2017 to March 2018, this paper elucidates how (smart) citizens are increasingly considered decision-makers rather than data providers. This paper considers (i) the implications of the technopolitics of data ownership and, as a result, (ii) the ongoing implementation of the Digital Plan 2017–2020, its three experimental strategies, and the related seven strategic initiatives. This paper concludes that, from the policy perspective, smartness may not be appealing in Barcelona, although the experimental approach has yet to be entirely established as a paradigm.

This paper aims to interpret from an strategic point of view public policies in the digital realm in the postpandemic context in the EU and the Basque Country. Consequently, the author contributes with a federal proposal of the Recovery and Resilience Funds of the European Commission. Technopolitically, he suggests digitalisation should allow us to think potentially federalising policies beyond territories but respecting their particularities.\ud---\udLa ponencia ‘digitalización (potencialmente federalizante)’ se enmarca en el curso de verano titulado ‘Sobre el Futuro de Europa: Una Visión desde Euskadi’. En la misma, el autor interpreta desde un punto de vista estratégico—conectando lo regional con lo internacional, pasando por lo europeo—las políticas públicas en el ámbito digital en un contexto post-pandémico a nivel UE y Euskadi. Consecuentemente, el autor realiza una propuesta en clave constructiva e inclusiva a la Conferencia Europea como proceso de reflexión y relanzamiento de la UE, y teniendo en cuenta en particular el plan de recuperación y resiliencia, y su hipotética naturaleza federal. Así, la ponencia propone matizar y ampliar un horizonte digital—y por ende, considerando y ahondando en su impacto tecno-político—potencialmente federalizante desde Euskadi en el marco de la UE.

Many European pandemic citizens will likely be unemployed during the COVID-19 crisis. This article explores whether it is possible to alter existing data governance extractivist models to incentivize the emergence of platform and data co-operatives to protect European pandemic citizens’ labor and digital rights. As such, this article aims to decipher the rationale behind the proliferation of platform and data co-operatives by responding to how new forms of co-operatives using digital technologies can provide feasible socio-economic alternatives to improve post-COVID-19 working conditions for vulnerable or already empowered pandemic citizens. This article is structured as follows. First, the European “pandemic citizenship” term is described. Second, the rationale of this article is consequently presented. Third, the research question, two hypotheses, and the action research triangulation are described. The deployment of the triangulation methodology based on action research, mixed methods and social innovation reveals the main findings through (i) Delphi study results, (ii) a taxonomy for platform and data co-operative cases, and ultimately, (iii) fieldwork research conducted in Glasgow, Barcelona and Tallinn. This article concludes that co-operatives (platform-based or data-driven), stemming from the potential resilient response of European pandemic citizens, may currently portray a feasible alternative to data governance extractivist models.