No. 1 (2025): Southern transitions. Facing climate change and ecological degradation in the Global South
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Urban Strategies Towards Sustainability. Exchanging knowledge between Global North and Global South: insights from an interdisciplinary workshop in Nayón, Quito

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  • Eleonora Giannini,
  • Giulio Hasanaj,
  • Alba Lucìa Gonzáles Solís,
  • Francesco Alberti,
  • Michael Maks Davis
Eleonora Giannini
School of Geography and Planning, University of Sheffield, UK
Giulio Hasanaj
DIDA, University of Florence, Italy
Alba Lucìa Gonzáles Solís
Faculty of Psychology, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuado, Ecuador
Francesco Alberti
Department of Architecture, University of Florence, Italy
Michael Maks Davis
Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Ecuador
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/contest-16159

Published 2025-07-21 — Updated on 2025-07-21

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Keywords

  • Ecological transition,
  • Mobility,
  • Integrated Design ,
  • Decolonization,
  • Community Engagement

How to Cite

Giannini, E., Hasanaj, G., Gonzáles Solís, A. L., Alberti, F., & Maks Davis, M. (2025). Urban Strategies Towards Sustainability. Exchanging knowledge between Global North and Global South: insights from an interdisciplinary workshop in Nayón, Quito. Contesti. Città, Territori, Progetti, (1), 114–141. https://doi.org/10.36253/contest-16159

Copyright (c) 2025 Francesco Alberti, Michael Maks Davis, Alba Lucìa Gonzáles Solís, Eleonora Giannini, Giulio Hasanaj

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Abstract

There is an imminent relation between transport, sustainable urban planning and the global ecological crisis. Additionally, an academic trend can be observed towards the decolonisation of knowledge. Within this context, work remains regarding the praxis of knowledge from the Global South, especially regarding transport. This article addresses the gap by drawing on results of an interdisciplinary workshop that centred on transport, was held in a university of the Global South, and included students from the Global North. First, an overview of Ecuador and the rights of Mother Earth is given. Second, transport in the capital city, Quito, is summarised. Third, the parish of Nayón in the suburbs is described, which was the intervention area for the workshop. The design and results of the workshop are described, whereby the conclusions related to the objective of this study are drawn. Whilst no claim can be made to have solved the problem of decolonisation and the global ecological crisis, a meaningful step forward was made. This highlights the importance of education and collaborative knowledge creation between the Global South and North for advancing sustainable transport within planetary boundaries.

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