The Honours Programme – City Science for Transformative Urban Futures opens with an inaugural lecture by Vanesa Castán Broto, Professor of Climate Urbanism at the Urban Institute, University of Sheffield.

Professor Castán Broto’s research investigates the governance of climate change in cities, exploring how urban actors, institutions, and knowledge systems shape responses to global environmental change. Her work bridges urban studies, climate policy, and development studies, with a particular attention to the role of cities in addressing climate transitions and advancing more inclusive urban futures.

She has authored and co-edited numerous books and articles, including Inclusive Urban Development in the Global South(Routledge, 2021) and Climate Urbanism (Palgrave, 2021). Her contributions to climate research and urban governance have been widely recognised, including the AXA Prize in Climate Science (2021) and the Philip Leverhulme Prize in Geography (2016). In 2013, a project she led received the UNFCCC Lighthouse Activity Award for initiatives that improve the living conditions of the urban poor.

In this lecture, Professor Castán Broto will reflect on the political and institutional dimensions of urban climate action in an age of planetary urbanization. Framing cities as key arenas where environmental challenges intersect with governance, knowledge production, and social change, she will provide both a conceptual perspective and practical insights into how urban transformations can be activated and how climate action can be effectively implemented in practice.

The lecture inaugurates the 2026 edition of the CRAFT Honours Programme, a training and experimentation platform designed to connect students, researchers, and cities around emerging urban questions and transformative practices.

The lecture opens a series of open lectures organised as part of the Honours Programme, inviting scholars and practitioners to discuss emerging urban challenges with the wider academic community.