With the launch of the European Green Deal (EGD) in 2019, the European Union aims to become a global leader in the ecological transition. To implement sustainable policies at the local level, a place-based, analytical approach is a necessary prerequisite to understanding territorial specificities and adapting the EGD challenges to local conditions and opportunities. Moreover, the research acknowledges the key role of public participation and, thus, the need to construct innovative policies that involve citizens in this process. On this basis, our primary goal was to create a comprehensive, multipurpose, and non-context-specific analytical framework that could support ecological transition policies within the EGD through a place-based, participatory approach. After outlining the major features of the EGD and the place-based approach, this paper describes the steps that were taken to define the framework and select the types of data to be used. In response to the scarcity of methods adaptable to different scales, contexts, purposes, and target groups, we built upon the current studies on sustainability assessments and developed a novel analytical framework for territories ranging from municipalities to nations. This study suggests that a comprehensive, multidimensional territorial analysis—which can interpret and communicate environmental, socio-economic, and institutional specificities of territories—is decisive for bringing together local administrations and citizens, as well as meeting the challenges posed by sustainable development.

Self-organisation is a prominent concept in the field of urban studies, yet its application to planning practices is still minimal. In this regard, the Dutch Organic Development Strategies (ODS) stand out for being one of the few practical attempts to provide a legal framework for an incremental and open-ended urban development. Among the ODS, the Oosterwold case distinguishes itself for further exploring autonomy and decentralised decision-making. Few years following the project’s inception, a fieldwork analysis was intended to find a link between the self-organising processes that have taken place in Oosterwold, and their potential to cope with collective interests. The results have shown that stressing autonomy and incrementality undermined efficiency, feasibility, and compliance with the public interest. The case study analysis suggests that planners should not consider self-organisation as a goal per se and, when it comes to delivering collective infrastructures and services, self-governance, along with public support, might become necessary.

The ecological transition represents one of the most complex and urgent challenges of our time. Climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and environmental degradation are severe consequences of a socioeconomic system in need of a radical rethinking. Although this is a matter of global significance, profound imbalances exist between the Global North and the Global South in terms of both impacts and responsibilities. This issue of Contesti, curated by LabPSM – Laboratory on City and Territory in the Global South at the University of Florence, aims to contribute to the debate on approaches, methods, and best practices for addressing the complex challenges of transition in Global South contexts. The collected articles reflect this complexity, engaging with diverse places and themes, yet sharing a common postcolonial and situated perspective in their analysis of urban phenomena.