Professor
Vanesa
Castan Broto

Faculty of Social Sciences

Professor of Climate Urbanism

Vanesa Castan Broto
Profile picture of Vanesa Castan Broto
v.castanbroto@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 7942
The Wave

Full contact details

Professor Vanesa Castan Broto
Faculty of Social Sciences
The Wave
2 Whitham Road

Sheffield

S10 2AH

Profile

I joined the University of Sheffield in September 2017, following an appointment as a Professorial Fellow in the Faculty of Social Sciences. Since then, I have coordinated multiple consortiums researching climate urbanism and sustainable energy transitions funded by UKRI, the ERC, the British Academy, and the Leverhulme Trust, among others.

Currently, I am leading the international consortium  (advancing gender equality and social inclusion in the energy transition) and co-leading the project  (to facilitate adaptation in informal settlements in cities in the Philippines). My recent work has focused on institutional ethnography as a method to challenge existing drivers of structural discrimination.

In September 2025, I was appointed as a member of the  by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to write the 2027 Global Sustainable Development Report (GSDR). 

Some of the recognition I have received for my work include the , the 2016  for contributions to Geography, and the  that support the Urban Poor. 

I am Associate Editor of , and I have just concluded my tenure as Associate Editor for .

Research interests

At the Urban Institute, I coordinate the group working on Climate Urbanism, looking at how climate change is governed in urban areas and with what consequences. 

From 2020 to 2025, I led an international assessment of the potential of community energy to facilitate transitions to sustainable energy. The assessment was conducted by the team behind the project . We wrote a book called  bringing together multiple experiences from different disciplines and from community energy managers on the ground. A summary of results has been presented in a recent paper in . 

I coordinated the city-based research component of the project , whose objective was to learn from co-production experiences across the world. In November 2025, we published an edited collection called  to showcase many positive examples of co-production and a comparative analysis of how different institutional and political conditions generate variegated approaches to co-production. The research explored the potential of co-production to challenge , address the lack of of minority groups, and advance . 

I led the project Low Carbon Action in Ordinary Cities () to assess climate change innovation in less-examined urban areas around the world (the team focused on a sample of smaller cities in rapidly urbanising areas). The project studied the of climate change in cities and the quest for  . It argued that policies foster place-based innovation. The project also experimented with new methodologies, for example, combining to understand sustainability trajectories. Concepts like and  were influential in this project.

In addition to my current and recently completed projects, I have a long-standing interest in several topics: 

Infrastructure landscapes: The landscape perspective opens up alternative ways to think about socio-ecological relations and how their aesthetics became a subtle form of politics. I wrote a book on this topic called .  

Environmental Justice: Working with Linda Westman, we wrote a book called  (open access), and I have continued engaging with the topic, particularly through the idea of  and imagination and the transformative potential of different narratives. 

Messiness and governance: My work examining the actual practices of climate change governance shows that this is a complex practice. Ideas of experimentation informed early work in this topic as explained in the monograph I wrote with Harriet Bulkeley and Gareth Edwards called . 

I was a Lead Author for the 6th Assessment Report, , of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and I have contributed to various international reports, most recently contributing a chapter on resilient housing to the 2026 World Cities Report on .

Publications

Books

  • (2025) CO-PRODUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE IN ACTION Emancipatory Strategies for Urban.
  • Castan Broto V & Westman L (2019) . London: Zed Books.
  • Castán Broto V (2019) . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Broto VC & Westman L (2019) . Zed Books Ltd.
  • Castán Broto V, Ensor J, Boyd E, Allen C, Seventine C & Augusto Macucule D (2015) . UCL Press.
  • Bulkeley HA, Broto VC & Edwards GAS (2014) An Urban Politics of Climate Change: Experimentation and the Governing of Socio-Technical Transitions. Abingdon: Routledge.

Journal articles

  • Ruiz de Gopegui M, Olazabal M & Castán Broto V (2026) . European Planning Studies, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), 1-22.
  • Castán Broto V, Gebreslassie MG & To LS (2025) . Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 5(4), 040201-040201.
  • Huang P, Castán Broto V & Westman L (2025) . Technology Analysis & Strategic Management.
  • Ruiz de Gopegui M, Olazabal M, Castán Broto V & McPhearson T (2025) . Urban Climate, 62.
  • Vallecha H, Gebreslassie M, Filli F, Hara C, Gogoda C, Assefa A, To LS, Kirshner J & Castán Broto V (2025) . Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, 5(1).
  • Castán Broto V & Marvin S (2024) . Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space.
  • Huang P, Broto VC & Westman L (2024) . Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 53.
  • Ruiz de Gopegui Aramburu M, Olazabal M & Broto VC (2024) . Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, 2(3), 271-315.
  • Gebreslassie MG, Bekele G, Bahta ST, Mebrahtu AH, Assefa A, Nurhussien FF, Habtu D, Lake A, Broto VC & Mulugetta Y (2024) . Energy Research & Social Science, 117.
  • Castán Broto V, Olazabal M & Ziervogel G (2024) . Buildings and Cities, 5(1), 199-214.
  • McLaren DP, Anderson C, Barry J, Castán Broto V, de Cheveigné S, Chilvers J, Crowther A, Hupé J-M, Kalaugher L, Labussiere O , Rothery TL et al (2024) . Frontiers in Education, 9.
  • Dias SM, Castán Broto V, Cypriano B, Ogando AC & Gonçalves J (2024) . Environment and Urbanization, 36(1), 93-111.
  • Perry B, Castán Broto V, Patel Z & Sitas R (2024) . Planning Theory, 23(4), 423-445.
  • Castán Broto V, Westman L & Huang P (2023) . Buildings and Cities, 4(1), 973-989.
  • Dodds K, Taylor Z, Akbari A, Broto VC, Detterbeck K, Inverardi-Ferri C, Lee KO, Mamadouh V, Ramutsindela M & Woon CY (2023) . Territory, Politics, Governance, 11(8), 1519-1536.
  • Lobo J, Aggarwal RM, Alberti M, Allen-Dumas M, Bettencourt LMA, Boone C, Brelsford C, Broto VC, Eakin H, Bagchi-Sen S , Meerow S et al (2023) . npj Urban Sustainability, 3(1).
  • Delgado G, Castán Broto V & Mukesi T (2023) . Urban Planning, 8(2).
  • Westman L, Castán Broto V & Huang P (2023) . Global Environmental Politics, 23(2), 102-124.
  • Castán Broto V, Westman L & Huang P (2023) . Journal of Planning Literature, 38(3), 380-394.
  • Castán Broto V & Robin E (2023) . Landscape Research, 48(2), 165-173.
  • Späth P, Castán Broto V, Bawakyillenuo S & Pregernig M (2022) . Energy, Sustainability and Society, 12(1).
  • Simone A & Castán Broto V (2022) . City, 26(5-6), 771-790.
  • Olazabal M & Castán Broto V (2022) . Buildings & Cities, 3(1), 570-588.
  • Castan Broto V (2022) . Raumforschung und Raumordnung | Spatial Research and Planning, 80(4), 502-504.
  • Gebreslassie MG, Cuvilas C, Zalengera C, To LS, Baptista I, Robin E, Bekele G, Howe L, Shenga C, Macucule DA , Kirshner J et al (2022) . Energy, Sustainability and Society, 12(1).
  • Castán Broto V, Robin E & Whitehead T (2022) . Landscape Research, 48(2), 255-269.
  • Dodds K, Broto VC, Detterbeck K, Jones M, Mamadouh V, Ramutsindela M, Varsanyi M, Wachsmuth D & Woon CY (2022) . Territory, Politics, Governance, 10(2), 145-158.
  • Ruszczyk HA, Castán Broto V & McFarlane C (2022) . Geoforum, 131, 105-115.
  • Westman L & Castán Broto V (2022) . Antipode, 54(4), 1320-1343.
  • Westman L, Patterson J, Macrorie R, Orr CJ, Ashcraft CM, Castán Broto V, Dolan D, Gupta M, van der Heijden J, Hickmann T , Hobbins R et al (2022) . Ambio, 51, 1402-1415.
  • Waterton E, Broto VC, Fairclough G, Jones K & Watt LA (2022) . Landscape Research, 47(1), 1-9.
  • Castan Broto V (2022) . Journal of Urban Technology, 29(1), 87-93.
  • Castán Broto V, Ortiz C, Lipietz B, Osuteye E, Johnson C, Kombe W, Mtwangi-Limbumba T, Cazanave Macías J, Desmaison B, Hadny A , Kisembo T et al (2022) . Current Research in Environmental Sustainability, 4, 100179-100179.
  • Castán Broto V, Westman L & Huang P (2021) . Journal of the British Academy, 9s9(S9), 205-218.
  • Huang P, Westman L & Castán Broto V (2021) . Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 41, 99-101.
  • Castán Broto V (2021) . The AAG Review of Books, 9(4), 1-3.
  • Broto VC (2021) . Environment and Urbanization, 33(2), 310-329.
  • Olazabal M, Chu E, Castán Broto V & Patterson J (2021) . One Earth, 4(6), 828-838.
  • Huang P, Westman L & Castán Broto V (2021) . Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 46(4), 900-916.
  • Ruiz-Campillo X, Castán Broto V & Westman L (2021) . Politics and Governance, 9(2), 17-28.
  • Davies AR, Castan Broto V & Hügel S (2021) . Politics and Governance, 9(2), 1-7.
  • Westman L & Castán Broto V (2021) . Local Environment, 26(5), 536-541.
  • Ghosh E, Friend R, Anderson KF, Castán Broto V, Tuniz J, Markkanen S, Vaughan L & Rusca M (2021) . One Earth, 4(2), 161-164.
  • Castán Broto V, Sudhira HS & Unnikrishnan H (2021) . International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 45(4), 696-715.
  • Pihl E, Alfredsson E, Bengtsson M, Bowen KJ, Cástan Broto V, Chou KT, Cleugh H, Ebi K, Edwards CM, Fisher E , Friedlingstein P et al (2021) . Global Sustainability, 4.
  • Unnikrishnan H, B. M, Nagendra H & Castán Broto V (2021) . Urban Geography, 42(3), 263-288.
  • Castán Broto V & Robin E (2020) . Urban Geography, 42(6), 715-720.
  • Broto VC (2020) . Territory, Politics, Governance, 8(5), 599-603.
  • Huang P, Castán Broto V & Westman LK (2020) . Environmental Policy and Governance, 30(6), 306-318.
  • Castán Broto V, Mah D, Zhang F, Huang P, Lo K & Westman L (2020) . Urban Transformations, 2(1).
  • Castán Broto V & Westman LK (2020) . Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 11(4).
  • Castán Broto V, Arthur MDFSR & Guibrunet L (2020) . Energy Research & Social Science, 65, 101478-101478.
  • Castán Broto V (2020) . Urban Studies, 57(11), 2371-2379.
  • Castán Broto V & Sanzana Calvet M (2020) . Journal of Political Ecology, 27(1), 279-299.
  • Castán Broto V (2020) . Territory, Politics, Governance, 8(2), 241-258.
  • Sawas A, Castán Broto V, Anwar NH & Rehman A (2020) . Community Development Journal, 55(1), 83-101.
  • Lo K & Castán Broto V (2019) . Global Environmental Change, 59.
  • Castán Broto V & Sudhira HS (2019) . Urban Studies, 56(11), 2261-2279.
  • Castán Broto V, Trencher G, Iwaszuk E & Westman L (2019) . Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment, 48(5), 449-462.
  • Westman LK, Castán Broto V & Huang P (2019) . Political Geography, 70, 14-23.
  • Westman LK & Castán Broto V (2019) . Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 37(2), 277-297.
  • Castán Broto V, Baptista I, Kirshner J, Smith S & Neves Alves S (2018) . Applied Energy, 228, 645-655.
  • Castán Broto V & Neves Alves S (2018) . Environment and Urbanization, 30(2), 367-386.
  • Huang P & Castán Broto V (2018) . Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 28, 35-45.
  • Mulugetta Y & Castán Broto V (2018) . Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 30, 82-88.
  • Westman L & Castan Broto V (2018) . Global Environmental Change, 50, 212-221.
  • Huang P, Broto VC, Liu Y & Ma H (2018) . Journal of Cleaner Production, 180, 222-231.
  • Lopez-Navarro MA, Tortosa-Edo V & Castan-Broto V (2018) . Journal of Cleaner Production, 186, 22-33.
  • Castán Broto V & Baker L (2018) . Energy Research and Social Science, 36, 1-10.
  • Huang P, Castán Broto V & Liu Y (2018) . Energy Research and Social Science, 36, 156-164.
  • Castán Broto V (2018) . Climate Policy, 18(2), 170-183.
  • Guibrunet L, Sanzana Calvet M & Castán Broto V (2017) . Geoforum, 85, 353-367.
  • Castán Broto V & Westman L (2017) . Local Environment, 22(5), 635-650.
  • Castán Broto V (2017) . World Development, 93, 1-15.
  • Trencher G, Castán Broto V, Takagi T, Sprigings Z, Nishida Y & Yarime M (2016) . Environmental Science & Policy, 66, 353-365.
  • Castán Broto V & Dewberry E (2016) . Journal of Cleaner Production, 112, 3018-3027.
  • Castán Broto V (2016) . Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 18(5), 712-729.
  • Castan Broto V (2015) . Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 33(3), 460-476.
  • Walsh CL, Glendinning S, Castán-Broto V, Dewberry E & Powell M (2015) . Futures, 67, 1-10.
  • Broto VC (2015) . ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING D-SOCIETY & SPACE, 33(3), 460-476.
  • Boyd E, Ensor J, Broto VC & Juhola S (2014) . Global Environmental Change, 26, 140-151.
  • Castán Broto V, Glendinning S, Dewberry E, Walsh C & Powell M (2014) . Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 84, 186-196.
  • Powell M, Glendinning S, Castán Broto V, Dewberry E & Walsh C (2014) . Anthropology in Action, 21(2).
  • Bulkeley H, Castán Broto V & Maassen A (2014) . Urban Studies, 51(7), 1471-1486.
  • Bulkeley H & Castán Broto V (2014) . Contemporary Social Science, 9(4), 393-414.
  • Bulkeley H, Carmin J, Castán Broto V, Edwards GAS & Fuller S (2013) . Global Environmental Change, 23(5), 914-925.
  • Broto VC & Bulkeley H (2013) . International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 37(6), 1934-1948.
  • Castán Broto V, Oballa B & Junior P (2013) . Local Environment, 18(6), 678-704.
  • Castán Broto V & Bulkeley H (2013) . Global Environmental Change, 23(1), 92-102.
  • Bulkeley H & Castán Broto V (2013) . Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 38(3), 361-375.
  • Castán Broto V (2012) . Local Environment, 17(8), 879-895.
  • Castán Broto V, Gislason M & Ehlers M-H (2009) . Environmental Science & Policy, 12(7), 922-933.
  • Doick KJ, Sellers G, Castan-Broto V & Silverthorne T (2009) . Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 8(3), 163-178.
  • Castán Broto V (2009) . Sociology, 43(3), 573-579.
  • Castán Broto V, Carter C & Elghali L (2009) . Environmental Politics, 18(2), 279-286.
  • Castán Broto V, Gebreslassie M, Bekele G, Assefa A, Lake A, Habtu D, Bahta ST, Filli Nurhussien F, Gogoda C, Hara C , Howe L et al () . npj Clean Energy, 2(1).
  • Elmqvist T, Anderson P, Andersson E, Broto VC, Liu T, McPhearson T, Prakash A, Raymond C, Romero-Lankao P, Subramanian SM & Zhang X () . npj Urban Sustainability, 6(1).
  • Castán Broto V, Osuteye E, Ortiz C, Lipietz B, Johnson C & Kombe W () . Ensayo: Revista de arquitectura, urbanismo y territorio(3), 165-185.
  • Romero-Lankao P, Rosner N, Brandtner C, Rea C, Mejia-Montero A, Pilo F, Dokshin F, Castan-Broto V, Burch S & Schnur S () . Nature Energy, 8(11), 1192-1198.
  • Castán Broto V & Kirshner J () . Nature Energy, 5(6), 419-421.
  • Fuso Nerini F, Tomei J, To LS, Bisaga I, Parikh P, Black M, Borrion A, Spataru C, Castán Broto V, Anandarajah G , Milligan B et al () . Nature Energy, 3(1), 10-15.
  • Castán Broto V, Salazar D & Adams K () . People, Place and Policy Online, 8(3), 192-207.

Book chapters

  • Qviström M, Luka N, Butler A, Castán Broto V, Doughty K, Garlick B, Hine A, Kirby M, Palang H, Scott A & Thompson-Fawcett M (2025) , A Research Agenda for Landscape Studies of Planning (pp. 179-186). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Broto VC (2025) , A Research Agenda for Landscape Studies of Planning (pp. 45-58). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Castan Broto V (2024) In Peake L, Datta A & Adeniyi-Ogunyankin G (Ed.), Handbook on Gender and Cities (pp. 226-236). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Castán Broto V (2024) , Community Energy and Sustainable Energy Transitions (pp. 1-21). Springer Nature Switzerland
  • Castán Broto V (2024) , Community Energy and Sustainable Energy Transitions (pp. 71-93). Springer Nature Switzerland
  • Ortiz C, Padan Y, Desmaison B, Mbabazi J, Rendell J, Broto VC, Mukwaya PI & Kisembo T (2024) , ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF URBAN DESIGN RESEARCH METHODS (pp. 191-202).
  • Castán Broto V (2023) In Armiero M, Turhan E & de Rosa SP (Ed.), Urban Movements and Climate Change: Loss, Damage and Radical Adaptation (pp. 35-50). Amsterdam University Press
  • Ortiz C, Padan Y, Desmaison B, Mbabazi J, Rendell J, Castán Broto V, Isolo Mukwaya P & Kisembo T (2023) , The Routledge Handbook of Urban Design Research Methods (pp. 191-202). Routledge
  • Dodman D, Hayward B, Pellling M, Castan Broto V, Chow W, Chu E, Dawson R, Khirfan L, McPhearson T, Prakash A , Zheng Y et al (2023) In Pörtner H-O, Roberts DC, Tignor M, Poloczanska ES, Mintenbeck K, Alegría A, Craig M, Langsdorf S, Löschke S, Möller V , Okem A et al (Ed.), Climate Change 2022 – Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability: Working Group II Contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (pp. 907-1040). Cambridge University Press
  • Castán Broto V & Robin E (2023) , Handbook on Energy Justice (pp. 253-268). Edward Elgar Publishing
  • Castan Broto V, Westman L, Huang P & Robin E (2023) Just sustainabilities in a changing climate In Rice JL, Long J & Levenda A (Ed.), Urban Climate Justice: Theory, Praxis, Resistance (pp. 29-45). University of Georgia Press
  • Castán Broto V, Westman L & Ruiz Campillo X (2022) , Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science Oxford University Press
  • Castán Broto V (2021) In Lancione M & MacFarlane C (Ed.), Global Urbanism: Knowledge, Power and the City (pp. 219-226). Routledge
  • Rigon A & Castán Broto V (2021) , Inclusive Urban Development in the Global South (pp. 1-14). Routledge
  • Robin E & Castán Broto V (2021) , Inclusive Urban Development in the Global South (pp. 182-197). Routledge
  • Westman L & Castán Broto V (2020) , Climate Urbanism (pp. 83-95). Springer International Publishing
  • Castán Broto V, Robin E & While A (2020) , Climate Urbanism (pp. 1-11). Springer International Publishing
  • Robin E, Westman L & Castán Broto V (2020) , Climate Urbanism (pp. 15-30). Springer International Publishing
  • Castán Broto V, Robin E & While A (2020) , Climate Urbanism (pp. 243-252). Springer International Publishing
  • Levy C, Allen A, Castán Broto V & Westman L (2017) , Sustainable Cities in Asia (pp. 7-22). Routledge
  • Castán Broto V & Bulkeley H (2017) , Sustainable Cities (pp. 101-126). Apple Academic Press
  • Salazar D, Castán Broto V & Adams K (2017) , Environmental Justice and Urban Resilience in the Global South (pp. 259-276). Palgrave Macmillan US
  • (2015) , The Anthropology of Postindustrialism (pp. 15-35). Routledge

Preprints

  • Huang P, Castán Broto V & Westman L () .