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CONUNDRUM – Healthy �and Sustainable Societies March 2024

Excess social, environmental and economic burdens are being experienced by an over-reliance on carbon-intensive, private transport.
Addressing this is key to achieving national climate targets and other policy priorities.
Small-medium towns.
Focus: Enniscorthy, Co.Wexford.

Thank you for the opportunity to present our research. The project CONUNDRUM is based on Co-creating sustainable and shared community mobility. We are a multidisciplinary team is based at University College Dublin, (Prof Niamh Moore-Cherry, Dr Rachel McArdle and Dr Dean Phelan), Trinity College Dublin (Prof Brian Caulfield and Dr Keyvan Hosseini) and our societal champion is based at TASC, Dr Kieran Harrahill.

Addressing the climate crisis is one of the biggest problems we are faced with, and this can affect us in many ways- air quality, air pollution and transport.

We are focusing on the high private car usage in small-medium towns in Ireland and the negative environmental and social effects this can have on communities. Our case study focus in Enniscorthy, but they are 40 other similar sized towns in Ireland so there is wider lessons we can learn from this research that can begin to address Ireland’s climate obligations. According to the 2023 Climate Action Plan “The transport sector has been the fastest growing source of GHG emissions over the past three decades, showing a 112% increase between 1990 and 2021 (2023: p. 29). Our project can help policymakers make decisions which have the widest economic and social benefit, and there is an efficiency of scale in using Enniscorthy as a case study.

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Our approach

Inter-disciplinary, co-creation approach using design thinking

Spatial data analysis

Stakeholder engagement: focus groups, interviews, community mapping events.

Re-defining of proposed solution – from simple app and e-hub to ‘framework of solutions’

We are using a co-creation methodology. Since submitting our report, our stakeholder engagement has gone from 24, to at 34. This includes focus groups, interviews and most recently we held community mapping events. We have learned from the stakeholder perspectives and adapted our approach based on this engagement. We have also used census data and Pobal deprivation data to ascertain the most disadvantaged areas and those most vulnerable to transport poverty.

There is a lack of awareness of the transport options that exist in Enniscorthy, and wider social inclusion issues of a lack of affordability and access to the existing transport services.

We have spoken to a range of groups and have included their suggestions as part of our proposed solution. This project intends to focus on how to change and shape behaviours.

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Our Proposal and Impact Potential

A framework of solutions will be developed
Awareness and information: Access through application/ web-based solution.
Spatial planning issues: Co-creation of a community mobility strategy outlining a range of proposed ‘actions’

Our project directly addresses the call for cut in transport emissions (Climate Action Plan 2023. p. 18) and aids other policy goals.
Evidence based decision-making
Enniscorthy as exemplar
Enhancing accessibility, environment and economic viability addressing issues of social inclusion, integration, and quality of life and opportunity

We are planning a two-part solution.

1). We will develop a digital platform/app to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ for easy access to information on existing public transport/service delivery options that could minimise private car-based usage in Enniscorthy. This will draw from existing information from Local Link, Wexford Bus, Irish Rail, taxi services, and retail delivery services. To address potential issues around digital literacy, the app will include a PDF download/version of key information.

2) The development of a comprehensive community mobility strategy will address the local planning context (safe pedestrian routeways and crossings; road and cycle network; safe transportation hub within the town) but could also identify optimal enhanced public transport options and frequency including the introduction of a community car, e-bike and car sharing. We intend to develop the strategy through a co-creation process which will ensure we address the needs of all stakeholders, but also be transferable as a framework for use by other local authorities, generating efficiencies and wider impact.

Both of these solutions provide information and can inform planning. This is a novel approach as we are in a moment of change with the 2023 Climate Action Plan, and an acknowledgment that behavioural change is needed to address any transport issue. The solution cannot be technical, but technology can help us capture potential behavioural change.

The Irish government have acknowledged in the 2023 Climate Action Plan that there needs to be a reduction in transport. But there is a focus on technical solutions. What we are proposing here is a place-based focus on societal impact as well as behavioural impact. Our two-part solution can be used as a template for other small-medium towns to apply to their own places, by choosing what is appropriate in the places they live in.

Our project also works well with other current policy goals of the national and local government, including the ‘Town Centre First’ policy, the Well-being Framework 2023, as well as plans within Wexford, both within their own Climate Action Plan and the designation of Enniscorthy as a decarbonisation zone.

We welcome any questions you have.