Sustainable transport and mobility
The Institute for Sustainability is contributing to the global sustainability debate among researchers and practitioners through this theme focusing on mobility and transport.
The challenge
Transport has been consistently among the sectors emitting the highest volumes of GHGs, coming fourth in 2010 and third in 2022. Energy use and buildings are the most highly polluting sectors currently, but GHGs from the transport sector have more than doubled in the last 50 years.
Remarkably, about 80 per cent of this increase is due to road transport, whereas aviation is responsible for another 10 per cent of global emissions.
The increasing global divide between the Global South and the Global North is evident across sectors, but it is more acute in transport since it is estimated that around 1 per cent of the global population generate more than half of it e.g. aviation emissions. Transport is a means to meet various human needs, varying from socialising and studying to working and travelling for tourism.
As a result, the implications on well-being, equity and inclusion require further research at local, national, international levels. However, transport is considered as an end in itself by others, such as parts of the tourism industry, which employs about 10 per cent of the global workforce.
This theme aims at addressing these challenges by bringing together experts from all three faculties of the University to create an inclusive platform focusing on collaborative solutions.
This theme paves the way towards impactful contributions to sustainable development. By fostering cross-disciplinary collaborations amongst experts from the three faculties, we aim to deliver pioneering outputs that not only align with the broader objectives of the Institute for Sustainability but also actively contribute towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Co-leads
Dr Nadine Itani
Programme Leader and Lecturer in Air Transport Management
Biography
Nadine Itani is a purpose-driven aviation academic with industry experience. She has contributed to managing the United Nations Aviation Development Projects in the Middle East. Nadine was the recipient of the 2011 International Civil Aviation Organisation graduate and postdoctoral fellowship award. For the past twelve years, she has been supporting government agencies, airlines and airports in the MENA region for safe, secure and sustainable aviation operations.
In her capacity as the Programme Leader for the MSc in Air Transport Management at Surrey, Nadine leads the 'Aviation Finance' and 'Air Transport Market Analysis and Forecasting' modules. Her research is published in high impact-factor journals and she is often hosted by the international media as an air transport subject matter expert. Nadine is ICAO certified in Training Development, and she is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS), and the Ninety-Nines International Organization of Women Pilots.
Dr Nikolas Thomopoulos
Associate Professor in Transport
Biography
Dr Nikolas Thomopoulos is an Associate Professor in Transport. Before joining Surrey, he was a researcher at LSE Cities and at the Institute for Transport Studies of the University of Leeds, where he was also a Marie Curie fellow. He studied economics at the University of Macedonia in Greece, then completed his MSc at the University of Oxford and subsequently acquired his PhD from the University of Leeds. Following his studies in Greece, Germany and the UK he has contributed in a range of FP-6, FP-7, H2020 funded research projects and has advised start-ups as an independent business consultant. In the build-up to COP-21 he co-ordinated research within the New Climate Economy project which was funded by national governments, and collaborated with established academics and practitioners across the globe. In 2015 he was an advisor for the Best Conceptual Project of the London Planning Awards.
He has been an academic visitor at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, the Chair of a RSA Research Network on 'smart' and 'green' regional growth, a contributor to the planning of the Surrey MaaS project and a member of UK academic missions to Brazil and China. In addition to being an evaluator of funding proposals, a member of Technical Programme Committees of large conferences, he has delivered keynote presentations at conferences, hosted international workshops, co-edited books and special issues about ICT for transport, urban mobility futures and autonomous vehicles. Currently he is the Principal Investigator of the University of Surrey Living Lab leading a project focusing on active travel, a UK representative at the Global Digital Human Rights Network and the Chair of WISE-ACT (Wider Impacts and Scenario Evaluation of Autonomous and Connected Transport), a research network of more than 150 experts in 42 countries.
Having more than 10 years teaching experience in the UK at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels has contributed in understanding the needs to enhance the learning experience of home and overseas students. He has supervised MSc and PhD dissertations, whilst he has delivered guest lectures at LSE, UCL, UPV and Westminster, including the delivery of executive education courses to British Government officials and to executives in Vietnam.