Welcome to Disruption!

Disruption is a 3-year project taking a fresh new look at people’s mobility, including their travel and use of computers, mobile phones etc. The aim of the project is create opportunities for change that will reduce the energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector.

Transport is the only sector of the UK economy where emissions of greenhouse gases are continuing to steadily grow.  Travel patterns are often assumed to be habitual and therefore difficult and politically sensitive to change yet change seems critical if we are to meet our ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets.

The Disruption project looks at how travel practices are formed and directed by underlying societal factors.  We argue that people’s travel behaviour is less fixed and routine than it is often considered to be.  The project looks at the way people’s lives are frequently disrupted by a whole range of possible events, from family illnesses to volcanic ash clouds. The insights that these disruptions provide can help reveal the kinds of changes, to transport and other policy sectors such as health, education and business that are needed to inspire and facilitate a shift to lower carbon travel.

The project “Disruption: Unlocking Low Carbon Travel” project is funded by the EPSRC/Research Council UK Energy Programme, grant number EP/J00460X/1.