Lundgren, Björn , Kristianssen, A-C., Andersson, R. & V. De Majo | 2022
Ett program för styrnings- och policyrelaterad forskning om trafiksäkerhet som hållbarhetsmål i transportsektorn. Rapport utgiven av Örebro universitet.
This research program is a continuation of the Swedish Transport Administration initiative “Vision Zero – from idea to implementation” from 2016 (Belin, et. al., 2016), where a number of social scientists were invited to participate in research on policy and implementation in relation to Vision Zero. The program leadership was placed at Karlstad University and in 2019 transferred to Örebro University. The intention was twofold; 1. To study road safety from various innovation and policy implementation perspectives, and 2. To create a network of researchers focusing on an analysis of road safety that had not been prioritized before. More concretely to answer the questions: How to get things done? What can social science bring to the table concerning to new solutions and new interpretations of Vision Zero? The studies have focused on issues such as global governance of road safety, diffusion of Vision Zero, network governance perspectives, innovations such as autonomous vehicles, local road safety work, etc.
Since then, the network, which is called SafePol (Safety Policy Research Network), has grown and contains around 15 researchers from different disciplines and Universities in Sweden. The network has continuously welcomed new researchers in accordance with the intentions of the Swedish Transport Administration and is also connected to global research networks.
The original program came to a formal end in 2021 och the network decided to produce a new research program. The program focuses on road safety, but from sustainable development perspective. Road safety is part of the Sustainable development goals (SDGs) from 2015 and is expected to interplay with other sustainability goals. Our transport system should not only be safe, but also climate neutral, equal, accessible, affordable, and healthy. The ultimate goal is therefore more complex today compared to when Vision Zero was established and there is a risk of conflicts of value, interest, and goals.
This new research program aims to frame road safety within this new context and thus also relates to the new research program from the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket, 2022). This document should be regarded as a position statement from the network for the years 2023-2026. SafePol will during the next four years focus on governing- and policy-oriented research on road safety as a sustainability goal. The network has identified five main themes which will be guiding research applications and network discussions. 1. Governing road safety (international, national, and local governance), 2. Civil society, media, and the citizen, 3. The market and consumers, and 4. A Vision Zero for the future – a systems and change approach.
The Swedish Road Administration has financed the pre study leading to this program (dnr. TRV 2021/53954), as well as given concrete advice in the formulation of the themes. From a global perspective, many countries are looking to Sweden for leadership with regards to road safety. They are also closely following how Sweden works with integrating road safety with other sustainability goals. Projects connected to this research program attempt to provide some answers to how this work is proceeding.
