How might we evaluate long-term impacts of domestic and internationally recognized innovation competitions towards cities’ resiliency?

In the past twenty years, there has been an increase in the use of innovation competitions by local governments to address complex climate-related challenges. There exists a gap in research on the extent to which such competitions build local governments’ capacity.

This project aims to understand if innovation competitions affect the ability of local governments to innovatively address climate-related challenges and identify specific mechanisms through which innovation competitions might do so. The findings of the National League of Cities (NLC, the i-Lab partner) team’s study will be used to develop a report on the success criteria of innovation competitions, which will be shared by the NLC with the governments of small to mid-sized American cities interested in building their own innovative capacities.