This article investigates the application of the "smart cities" and "urban 9 climate justice" concepts to two urban initiatives based in Bristol, UK. Both ideas are 10 increasingly popular in academic literature. Yet, little is known about their 11 understanding by the practitioners such as policymakers, third sector organisations 12 and citizens. Two case studies, a community-based energy efficiency initiative, and a 13 local authority electric vehicle policy were critically reviewed using discourse analysis. 14 The method helped to reveal the explicit, implied and obscured aims of the examined 15 initiatives. Using discourse analysis, the researchers developed a heuristic which 16 could improve traditional policy analysis approaches. The examination of case studies 17 illustrates how practitioners understand the notions of "urban climate justice" and 18 "smart cities" and whether their conceptualisations differ from those present in the 19 academic literature. Finally, the paper offers methodological suggestions for 20 embedding justice in "smart" initiatives at each stage of policy and project design.21 22 Keywords smart city/ urban policy / Bristol / climate justice / discourse analysis 23 24 West of England, Bristol City Council and Lloyd's Register Foundation, a charitable 26 foundation helping to protect life and property by supporting engineering-related 27 education, public engagement and application of research. 28 The funding sources were not involved in study design, data collection and analysis 29 of the data.30 31 Conflicts of interest: The research is part-funded by the Bristol City Council 32 33 Printing No need to use colour when printing 34 35 Abbreviations 36 EV-Electric Vehicles

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present results from the action research project, where sustainability professionals, local businesses and academic researchers collaborated on exploring barriers for food waste recycling in SMEs food outlets in order to inform local policy and business practices in Bristol, UK. Design/methodology/approach The researchers conducted face-to-face, qualitative surveys of 79 catering businesses in three diverse areas of the city. The action research methodology was applied, where a range of co-researchers contributed towards study design and review. Findings The research reveals the main barriers to recycling and how such perceptions differ depending on whether the respondents do or do not recycle, with “convenience” and “cost” being the main issue according to the already recycling participants. On the other hand, participants who do not recycle state that their main reason is “not enough waste” and “lack of space”. Practical implications Participants recommended a range of measures, which could improve the current food waste services in Bristol. For example, they suggest that business engagement should address the barriers voiced by the participants applying the framings used by them, rather than assuming restaurants and cafes are not aware of the issue. By inviting a variety of non-academic stakeholders into the process of research design and analysis, the project addressed the imbalances in knowledge production and policy design. Originality/value Despite the local and qualitative focus of this paper, the results and research methodology could act as a useful guide for conducting food waste action research in the policy context.

Developments in improved monitoring, asset management, and resource efficiencies led to the water industry promising a step‐change in the design and operation of these facilities: the “blending” of traditional engineering equipment with digital technologies. These apparent benefits inevitably produce new challenges of regulating an emerging techno‐political landscape. One of the regulations is Europe's Network and Information Systems Security Directive, which aims to improve cyber security across critical infrastructure providers. This paper focuses on the implementation of Network and Information Systems in the context of the water sector in England. At the national and supranational levels, Network and Information Systems acts as a boundary object that gathers diverse communities of practice without the need to establish common goals. Further, in the process of transposing the Directive into the sectoral context, Network and Information Systems requires interpretation by expert communities. We show how translating the regulatory scope to the sectoral landscape involves prioritizing some water governance goals over others. As diverse expert communities converge in their collaboration practices, their priorities align or stand in tension with public interests. We argue that cyber security regulations have potential to reconfigure water governance by refocusing strategic priorities away from traditional concerns of environmental governance. We suggest ways to maintain diverse collaborations across engineering, computing, and water expertise that Network and Information Systems implementation remains aligned with the goals of water governance.

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Digital water transformation is often written about as though universally desirable and inevitable, capable of addressing the multifaceted socioecological challenges that water systems face. However, there is not widespread reflection on the complexities, tensions and unintended consequences of digital transformation, its social and political dimensions are often neglected. This article introduces case studies of digital water development, bringing examples of technological innovation into dialogue with literature and empirical research from across the social sciences. We examine how Big Data affects our observations of water in society to shape water management, how the Internet of Things becomes involved in reproducing unjust water politics, how digital platforms are entangled in the varied sociocultural landscape of everyday water use, and how opensource technologies provide new possibilities for participatory water governance. We also reflect on regulatory developments and the possible trajectories of innovation resulting from public‐private sector interactions. A socially and politically informed view of digital water is essential for just and sustainable development, and the gap between industry visions of digital water and research within the social sciences is inhibitive. Thus, the analysis presented in this article provides a novel, pluralistic perspective on digital water development and outlines what is required for more inclusive future scholarship, policy and practice. This article is categorized under: Human Water