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Despite signing the Mayors Climate Change Agreement, few US cities have made significant progress in either climate mitigation or adaptation. For the most part, European cities have been more effective, albeit with assistance from the European Union and their national governments. Several of the most successful European cities have implemented eco-districts, which have offered many lessons for overall sustainability planning. Using Malmö, Sweden as a case study, we ask how planners and elected officials learned from implementing an eco-district, focusing on experimentation with new technologies and approaches to planning. We identify how "double-loop learning", a term coined by Argyris and Shön, was at play in changing planning practice. As eco-districts are catching on in North American cities, there is much to be learned from European practice.

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The complexities and uncertainties inherent to climate change place ecosystems and governance systems under pressure, in particular at the local level, where the causes and consequences of climate change play out. To address this complexity, local authorities have to be flexible, with an emphasis on learning and experimentation to lower greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the challenges climate change poseshence, they have to become learning organisations. Examining Malmö, this paper explores whether it has the characteristics to embrace and institutionalise learning and how this affects the development of its climate policies. The analysis finds several elements invaluable for Malmö's innovative climate policies: climate strategies are incorporated within the city's long-term vision to become a sustainable city: socially, economically and environmentally; dialogue and learning are emphasised throughout the process; and all stakeholders are involved, including external partners, leading to integrated approaches.