Making Response-Ability: Societal Readiness Assessment for Sustainability Governance

Abstract

Governance for net-zero mobility is complex and risky. In this paper, we discuss conceptual analysis and design research with more than 250 stakeholders in the governance of mobility transformations in the North of England. Two key findings are that governance actors need new methods to: (1) realise the value of dissensus, which resonates with debates in social and environmental accounting (SEA); and (2) to develop new skills to address complexity, risk, and social justice, defined as ‘response-abilities’ in feminist science and technology studies (STS). Combining insights from SEA and STS with our own research, we present a ‘Societal Readiness Assessment’ (SoRA) framework, which we have developed to support more inclusive sustainable mobility transformation. We discuss how SoRA might become a standard complement to the Technology Readiness Assessment and conclude by considering challenges and opportunities.