Science clusters
Summary
Over the last 25 years, the European Union has been solidly committed to making its cities and local communities more sustainable. Indeed, European communities, cities and regions have engaged in Local Sustainability Transition (LST), making the EU a laboratory for sustainable solutions, including the socio-technical aspects of transition. In this context, the CASTAL project consolidates over 500 European case studies on LST into a centralised digital repository: the Case Studies Atlas of Local Sustainability Transition - CASTAL, a new digital research object collecting FAIR-compliant case studies (mainly licensed in CC by). CASTAL contributes to Open Science and EOSC, by enabling future research and the exploitation of research results by researchers from SSH and other disciplines, and from local authorities, businesses and citizens.
Challenge
Open Science project, Cross-domain/Cross-RI
The CASTAL project addresses several key challenges in leveraging existing research on LST in Europe. These include the fragmentation of knowledge, as case studies are dispersed across multiple repositories and projects; the lack of centralised archives for storing and preserving data; and insufficient efforts to organise data using indexes or metadata. Additionally, difficulties in aggregating data from multiple studies on the same cases hinder comprehensive analysis. As a result, valuable insights from two decades of LST research remain underutilised for future research and practical applications, such as cross-case comparisons or diachronic studies.
Solution
The CASTAL project proposes several solutions for leveraging research on LST in Europe. It will create an archive collecting over 500 case studies, ensuring preservation and accessibility; a metadata dataset, describing each and all of the case studies (data are curated and deposited in DASSI repositories); and a web portal as a companion tool for increasing the accessibility and findability of the Atlas, and allowing users to update the Atlas as new case studies are produced.
The project aims to engage with the scientific community of reference and with other actors (e.g., local authorities, European stakeholders), promote ten secondary studies using CASTAL as a data source, and develop web services and guidelines for updating the Atlas.
Scientific Impact
By adhering to FAIR data principles, CASTAL will improve data sharing and reuse among researchers, local authorities, and businesses, maximising the impact of LST research and fostering evidence-based sustainability solutions in local communities and municipalities across Europe. The project will also integrate with CESSDA ERIC for long-term curation, creating a multi-purpose platform that supports cross-case analysis and knowledge brokerage for various stakeholders: SSH researchers, local authorities, policymakers and stakeholders with information and knowledge about the state of LST around Europe.
Principal investigator
Social researcher (senior position). At K&I he is responsible for strategic partnerships and project design. Over the years, he has been contributing to the implementation of several projects on sustainability transition, open science, RRI, ethics and gender issues. He is an expert evaluator.
