Making Response-Ability: Societal Readiness Assessment for Sustainability Governance

Abstract

Governance for net-zero mobility is complex and risky. In this paper, we discuss conceptual analysis and design research with more than 250 stakeholders in the governance of mobility transformations in the North of England. Two key findings are that governance actors need new methods to: (1) realise the value of dissensus, which resonates with debates in social and environmental accounting (SEA); and (2) to develop new skills to address complexity, risk, and social justice, defined as ‘response-abilities’ in feminist science and technology studies (STS). Combining insights from SEA and STS with our own research, we present a ‘Societal Readiness Assessment’ (SoRA) framework, which we have developed to support more inclusive sustainable mobility transformation. We discuss how SoRA might become a standard complement to the Technology Readiness Assessment and conclude by considering challenges and opportunities.

A Multidimensional Readiness Index for the Electrification of the Transportation System in China, Norway, and Sweden

“…We have also developed and classified the political and economic readiness levels based on empirical observations. For societal readiness levels, we were inspired by the European societal readiness levels [8] but adopted them based on our need to focus on the adoption of electric vehicles by society. The pattern of each readiness scale that looks like a thermometer has been adopted from the "KTH Innovation Readiness Level".…”

“…SRL 1 is the lowest and SRL 9 is the highest level of readiness, indicating that society has already started adopting new technologies or products. Figure 5 demonstrates all nine SRLs [8].…”

“…SRL 1 is the lowest and SRL 9 is the highest level of readiness, indicating that society has already started adopting new technologies or products. Figure 5 demonstrates all nine SRLs [8]. Table 3 illustrates the nine levels of the evaluation of incorporating society in the transformation of an innovative product (electric vehicles) and the citizens' adoption and diffusion of EVs.…”