Mobility and Societal Change
Workshop on networking and development of the emerging fields 'Social change' and 'Automated and Networked mobility‘

When the container ship Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal in March 2021, it became exemplarily clear how even the smallest areas of today's living environment are dependent on global mobility. The disruption of the mobility chain affected not only businesses but also everyday life. Mobility and transport are of central importance for the functioning of our societies based on the division of labour. They drive innovation, are a basic prerequisite for participation in social life, but at the same time present societies with major challenges, including high greenhouse gas emissions and consumption of resources. Mobility is also a social phenomenon. People want and need to be mobile. Mobility is more than just movement; it is part of personal development and today a basic requirement for satisfying human needs. Mobility and transport are affected by disruption and social change, e.g. in the current COVID-19 pandemic, but at the same time they need that change to achieve ambitious goals, e.g. in climate protection.

That implies to a large number of questions that need to be considered from an interdisciplinary and, in particular, humanities and social science perspective in order to understand them comprehensively and to open up scope for action:

• What will mobility and transport systems of the future look like that ensure a high level of accessibility for people and goods while at the same time being able to meet ambitious environmental targets?
• How do resilient transport systems look like to withstand disruptions? How do disruptions change mobility and transport? Which disruptions arise from the advancing automation in traffic? What ethical concerns are there, e.g. with regard to traffic safety? What factors influence the acceptance of the new technologies?
• What influence does mobility have on the structure of future societies and how does societal change (for example, due to the climate crisis or migration) affect the mobility of tomorrow?
• Which mobility needs are hidden behind the demand for transport? How satisfied are people with transport services? How can this satisfaction be increased and at the same time support social goals?
• How does mobility change social role models, working life or the relationship between urban and rural areas?
• How can user-centered technological innovations be developed with a high level of acceptance and be fit with societal goals?
• Which governance structures and processes are suitable to create a transition towards sustainable transport systems? How can the various stakeholder groups be won over for those changes? How can positive visions of sustainable mobility be demonstrated?

These interdisciplinary questions are associated with methodological and scientific-theoretical challenges:

• What can we learn in the interdisciplinary discourse about our research in terms of content and methodology?
• What points of contact are there for interdisciplinary research and teaching?
• How can research in the humanities and social sciences on mobility and transport be linked to the various other disciplines such as engineering, statistics, economics, psychology, geography or environmental sciences?
• To what extent do the theoretical and methodological tools (of the disciplines involved) enable or limit understanding/explaining the relationships between mobility and disruption and their order creating or disrupting or changing forces? What perspectives do we see for interdisciplinary mobility-disruption research?

We want to discuss these and other questions around the two emerging fields "Social Change" and "Automated and Networked Mobility" in a joint workshop of humanities scholars and transport scientists.  The emerging fields are measures of the excellence strategy of the TU-Dresden for the further development of scientific priorities.

Date: 05.11.2021
Time: 09:00 to 12:30 o'clock
Place: POT 168 or online _{(In-person session in compliance with the security precautions specified by the university)}.

Agenda:

• Brief presentation of the two areas of potential
• First reflections on common terms and research questions
• Development of ideas for networking activities, DFG proposals, international publications, teaching events or lecture series in this thematic field

We, Dean Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günther Prokop and Research Officer Anett Ludwig as well as Chairman for the School Prof. Dr. Christian Prunitsch and Coordinator Lucas von Ramin, will be happy to answer any questions and look forward to your interest in active participation.

We kindly ask you to register by 15.09.2021 using the following form: https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/forschung/registration-for-the-workshop-mobility-and-social-change

The number of participants is limited to 20 persons.

The workshop is suitable for German and English speaking participants. Please note your preference and, if applicable, translation requests on the registration form. We would also like to make our events as barrier-free as possible. Please indicate your needs on the registration form.