Call for submissions

A collection of research summaries

Call launched by Villes Régions Monde Network and the Canada Research Chair in Urban Climate Action

Scientific Committee: Sophie L. Van Neste (INRS), Stéphane Guimont Marceau (INRS), Geneviève Cloutier (Université Laval), René Audet (UQAM), Nathalie Bleau (Ouranos), Laura Tozer (University of Toronto Scarborough), and Christina Hoicka (University of Victoria)

Call for submissions form (deadline: May 15, 2023 May 22, 2023)

Complete call for submissions (PDF)

Pour la version francophone, cliquez ici

Project Background

In the face of the global climate emergency and the slow progress of climate action, there is growing enthusiasm for city and local initiatives. Yet, organizations and researchers are concerned about the exacerbation of inequalities induced by climate policies and actions in cities, an issue that is still insufficiently addressed in both research and practice.

The objective of the project is to establish a collection of research summaries that will facilitate the mobilization and dissemination of recent research on the links between inequalities and climate action (adaptation and mitigation) in cities of different sizes and in different contexts. Inequalities in climate action relate to distributive justice, procedural justice, recognition of diversity, and the sometimes intersecting experience of colonial oppression, gender discrimination, racism, and others.

The initiative follows a first phase conducted in 2022, which brought together 15 summaries of recent research in Quebec, peer-reviewed under the coordination of the scientific committee and published on the Villes Régions Monde network website. This second phase aims to gather more contributions and include important themes not well covered in phase 1: housing issues, anti-racist perspectives, Indigenous perspectives, feminist perspectives. This phase also invites contributions from elsewhere in Canada, with translation support in both French and English.

Expected contributions

The expected contributions take the form of short texts (2500 words, approximately 5 pages) summarizing recent work on climate actions in cities and their effects. The texts may focus on climate action strategies, or on issues associated with equity and justice that need to be taken into account in this field.

We expect submissions to address issues of inequality and offer avenues for greater equity and justice in the face of climate change. For example, they could focus on: social and spatial inequalities that further exacerbate the effects of climate change for certain environments and populations; processes of racialization, exclusion, discrimination, and colonialism to consider in climate action and transition; processes put in place to avoid these processes and reduce inequalities; unequal opportunities or, conversely, better opportunities to participate and influence public decisions; gendered imbalances in the burden of adopting ecological practices; differential access to services, forms of mobility, affordable housing, or ecological housing, etc.

This second phase particularly aims to include important themes that were not covered in phase 1, such as:

Housing issues (e.g., green gentrification, energy poverty, residential precarity exacerbated by climate policies, impacts of climate hazards on homeless people, etc.)
Anti-racist perspectives (e.g., projects and analyses developed by marginalized communities, analysis of the accumulation of environmental and social injustices)
Indigenous perspectives on relationships with territories and the right to self-determination (e.g., projects and analyses developed by Indigenous communities, decolonial analyses, recognition of the diversity of knowledge)
Feminist perspectives (e.g., gender inequalities in the face of climate change, increased burden on women associated with reproductive work and care work, ecofeminist activism)

Format, evaluation and schedule

Each text presents a review of the scientific literature as well as results of the original research. The text must include citation and be written in language accessible to an informed audience. It must present the results in a precise and synthetic manner, making them useful and interesting for readers who may not be familiar with the context.

All texts will follow the same format and will be evaluated by the project’s scientific committee and external evaluators. The committee will evaluate the texts based on the quality of the contribution on substance and form.

Interested individuals are invited to first submit a 300-word summary. Those whose proposals fit within the themes of the Collection will then be invited to submit a complete text following the format presented below. After evaluation, the committee will provide detailed feedback with any requests for modifications.

Format for each research summary

(Total objective of 2500 words, in Times 12 points)

Title
Introduction to the research topic and explanation of its connection to the themes of climate action (200 to 250 words)
Review of scientific literature on the studied action modality (objectives, issues, and limitations of this action modality according to scientific literature) (600 to 700 words)
Case, method, and data from original research (300 to 350 words)
Results: description of the results, analysis, and synthesis of what the research adds to the existing literature (900 to 1200 words)
Conclusion: key learnings and limitations of the research/suggestions for future research (150-250 words)
Bibliography: SAGE Harvard reference format
Complete reference of the research work on which the text is based (title, name of the journal or institution, hyperlink, publication date)
2 or 3 images (photos, tables, maps, or illustrations that are free of rights, indicating the credit) that will be inserted where desired in the text.

Who can contribute?

The initiative aims to bring together knowledge from recent research conducted by students and professors, rather than producing new knowledge. Research summaries co-constructed with partners and organizations from the practice fields are also welcomed.

Funding

We will offer student scholarships as well as funding for French-English translation.

Schedule

Submission of abstract (300-400 words): until May 15, 2023
Selection of abstracts by the scientific committee, feedback to authors starting from June 15
Submission of text: August 16
Feedback from the scientific committee to authors: starting from October 2
Submission of final version with corrections: until November 13
Proofreading, translation, and language revisions: November 2023 to January 2024
Online publication: February 2024