Round-up

The Sustainable Open Mobility Workshop marked the publication of the Sustainable Mobility Kit.I developed the kit as a way to enable stakeholders to better understand and participate in inciting ideas about what the future of sustainable urban mobility could look like, particularly in light of digitisation processes underway. The Kit directly aligns with my Sustainable Open Mobility Taxonomy conceptualisation and additionally provides provocations for each theme to engage the users so that they are transformed from observer to active participant in the discourse. 

Attending to provide expert input into workshop activities were special guests:

• Jakob Kluge, Research Associate, Institute for Futures Studies and Technology Assessment
• Deborah Sillmann, UX Design Concepter, Volkswagen Group Future Center
• Holger Dalkmann, CEO and Founder, Sustain2030

There was also significant expertise represented by the workshop participants including in the spheres of innovation strategy and practice, artificial intelligence, engineering, product design and mobility consultancy.

The workshop

The workshop was a mini-version of what could be a half-day or full day workshop. It started with introductions, followed by small group brainstorming after which we discovered the similarities between different group’s ideas with an idea lottery. After this I gave a short presentation about the development of the taxonomy and the Sustainable Mobility Kit. After being provided with a deck of cards small groups were assigned card sorting exercises which highlighted the many links and priorities between different actors and components within a transport system. With some ‘how might we’ ideating and poster making the groups communicated visions for how some of the challenges within the system might be addressed. This activity highlighted the difference in perspectives amongst stakeholders and the importance of incorporating actors or issues that aren’t provided into the base card deck, but can be made with a DIY card template.

The feedback

The expert guests and workshop participants gave excellent feedback on the Sustainable Mobility Kit content as well as the workshop format. In terms of addressing the biggest challenges to sustainable urban mobility, topics that arose included missing political will and under investment in infrastructure for sustainable modes of transportation. In addition, efforts on supply must be matched with a far greater emphasis on demand management. Overall, we should also question how digitalization transformations could help us to reduce or optimize demand.

Further development of the Sustainable Mobility Kit

The workshop will inform the further development of the Kit to improve its effectiveness and usability. We are hoping to make it a truly useful tool for anyone seeking to engage stakeholders in collaboration on urban mobility transformations or provide an introductory and interactive educational tool about urban transport systems sustainability, governance or open innovation ecosystems.

The Sustainable Mobility Kit is, and will always be, a free resource for anyone to download here.