Merritt Polk

HögskolaGöteborgs Universitet
InstitutionGlobala studier
AvdelningHumanekologi/Samhällsvetenskapliga miljöstudier
Sökordtransport, 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/temaområdenHållbar stadsutveckling
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?