Definition of the Research Groups and Creation of the Groups of Interest for CCAM User Needs

Today’s transport ecosystems are experiencing a pivotal moment. Smart mobility planning, integrating CCAM (Cooperative, connected and automated mobility) solutions, has the potential to implement greener, safer, and more sustainable means of transport [European Commission, 2023]. However, to achieve social equity for all users and a real change in the entire transport system, the development of CCAM must be holistic, considering users, non-users and relevant stakeholders just as much as technical advancements. The EU project SINFONICA covers this aspect by using co-creation processes that acknowledge the needs of all relevant stakeholders and citizens. The concept of co-creation is a technical discipline and conceptual framework that originates in the transformative process of the entrepreneurial world [Senabre, 2015]. The main root of the co-creation concept lies in the participatory approaches used to engage the stakeholders in the decision-making processes. Co-creation processes in the transport domain have become popular in recent years, for instance within the EU projects TRIPS and Cities4People. However, in the field of CCAM, so far, no citizen and stakeholder-oriented co-creation process has been undertaken at the European level. Therefore, the SINFONICA project decided to put human factors at the center of the creation of its work to realize an ‘all-inclusive’ CCAM as a societal service for European citizens.

The vision of the SINFONICA project is to develop functional, efficient, and innovative strategies, methods, and tools to engage CCAM users, providers, and other stakeholders to collect, understand, and structure in a manageable and exploitable way their needs, desires, and concerns related to CCAM. To build the co-creation on a strong, equal, and inclusive base, the project team decided to begin its work with a theoretical framework about mobility needs as well as the expectations and requirements of citizens and stakeholders. Based on this, we composed the four SINFONICA groups of interest which are defined as follows: groups of people involved in the co-creation activities; comprised of certain users from the research groups (people with mobility challenges), citizen representatives, as well as relevant stakeholders; can be different for the four research site partners; managed by the four SINFONICA research site partners in Trikala, Hamburg, the region of West Midlands and the Noord-Brabant province.

In pursuit of the objective of broader citizen engagement within the ambit of SINFONICA's participatory methodologies, a collaborative decision was reached with the research site partners to orchestrate focus groups, each strategically tailored to capture distinct demographic parameters. These parameters encompassed age cohorts (i.e., 16–35 years, 36–45 years, 46–65 years, and individuals aged 66 and above), income (defined in accordance with the specific socioeconomic criteria relevant to each respective country), and variations in public transport utilization patterns. The methodological design governing the categorization of citizens into these distinct groupings was derived through a collaborative brainstorming process involving a multidisciplinary consortium comprising municipalities, transport engineers, psychologists, and sociologists. This collaborative, interdisciplinary approach was instrumental in refining and operationalizing the delineation of the categories of people that will join the focus groups activities. The selection of focus groups as the preferred engagement modality was predicated upon its inherent capacity to foster a deliberative and comfortable dialogue environment. This approach was deliberately structured to cultivate an atmosphere conducive to the emergence of novel perspectives, innovative ideas, and unexplored possibilities.

Furthermore, this approach reflects a systematic strategy for expanding citizen participation within SINFONICA's initiatives, drawing upon the structuring of focus groups to facilitate nuanced dialogues and engender a deeper understanding of the transformative potentialities ushered in by CCAM within the transportation landscape.

Finally, to ensure a complete vision of the world of transport, we focused on stakeholders’ participation. The first step was the definition of a long list that included all the categories of stakeholders involved in the transport sector. Starting from those lists, we asked the research site partners to report which categories of stakeholders were present in their territories. We were therefore able to establish a list of stakeholders with whom all research site partners were in contact. This comprehensive stakeholder inventory served as the foundation for deliberations regarding the optimal participatory modalities aimed at their effective involvement. A decisive consensus was reached to conduct a series of three workshops, designed to cultivate robust stakeholders’ engagement. This strategic choice was grounded in the anticipation that workshops would furnish a conducive environment for in-depth dialogue, collaborative problem-solving, and the synthesis of diverse perspectives. These workshops, thus, were conceived as the optimal conduits for nurturing multifaceted stakeholder participation and for advancing a holistic understanding of the intricate dynamics within the realm of transportation. In particular, the first workshop will develop a critical analysis of the mobility of the present times, discussing the findings of the Focus groups and the semi-structured interviews. This step will allow to identify barriers and potential solutions for the CCAM implementation. The categories of the stakeholders that will be involved in the workshops are: Service providers, Government representatives, Infrastructure managers, Industry representatives, Non-profit organization and representative bodies, Universities and knowledge institution representatives (only part of the first workshop). The second workshop is aimed at investigating on the CCAM potential to meet mobility needs, discussing expectations, desires and concerns. The third workshop will focus on co-definition of the requirements for an inclusive, equitable, and accessible CCAM deployment. This step will consider the needs of the users, while considering the abilities and constraints that industry stakeholders and policy makers face.

The formation of the GOI necessitated the development of a methodological framework rooted in the principles of co-creation, serving as a conduit for the convergence of theoretical constructs and practical implementation. In this context, the representatives hailing from the four research sites played a pivotal role, effectively functioning as intermediaries that facilitated a symbiotic relationship between academic researchers and the distinct territorial contexts involved in SINFONICA. The overarching aim of this endeavor was to articulate a comprehensive repertoire of participatory strategies designed to engender the active engagement of a diverse spectrum of citizens, including those confronted with mobility constraints, as well as various stakeholders. The realities on which these groups of interest have been created have been selected in order to guarantee different perspectives and points of view at the geographical level, at the level of digital advancement, at the level of experience and interactions with CCAM.