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Patrik Zapata

Professor

School of Public Administration
Telephone
+46 31-786 16 11
+46 766-18 16 11
Mail
patrik.zapata@gu.se
Visiting address
Sprängkullsgatan 19
41123 Göteborg
Postal address
Box 712
40530 Göteborg

About Patrik Zapata

Patrik Zapata is a professor of public administration. His research focuses on urban governance and management, sustainable organizing, waste management, and the informal economy. He is particularly interested in how cities can manage resources sustainably and the role of grassroots innovations in these processes. Zapata has worked extensively on projects that explore the intersection of urban governance, social movements, and sustainability, particularly in the Global South.

His work is published in a variety of academic journals, as Accounting, Organizations and Society; Urban Studies; Cities; Urban Geography; Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space; Environment and Urbanization; Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space; Environmental Politics; Habitat International; Journal of Change Management; Journal of Cleaner Production and Public Administration and Development.

One of his key areas of expertise is in waste management and waste prevention, where he examines how global ideas of waste management are adapted to local contexts, especially in informal settlements. He also studies labour market integration through public procurement practices, with ongoing projects that investigate inclusive and sustainable transitions in urban environments.

Zapata collaborates frequently with colleagues and together, they have contributed significantly to research on how cities in both the Global North and South handle socio-ecological challenges, created, maintained and shaped in the Anthropocene and Wastocene.

Key words: City organising, informal settlements, sustainable development, waste management, local governments, scandology, organization theory, management, sociological institutional theory, wastocene, labour market integration.

Ongoing research projects (previous below)

Women 4 Integration. Co-producing an inclusive working life in Social Enterprises, Nanna Gillberg (FEK GU, head of project), Emma Ek Österberg (SPA GU), Maria Norbäck (FEK) María José Zapata Campos (FEK), and Patrik Zapata (SPA) financed by Forte, 6 mSEK 2023-2026

Circular grassroots innovations for sustainable and inclusive urban transitions, With the DUT Driving Urban Transition call, in Sweden financed by Formas, PI María José Zapata Campos (FEK GU), 4 subprojects in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Göteborg and Nantes, 16,7 mSEK.

Civil society and grassroots engagement for just plastic-free transition and climate change resilience in Mombasa County– with Richard Kiaka (PI, Cejad), María José Zapata Campos (FEK GU) financed by ICLD.

Changing roles, emerging networks. Local governments as employer, procurer and entrepreneur in labour market integration Emma Ek Österberg (SPA GU), María José Zapata Campos (FEK GU), Patrik Zapata (head of project) Financed by the Swedish Research Council: 5,9 mSEK. 2020-2023

Publications

Articles, chapters, reports and books

Stowell, Alison, Jutta Gutberlet, Fransisco Valenzuela, Patrik Zapata, María José Zapata Campos (2024) Waste Research from the Social Sciences and Humanities Perspectives: Reopening the Bin. Cambridge Scholars Publishing: Newcastle upon Tyne.

Ek Österberg, Emma and Patrik Zapata (2023) Procuring for Labour Market Integration, in Andreas Diedrich and Barbara Czarniawska (Eds): Organizing Immigrants' Integration, Springer Nature.

Zapata Campos, María José and Patrik Zapata (2023) The Territorial Embeddedness of Novel Labour Integration Policies: Something Old, Something New and Something Borrowed, Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration 27(2): 1–21

Ek Österberg, Emma and Patrik Zapata (2023) Activation of unemployed through social procurement: From policy to practice, Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research (CIEJ), Online first

Maria Jose Zapata Campos, Sebastian Carenzo, Goodluck Charles, Jutta Gutberlet, Jaan-Henrik Kain, Michael O Oloko, Jessica Perez Reynosa, Patrik Zapata (2022) Grassroots innovations in 'extreme' urban environments. The inclusive recycling movement, Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, online first

Zapata Campos, María José, Patrik Zapata & Jessica Reynosa Perez (forthcoming), (Re)gaining the urban commons: everyday, collective, and identity resistance, Urban Geography, online first

María José Zapata Campos, Ester Barinaga, Jaan-Henrik Kain, Michael Oloko & Patrik Zapata (2022). Organising grassroots infrastructure: The (in)visible work of organisational (in)completeness. Urban Studies, online first

Zapata Campos MJ, J-H Kain, M Oloko, M Scheinsohn, J Stenberg, P Zapata (2022) Residents’ collective strategies of resistance in Global South cities’ informal settlements: space, scale, and knowledge, Cities, online first

Kain, J-H; P Zapata; AA Azevedo, S Carenzo; C Goodluck; J Gutberlet; M Oloko; J Pérez Reynoza, MJ Zapata Campos (2022) Characteristics, challenges and innovations of waste picker organizations: a comparative perspective between Latin American and East African countries, PLOS ONE, 17(7): e0265889. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0265889

Gutberlet Jutta, Santiago Sorroche, Angela Martins Baeder, Patrik Zapata and María José Zapata Campos (2021) Waste Pickers and Their Practices of Insurgency and Environmental Stewardship, The Journal of Environment & Development (online first)

Zapata Campos, M.J., Kain, JH., Oloko, M. et al. Urban qualities and residents’ strategies in compact global south cities: the case of Havana, Journal of Housing and the Built Environment (2021).

Zapata Campos, María José, Sebastian Carenzo, Jaan-Henrik Kain, Michael Oloko, Jessica Reynosa Perez, Patrik Zapata (2020) Inclusive recycling movements: a green deep democracy from below, Environment and Urbanization, online first.

Zapata Campos, María José Patrik Zapata, Isabel Ordoñez (2020), Urban Commoning Practices in The Repair Movement: Frontstaging the Backstage, Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 52(6):1150-1170

Kain, Jaan-Henrik, Jenny Stenberg, Marco Adelfio, Michael Oloko, Liane Thuvander, Patrik Zapata, María José Zapata Campos (2020) What Makes a Compact City? Differences Between Urban Research in the Global North and the Global South, Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration 24(4): 25-49

Zapata Campos, María José; Patrik Zapata (2019) Cities, institutional entrepreneurship and the emergence of new environmental policies: The organizing of waste prevention in the City of Gothenburg, Sweden, Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space (37)2: 339-359

Zapata Campos María José , Ester Barinaga, Jaan-Henrik Kain, Michael Oloko & Patrik Zapata (2019) Organising grassroots initiatives for a more inclusive governance: constructing the city from below, Swedish International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD): research report 15.

Corvellec, Hervé; Richard Ek; Patrik Zapata; María José Zapata Campos (2018) Acting on distances: A topology of accounting inscriptions, Accounting, Organizations and Society, 67 (2018) 56-65.

Zapata, Patrik; María José Zapata Campos (2018) Waste tours: narratives, infrastructures and gazes in interplay Etnografia Ricerca Qualitativa, 11 (1) 97-118, DOI: 10.3240/89696

Corvellec Hervé, Richard Ek, Nils Johansson, Anette Svingstedt, Patrik Zapata, María José Zapata Campos (2018) Avfallsförebyggande handlar om effektiv produktion och genomtänkt konsumtion – inte om avfall. Sju lärdomar från forskningsprojektet från avfallshantering till avfallsförebyggande. Helsingborg, Institution för Service Management och tjänstevetenskap, Lunds Universitet.

Zapata Campos, María José ; Zapata, Patrik (2017) Infiltrating citizen-driven initiatives for sustainability, Environmental Politics, 26(6)

Gutberlet, Jutta; Jaan-Henrik Kain; Belinda Nyakinya; Michael Oloko; Patrik Zapata; María José Zapata Campos (2017) Bridging Weak Links of Solid Waste Management in Informal Settlements. Journal of Environment and Development, pp. 1-26. ISSN 1070-4965

Kain, Jaan-Henrik; Belinda Nyakinda; Nicholas Odhiambo; Michael Oloko; Omolo, J; Silas Otieno; Patrik Zapata; María José Zapata Campos (2016) Translating Policies into Informal Settlements' Critical Services: Reframing, Anchoring and Muddling Through, Public Administration and Development.

Álvarez de Andrés, Eva; Patrik Zapata; María José Zapata Campos, (2016) Networked Social Movements and the Politics of Mortgage: From the Right to Housing to the Assault on Institutions In Lessons from the Great Recession: At the Crossroads of Sustainability and Recovery. 231-249.

Gutberlet, Jutta; Jaan-Henrik Kain; Belinda Nyakinda; Dickens H Ochieng; Nicholas Odhiambo; Michael Oloko; Omolo, J; Elvis Ozondi; Silas Otieno; Patrik Zapata; María José Zapata Campos (2016) Socio-environmental entrepreneurship and the provision of critical services in informal settlements, Environment & Urbanization,

Àlvarez de Andrés, Eva, Patrik Zapata and María José Zapata Campos (2015) Stop the evictions! The diffusion of networked social movements and the emergence of a hybrid space: The case of the Spanish Mortgage Victims Group, Habitat International, 46: 252-259

Zapata, Patrik & María José Zapata Campos (2015) ‘Producing, appropriating, and recreating the myth of the urban commons’, in Urban Commons: Rethinking the City, Editors: Borch, C; Barinaga, E; Kornberger, M: Routledge

Zapata Campos, María José; Patrik Zapata (2014) The travel of global ideas of waste management. The case of Managua and its informal settlements, Habitat International 41: 41-49.

Zapata, Patrik; María José Zapata Campos (2014) Unexpected translations in urban policy mobility. The case of the Acahualinca development programme in Managua, Nicaragua, Habitat International 46: 271-276

Zapata Campos, María José; Patrik Zapata; Ulla Eriksson-Zetterquist (2014) 'Waste socio-technological transitions: from landfilling to waste prevention', in Design, Waste & Dignity / Maria Cecilia Loschiavo
dos Santos, coordination; Maria
Cecilia Loschiavo dos Santos, Stuart Walker,
Sylmara Lopes Francelino Gonçalves Dias,
collaboration; [translation Hedy Hofmann].
 São Paulo: Editora Olhares, 2014.
Vários autores.
 ISBN 978-85-62114-35-9
1. Design, Resíduo & Dignidade (Portuguese version

Corvellec, Hervé.; María José Zapata Campos; Patrik Zapata (2013) Infrastructures, lock-in, and sustainable urban development e the case of waste incineration in the Göteborg Metropolitan Area, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol 50: 32–39.

Zapata Campos, María José; Patrik Zapata (2013). Switching Managua on! Connecting informal settlements to the formal city through household waste collection. Environment and Urbanization, Vol 25(1): 1–18.

Zapata Campos, María José; Patrik Zapata (2013). Translating development aid into city management: the barrio Acahualinca integrated development programme in Managua, Nicaragua. Public Administration and Development, 33: 101–112.

Zapata, Patrik (2013) Waste in Translation. Global ideas of urban waste management in local practice. In Zapata Campos and Hall, Michael (Eds) Organising waste in the city: international perspectives on narratives and practices, Cha 5. Bristol: The Policy Press.

Zapata Campos, María José, Patrik Zapata (2013) Urban waste: closing the system. In Leonie J. Pearson, Peter Newton and Peter Roberts (Eds) Resilient Sustainable Cities. London: Taylor & Francis/Routledge.

Cregård, Anna, Rolf Solli, Patrik Zapata (2012). Crisis and Organisational Innovation. Uprava/Administration, X(4), 35–49.

Zapata Campos, María José, Patrik Zapata (2012). Changing La Chureca. Organizing City Resilience through Action Nets. Journal of Change Management (12)3

Rombach, Björn and Patrik Zapata (2010). Med den skarpa fältkikaren i en rem kring halsen. Företagsekonomiska forskare ser på statsvetenskapen. Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift 112 (5) p. 280-300.

Zapata, Patrik; Stellan Malmer (2010). Bestäm, betala och undvik kostnaden – den kommunala finansieringsprincipen. Nordiske Organisajonsstudier 12 (4) p. 74-93.

Johansson (Zapata), Patrik (2007). Legitimacy Lost and Back to Normality. Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies. 12 (3)

Malmer, Stellan, Patrik Zapata (2009). Finansieringsprincipens tillämpning. Stockholm: Riksdagen. ISBN/ISSN: 978-91-85943-63-0

Johansson (Zapata), Patrik (2004) I skandalers spår. Minskad legitimitet i offentlig sektor, Doctoral dissertation, School of Public Administration, University of Gothenburg

Previous projects

Scaling Grassroots innovations for Zero Waste Cities– A global collaboration between low, low-middle and middle- income countries, Sebastián Carenzo, Goodluck Charles, Mesia Ilomo, Michael O. Oloko, Patrik Zapata (head of project) and Maria Jose Zapata Campos, financed by Formas, 200.000SEK

Participatory innovation videos for an inclusive and sustainable waste management (with María José Zapata Campos, GU), Communicators Ulrika Naezer and John Chweya; researchers Jutta Gutberlet, Sebastián Carenzo, Michael Oloko and Goodluck Charles Financed by FORMAS, 1,75 mSEK. (2020-2022)

Organising labour market integration of immigrants: theory and practice Programme director: Andreas Diedrich (programme website) 18 mSEK Financed by Forte

Recycling networks – grassroots resilience tackling climate, environmental and poverty challenges, Maria José Zapata (head of project, Patrik Zapata, School of Public Administration (GU), Jaan-Henrik Kain, Chalmers, Michael O. Oloko, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Uuniversity of science and technology, Kisumu, Kenya, Jessica Perez Reynosa, Universidad centroamericana de Nicaragua i Managua, Goodluck Charles, University of Dar es Salaam i Tanzania, Sebastián Carenzo, University of Buenos Aires i Argentina och Jutta Gutberlet, University of Victoria i Kanada. Financed by the Swedish Research Council: 5,4 mSEK.

Compact cities and informal settlements - Exploring qualities, drivers and strategies for promoting sustainable urban development, with María José Zapata, GRI GU (head of project), Jaan-Henrik Kain, and Jenny Stenberg, Chalmers University, and Michael Oloko, University of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in Kisumu, Kenya, financed by Formas, 3 mSEK.

From waste management to waste prevention - Closing implementation gaps through sustainable action nets, with Hervé Corvellec (LU), Richard Ek (LU) and María José Zapata Campos (GRI), financed by Formas, 7,9 mSEK

Grassroots initiatives, institutional entrepreneurship and inclusive urban governance: transforming the city from below The project aims to examine how grassroots resilience initiatives With María José Zapata, GRI GU (head of project), Jaan-Henrik Kain, Chalmers University, and Michael Oloko, University of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in Kisumu, Kenya, financed by ICLD.se

Combating poverty and building democracy through the co-production of participatory waste management services. The case of Kisumu, Kenya, med María José Zapata, GRI GU (head of project), Jaan-Henrik Kain, Chalmers University, and Michael Oloko, University of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in Kisumu, Kenya . Financed by ICLD.se, 1,7 mSEK.

Improving basic urban services in informal settlements - Linking waste research in global South cities (head of project), with Jutta Gutberlet (Sao Paolo University,Brazil and Victoria University, Canada), Michael Oloko (University of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga in Kisumu, Kenya), and María José Zapata Campos (GRI, GU), 0.7 mSEK.

Governing in Action Nets. Swedish Municipalities and their Waste Responsibility, with Hervé Corvellec (LU), Katja Lindqvist (LU), and María José Zapata (GRI), financed by Cefos, 0,9 mSEK