Climate Action in Educating Cities: A Systematic Assessment of Priorities and Feasibility in Brazil

Climate change demands integrated urban responses combining governance, education, and territorial planning. The Educating Cities (ECs) framework offers a normative vision linking lifelong learning, civic participation, and sustainability, yet it still does not systematically position climate change within this paradigm. This study examines how EC principles can orient integrated climate responses by systematizing climate-oriented actions across three evaluative dimensions—importance, urgency, and perceived viability—to inform an empirically grounded framework for climate action in ECs in Brazil. A mixed-methods design combined an integrative literature and document review with a Fuzzy Delphi Method applied to a cross-sectoral panel of 21 experts, who assessed twenty climate-oriented actions derived from the Charter of Educating Cities. Results reveal strong consensus on the strategic relevance and urgency of nearly all proposed actions, particularly participatory climate risk diagnosis, transversal climate education, policy integration, and inclusive territorial planning. However, only a limited number of measures were considered viable under current institutional and financial conditions, exposing a structural gap between recognized priorities and practical feasibility. These findings position the Educating City as a learning-oriented governance framework that can support climate action, while highlighting the need to strengthen municipal capacity, coordination mechanisms, and long-term financing to close this gap.