Sustainable and Climate Just Cities Workshop

Sustainable and Climate Just Cities Workshop

WHEN: Thursday, 26 November 2026, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm WHERE: Seminar Room C3-16, Centenary Building, City East campus, Adelaide University

This workshop is part of a research collaboration between Adelaide University and the University of Freiburg, Germany, comparing climate action and adaptation policies and plans in both cities and exploring what just transitions look like and require at the local level. It will bring together researchers, policymakers and civil society organisations working on climate mitigation and adaptation, sustainability governance, and just transitions.

Why attend Adelaide and Freiburg are both internationally recognised as world-leading sustainable cities based on their urban sustainability policies and energy transitions. This workshop is a chance to learn from each other by sharing knowledge and practices: what has worked in each city, why, and what can realistically transfer to the other. Freiburg's researchers and practitioners will share how their sustainability transformation has been governed and sustained over decades; Adelaide's team will bring the local context, ambitions and constraints to the workshop. A central focus of the workshop is how social and climate justice issues can be better integrated into urban sustainability planning.

Beyond this session, the day is designed to generate concrete value for attendees: •      Practical insights: a comparative view of what drives effective sustainability transformation in two very different city contexts, with direct relevance to current SA policy debates; •      Direct access: direct engagement with Freiburg researchers and SA-based policymakers and practitioners, in a small-group, discussion-first format rather than a lecture series; •      Timing: a rare, time-limited opportunity to help shape a growing Adelaide–Freiburg partnership about sustainability transformations.

What we expect this workshop to deliver •      Joint research output: a co-authored comparative paper or policy brief drawing on the Adelaide–Freiburg comparison; •      Ongoing partnership: a long-term partnership between Freiburg and Adelaide researchers, policymakers and practitioners, sustained through continued exchange, joint grant applications and future visits between the two teams; •      Policy input for SA: concrete lessons and recommendations that can feed into SA and Adelaide climate and energy transition planning; •      Practitioner network: stronger, lasting connections between researchers, policymakers and civil society working on just transitions in Adelaide.

Final Program

Time Session and Speaker 9:30 am Welcome, introductions and workshop aims (TW) 9:35 - 9:45 am Opening address: Prof Jessica Gallagher, Deputy Vice-Chancellor International and External Engagement 9:45 - 10:30 am Keynote 1: Prof Nicola Spurrier: Climate and Health: Maintaining Optimism 10:30 - 11:00 am Morning tea 11:00 - 11:30 am Short presentations (10 mins & 5 mins Q&A) Diane Favier (Manager, Climate Change Policy and Action, Department for Environment and Water): SA Government Led Climate Action Wiebke Thomas (Freiburg University): Urban Climate Justice 11:30 am - 12:30 pm Panel: Just transitions in practice: SA policymakers and civil society perspectives Panelists: Prof Nicola Spurrier (SA Health); Dr Kimberly Humphreys (SA Department Health & Wellbeing); Maria Zotti (Manager Climate & Sustainability, City of Unley); Prof Melissa Nursey-Bray (AU, School of Society & Culture) Panel chair: Dr Tracey Dodd 12:30 - 1:00 pm Lunch 1:00 - 1:30 pm Keynote 2: Prof Tanja Mölders: Freiburg’s urban sustainability journey 1:30 - 2:30 pm Workshop activity 1: comparing governance approaches and identifying shared priorities and challenges 2:30 - 3:00 pm Reporting back and discussion: shared priorities and challenges 3:00 - 3:30 pm Afternoon tea 3:30 - 4:15 pm Workshop activity 2: co-designing responses to shared urban sustainability challenges 4:15 - 4:30 pm Next steps: future collaboration and follow-up actions 4:30 pm Close

After workshop drinks

Morning tea, lunch, and afternoon tea provided.

Enquiries: contact Dr Thomas Wanner: thomas.wanner@adelaide.edu.au