| Högskola | Göteborgs Universitet |
| Institution | Globala studier |
| Avdelning | Humanekologi/Samhällsvetenskapliga miljöstudier |
| Sökord | transport, jämställdhet, hållbarhet, tvärvetenskapliga miljöstudier,
aktörssamverkan, deltagande |
|
| Hemsida Göteborgs Universitet, på svenska www.gu.se/om-universitetet/hitta-person/merrittpolk |
| Hemsida Göteborgs Universitet, på engelska www.gu.se/en/about/find-staff/merrittpolk |
| Nätverk/temaområden | Urban forskning (tidigare Urban Research Network) |
| Globala målen | |
| Regioner | |
| Land | |
|
| Forskning / verksamhet |
| Merritt Polk leads a research program called INFORM which is a satellite
program within TransportMistra, a MISTRA funded program on sustainable
mobility. INFORM focuses on socio-cultural constructions of sustainable
mobility and their role in political and practical initiatives in Sweden.
While technical, political, and behavioral changes are all necessary for
reaching more sustainable solutions, for a concerted effort towards a
goal, there must also be agreement surrounding what sustainable transport
actually means. How can agreement surrounding sustainable transportation
best be reached? The research focus is on analyzing stakeholders’
perceptions, views and definitions of sustainable mobility, and the
resultant associated goals and practices that such definitions permit. The
overall objective is to identify specific barriers to sustainability and,
based upon these barriers, propose alternative strategies for more
sustainable solutions for the future.
The metholodology stems from reorienting stakeholder and researcher
definitions and understandings of problems in order to jointly formulate
new solutions that will be tested in real life settings. The results will
be tested by the stakeholder groups and followed up by evaluations as to
the feasibility of the proposals. Key questions are: How do the
stakeholder groups currently define sustainable mobility? What are the
barriers to such initiatives? What initiatives and solutions currently
exist in the transport sector that can open the way for new visions and
strategies for more sustainable solutions? |