TRANSFORM is a research initiative that aims to train a new generation of researchers who understand the notion of transitions in urban mobility cultures as a planning and policy paradigm.
TRANSFORM addresses the challenge of urban mobility from a comprehensive perspective, focusing on the evolution of urban mobility cultures, the triggers of change, and their socio-spatial effects. The project examines specific aspects of the interaction between urban and transport systems, drawing on examples such as the RE-City and TOD-is-RUR projects. Researchers and practitioners from more than 25 institutions included in the network will foster a collaborative approach to urban mobility. The project will train a new generation of researchers in specialized fields related to urban mobility, offering candidates practical exposure to real-world challenges while enhancing the academic framework of their studies.
Elliot Soontjens is our in-house TRANSFORM PhD Candidate who is working on urban mobility transformation from the perspective of non-governmental initiatives. He sees urban mobility as a key sector for socio-ecological transformation, since shifts in everyday mobility attitudes and practices can generate significant positive changes for planetary health and urban liveability. His research investigates the potential for grassroots organisations to transform urban mobility. They represent alternative actors that target specific leverage points for long-term attitude and behaviour change through co-production of both knowledge and sustainable mobility interventions. In doing so, grassroots initiatives hold a significant influence on mobility cultures at ground-level, particularly on shifting mindsets and everyday mobility practices. The researcher believes that grassroots-led behaviour transformation can act as a catalyst for city-specific institutional and spatial mobility transformations, from the bottom up. Interlinking grassroots and mobility cultures, the research question stands as: How do grassroots mobility initiatives interact with mobility cultures to influence sustainable attitudes and behavioural transformations?
The research will draw on theory of sustainability transformations. Grassroots initiatives are prominent in this literature as they experiment with social interventions capable of confronting and changing dominant practices and worldviews through the co-production of desirable futures. Empirically, the research develops a comparative cross-city framework of the six Western European cities included in the TRANSFORM project: Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Madrid, Luxembourg and Vienna – representing diverse mobility cultures. A mixed qualitative methodology, based on the Factor 8 Model (Macharis, 2026), combines semi-structured interviews with grassroots initiatives leaders and desk-based research to understand the various mobility cultures as deeply as possible. This data creates a cross-case database organised around common analytical criteria, illustrating campaigns’ objectives, trajectories, strategies, coalition-building processes, governance relations and observed outcomes.
The research aims to make three preliminary contributions. First, it presents a working definition and typology of “grassroots mobility initiatives”, distinguishing between forms of experimentation, co-production and institutional engagement. By doing so, we bridge an important research gap between urban mobility and grassroots initiatives in sustainability transformations. While research in the energy and agriculture sectors have substantially demonstrated the transformative potential of grassroots initiatives, their role in urban mobility remains underexplored. Second, it demonstrates the mutual influences between mobility cultures and grassroots movements. The comparative application of the Factor 8 Model across diverse European mobility cultures effectively showcases grassroots initiatives as meso-level actors constantly interacting with both individuals and cultures. Third, it advances conceptual understanding of mobility governance from the bottom-up. Grassroots mobility initiatives are theorised as alternative actors that, by enabling participation, co-production, and embedding values of equity and justice, offer a radical approach to “governing” mobility transformations.
You can find more info on the Transform website.