Participating our way to low-carbon cities or decarbonising our way to urban democracy:an exploration of processes and outcomes in contemporary urban

climate change politics (continuation from the title).

This PhD will explore the connections between participation and the governance of climate change in urban contexts. Specifically, it will examine whether increased participation in decision making about climate change projects is seen as a part of the process of delivering effective climate change outcomes, or is seen as a separate outcome in itself. Exploring this will allow the PhD to examine how different participatory governance structures are shaping the governance of climate change. But it will also allow the PhD to explore how the problem of climate change is reshaping urban politics; by examining who, how, and why different groups are participating in decisions about climate change, the PhD will explore how the issue of climate change is creating new publics around it. To achieve this, the PhD will look at three projects in Barcelona, Spain - one of which was implemented to achieve climate change outcomes by using participatory tools, two of which were implemented to improve participation in local governance but have delivered climate change positive outcomes. Studies of participatory governance almost always focus on the
analysis of a single project, or direct comparison of projects with identical methods. Comparing different methods in the same geographical location, as this PhD proposes, is a relatively novel approach. It should therefore prove academically original and will allow the PhD to effectively explore the aforementioned reflexive relationship between climate change and the reshaping of urban politics.