Problem+Innovation+Teamwork = New Solutions

Problem:
Transport accounts for 29% of the UK’s total carbon dioxide emissions. It is also the only major sector in which CO2 emissions continue to rise. Almost 70% of UK transport emissions come from road transport and more than half of that is from cars. If you look at these statistics in more detail you’ll find that 43% of these emissions come from medium distance journeys. These are the 25-50 mile journeys of a long commute or a weekend trip to visit friends or family that are often hard to find an easy alternative due to a range of limiting factors.

Innovation:
The world is becoming increasingly linked together and the transformation of data into knowledge is being used in all kinds of ways, from better energy management to total city planning. So, how can we better use information to inform people’s decision making and hopefully, reduce the impact of medium distance journeys that they take?

Teamwork:
Forum for the Future has convened a group of engineers, transport planners and sustainability advisors from four different organisations; AECOM, The Highways Agency, IBM and the RAC Foundation, to use their collective brain power to understand why people take these journeys and to use information to help inform these decisions. Over the next 12 months, the group will use innovation techniques combined with research and their collective experience and knowledge to identify the key elements of the problem, identify possible new solutions and develop these ideas to deliver an output.

New solutions:
The project forms part of the latest phase of the Engineers for the 21st Century Programme which uses innovation techniques to help future leaders to collectively address tricky sustainability problems. More information on the Engineers for the 21st Century Programme can be found here. If you would like more information on the project, please contact Zoe Le Grand