UP2030 Upscaling Methodology

In this section you will learn about the upscaling methodology that was designed for the UP2030 project. Implemented by 10 cities, the methodology helped cities on moving from a series of objectives to a concrete plan for upscaling and/or replicating the prototypes developed during the UP2030 project.

The UP2030 project built an upscaling methodology to provide cities with instrument and resources developed during the project, so that the prototypes developed during the project can be grown and adapted to other sectors, regions and countries, in order to accomplish the goals defined by each city. This process ensures that best practices are transferable and adaptable across different urban contexts.

The importance of the enabling environment

The success of the replication or upscaling efforts is completely reliant on the institutional environment in which the actions will be implemented. Therefore, it is essential to create an “enabling environment”, which is constituted primarily by:

Enabling Environment

How was it done in the UP2030 project? 

The upscale phase was structured in three key phases: preparatory work with cities, engagement with the Learning Action Alliance (LAA), and a follow-up phase focusing on transferability. Please find below the details of each phase:

The primary goal of these phase was to define the city-specific objectives with the cities, by conducting an initial consultation with city representatives to understand their local context, challenges and priorities. For this, cities and liaisons have worked on the pillars of the enabling environment for upscaling defined above. Thanks to a 1-hour workshop held with adelphi and the Global Green Growth Institute, the cities:

  • Explored the available tools on governance and finance that support upscaling (available in "Tools" section).
  • Understood the local context, challenges and priorities of cities.
  • Defined the objectives for upscaling.

These points were the basis for guiding the conversation with local stakeholders during the LAA workshop. 

The second step was a workshop that each city organised individually with stakeholders of their Learning & Action Alliances (LAAs). The LAAs are knowledge exchange and co-creation platforms intended to support the communication, coordination, innovation, and dialogue between city stakeholders at multiple levels. 

The LAA workshop is the central piece of the upscaling methodology. Cities and their liaisons organised a half-a-day workshop with the relevant local stakeholders, with the purpose of:

  • Setting the scene, presenting the objective and defining the resources and capacities to move forward.
  • Creating readiness among the stakeholders at the local level.
  • Designing an initial implementation plan for upscaling actions.

The completion of this workshop will build a clear concept about upscaling and define key next steps for moving from planning to implementation.
 

The follow-up workshops will be a debriefing session where cities and liaisons analyse the data collected from the LAA workshop and develop the Transferability Package, based on the insights and outcomes obtained in the workshop with the local stakeholders. The Transferability Package contains the following information: 

  • Definition of the objectives for the upscaling phase for the city, specifying which are the dimensions that will be addressed and the impact generated with the actions. 
  • List of barriers when it comes to upscaling and measures proposed to overcome these.
  • Plan for upscaling the prototype, collecting the next steps for design and implementation and assigning roles and responsibilities among the actors involved.
  • Guidance materials and resources to inform key stakeholders about the upscaling phase and the activities that need to be conducted.  

Below you can find a template (To be added) that will help you go through the different phases of the Upscaling Methodologies. The template contains guiding questions to be addressed in each phase, as well as a proposed agenda for the LAA workshop, which will help cities on defining a plan for upscaling local actions.

One of the key outcomes of this upscaling process is the transferability package, which is designed to serve as a guidance document for cities to assist them in transitioning from the planning phase to the implementation phase of upscaling activities. You can find here the Transferability Packages that have been created for 10 cities that participated in the UP2030 project.

Note: if you would like to learn more about the concepts of upscaling and replication, as well as about the different phases of the UP2030 Upscaling Methodology, the MOOC (add link) contains a module that provides a detailed information about all these concepts.