JUST: Social & Built Infrastructures

How do we (re)design and govern physical infrastructures and the social relations of care to enable just sustainability practices to thrive? How can decisions about infrastructure access and performance meet criteria of social, environmental, and spatial justice?

The Social and Built Infrastructures Thematic Working and Innovation Group (TWIG) focuses on understanding and leveraging infrastructures - both material and social - as critical enablers of just sustainability transformations. One of its core objectives is to develop an Infrastructure Decision Support Tool, designed to identify, evaluate, and mobilise social and built relations that underpin transformative change. The tool is targeted at local authorities, service providers, advocacy groups, and businesses, enabling users to engage with infrastructure planning and investment in ways that advance climate justice and equity. The TWIG’s work combines conceptual innovation with practical engagement.

Activities include mapping community infrastructures through innovative and bottom-up methods, challenging conventional definitions of infrastructure, and exploring how everyday practices sustain or constrain systemic change. Through iterative co-testing and collaboration with regional partners, the group aims to produce actionable insights and resources that bridge academic research and applied practice. By addressing questions about infrastructural limits, governance, and synergies with other thematic areas, the TWIG contributes to building capacity for sustainability transformations across diverse contexts. Its work emphasises inclusivity, local knowledge, and the integration of social and technical dimensions - ensuring that infrastructures can catalyse equitable and resilient futures.