Some Considerations on the Role of Universities and Research Centers in EU-Funded Sustainable Mobility Projects

Stakeholder involvement is now part of formal requirements of almost any transportation decision-making process in Europe, increasing the complexity while allowing for better, shared decisions. European institutions strongly promote participatory processes and have developed a regulatory framework as well as guidelines and tools for successful and effective public engagement in transport planning. In this context, a variety of EU funded projects have been set up where territorial partners cooperate with universities and research centers in developing a sustainable mobility project and related public engagement strategies. This paper digs into the history and the current state of stakeholder involvement in transport projects, discussing through a broad literature analysis the theoretical evolution of the concept, controversies, drivers for phases and tools for effective engagement practices. Through the examples of the experience within European projects SMILE and SMART COMMUTING, this paper explores the role that academic institutions can play in engagement processes and possible contributions in terms of technical expertise and know-how transfer. Intermediate results from the projects’ engagement efforts seem to validate the European Commission’s belief that planned, continuous, open and interactive involvement of Universities may bring to better, shared and desirable decisions, consistently with findings from recent literature.