1. Purpose

The main purpose of this short project, in the second and last part of the course, is that you shall get familiar with sustainability aspects related to transport problems which could be denoted as wicked problems, which have three defining characterisitics (McCune et al., 2023):

complexity and interdependencies,
uncertainty in relation to risks and consequences,
divergence in values and perspectives.

The three projects you can choose from have different content and you, as a group, shall formulate some kind of problem statement from the literature for each project, describe which methods that can be used to approach an understanding of the complexity of the problem, some results from literature, discussion and conclusions. The discussion and conclusions shall also include your own reflections on the problem and not only a repetition of the discussion and conclusion from literature.

2. Deliverable

The deliverable in this project is a PPT that can be presented in maximum 15 minutes and an opposition on another group's presentation. The details for the presentation and opposition TBD.

The presentation shall follow the normal IMRaD structure:

Introduction (including the problem statement)
Methods
Results
Discussion and Conclusions

3. Project descriptions

The list of projects below includes a mix of projects and ideas from SA2001 Sustainable development and research methodology in matematics (3,0 cr.), SA2003 Sustainable Development in Engineering Physics (1,5 cr.), SD2250 Sustainable Vehicle Design (7,5 cr.) and SD2705 High-speed craft (6,0 cr.). The list of projects are selected to be related to various types of transport as this edition of the course is supposed to be aimed at master's students in vehicle engineering, railway engineering and naval architecture. However, the methodologies could also be applied to other areas.

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Project 1: System dynamics of transport decarbonisation and electrification

Keywords: freight transport; decarbonisation; low-carbon freight; system dynamics; causal loop diagram.

Description: As part of the global efforts to mitigate climate change, policymakers are designing measures to reduce the carbon emissions of the freight transport system. As global agreements for decarbonisation specify strict time windows, it is important to understand the speed at which the transport system is capable of changing. Electrification is a promising solution for decarbonising the road freight transport system, but it is challenging to understand its impact on the system. Causal loop diagrams are used to qualitatively map the system’s causal and dynamic responses to decarbonisation and electrification.

Literature:

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Project 2: Sustainability indicators in transport and shipping

Keywords: ESG; indicators; indexes; metrics; freight transport; public transport; shipping;

Description: Urban freight transport has recently garnered significant attention from both professionals and academics due to its pivotal role in fostering economic and social development. Despite notable progress, this sector faces challenges that hinder its long-term sustainability. Addressing these issues and ensuring the lasting sustainability of urban freight transport require a thorough assessment and monitoring process utilizing specific indicators. The ESG Index offers support to shipping company sustainable policies, standardizes and facilitates materially the ESG reporting process, and promotes the comparative evaluation of ESG rating between companies as well as market segments. ESG reporting and rating are constructed in a robust dynamic framework to deliver useful feedback to shipping company sustainability prospects, promoting informed managerial, stakeholder, financier, and regulatory decisions.

Literature:

Ayadi et al. (2022), Assessing the sustainability of transport systems through indexes: a state-of-the-art review.
Ayadi et al. (2024), Selecting indicators to assess the sustainability of urban freight transport using a multi-criteria analysis.
Tsatsaronis et al. (2024), Shipping-specific ESG rating and reporting framework.

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Project 3: The CERO framework for managing corporate travel

Keywords: sustainable travel; mobility management; emission target; safety; time; cost;

Description: Climate and Economic Research in Organizations (CERO) is a concept developed by KTH researcher Markus Robèrt and is a tool to help organizations find strategies to reach goals on reducing climate impact of travelling. It is a transparent and easy to manage framework developed to assist companies, and other organisations in reaching climate travel targets in consistency with economic payoff and employee acceptance.

Literature:

CERO homepage
Robèrt (2009), A model for climate target–oriented planning and monitoring of corporate travel.
Colliander (2020), Efficiency of regional travel - an analysis and comparison of safety, time, cost, work environment and environmental impact of domestic travel (in Swedish), but here is a size-compressed google-translated English version.

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