Fourteenth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

Environmental transitions require profound social and structural shifts, significantly impacting consumption patterns. Achieving transformative sustainability entails reconnecting individuals with nature, restructuring institutions, and reimagining knowledge use (Abson et al., n.d.). Despite the increasing role of technological mediation in human-environment relations (Chokhachian et al., 2022) and urban transformative capacities (Wolfram, 2016), realizing transformative change remains a persistent challenge. Urban Living Labs (ULLs) offer essential spaces (Schäpke et al., n.d.) where urban studies researchers act as facilitators and knowledge brokers, nurturing “coproductive agility” (Chambers et al., 2022) to reshape urban possibilities through public engagement. Drawing from three years of action-research in UIA-Air Break Ferrara, addressing air pollution in a highly polluted European city, this study explores urban innovation’s potential to activate ‘agency spots’ (Bhowmik et al., 2020) for cultivating “possibility making.” It critically evaluates the capacity of these processes to reform alliances, social practices, and systemic policy perspectives crucial for a just transition. The study assesses conventional ULL limitations and envisions ‘agency labs’ as prospective platforms for possibility-making, introducing the F.R.A.G.I.L.E. framework (Fractal Relations for Adaptive, Goal-oriented, Integrated, Long-term, and Experimental Urban Transition). Through an ‘agency’ lens, we redesign transformative engagement paths, proposing modalities to activate change-makers’ ecosystems, including fractality (air quality alliance), relationality (Air-Fest), informative environments (Co-monitoring/Sens(in) labs), and spatial integration of alternatives (NBS/Mobility infrastructure/Open labs). By sharing tested formats within real contexts, this study contributes to reshaping urban possibilities for ecological futures. Empirical insights guide transformative pathways’ design for healthier built environments, amplifying principles of “response-ability,” “transform-ability,” and “Imagine-ability”.