Participation in Crisis: Professional Lessons from the International Participatory Charter

Global crises ‐ including climate shocks, pandemics, and conflict ‐ have intensified demands for inclusive approaches to recovery in cities. In response, the United Nations Habitat Professionals Forum (HPF) initiated the development of the International Participatory Charter for Urban and Territorial Development as part of its Roadmap to Recovery. This paper traces how the Charter emerged from a multistage, co-productive process involving international practitioners, researchers, and policy actors. Using a participatory democracy lens grounded in the ‘right to the city’, it examines how everyday knowledge, grassroots action, and co-productive practices were debated, interpreted, and synthesiszed into ten principles for participatory recovery. The paper argues that the Charter constitutes a milestone in international professional practice, capturing a collective shift toward participatory approaches that respond to uncertainty, institutional fragility, and the accelerating pace of urban change.