Building a vision and a roadmap for a national transport research programme: Smart, low-carbon transport system 2030

The grand challenge of climate change has initiated numerous research programmes during the past decades. TransSmart, Smart mobility integrated with low-carbon energy, launched in the beginning of 2013, is one of them. The programme consists of four research themes: Low carbon energy, Advanced vehicles, Smart transport services and Sustainable transport system. To promote synergies within the TransSmart programme and to encourage new collaboration and novel research activities, a visioning and roadmapping exercise was set up. Based on that exercise, this paper proposes a future oriented, multi-level approach to Research and Development (R&D) programme management. The theoretical background of the approach stems from integrating insights from three fields, namely research on socio-technical change, roadmapping, and project management. The paper presents the working process and methods used and the results achieved in the developed, participatory approach. The main outcomes of the work are the programme-level vision of smart, low-carbon transport system 2030 and the system transition roadmap visualising research activities in reaching this vision. The most important contributions of our visioning and roadmapping exercise were found in the interaction the approach initiated between the different programme stakeholders. This covered reaching a common view on future developments and actions towards the vision, clarification of the individual programme theme contents, placing the programme into a wider societal frame that increased the commitment of the stakeholders to the programme and finally understanding the process as a mutual learning environment.