Reconfiguring commuting - Using practice theory in real-world laboratories

Real-world laboratories have gained substantially in importance as a format in sustainability and transformation research in recent years in Germany. This increase in significance is associated with the expectation of fostering and experimentally investigating transformations towards sustainability under real-world conditions in a bid to gain knowledge of their dynamics, to identify characteristics of successful transformation processes, and to be able to transfer this knowledge to other cases. Real-world laboratories are usually managed by a scientific partner, enabling use to be made of established procedures and methods in areas such as knowledge integration. Where responsibility for coordinating real-world laboratories lies with practitioner stakeholders, there is promising potential for their deployment. However, it also gives rise to situations, processes and challenges that are new to all parties involved and that have yet to be explored. In principle, experimental approaches that are characteristic of real-world laboratories are not new in the field of sustainable land management and spatial development. However, they are not traditionally alluded to as the real-world laboratory format. The two desiderata above provide the starting point for the present article. The aim of this article is to classify and reflect on the possibilities generated by real-world laboratories that have been initiated by practitioner stakeholders. A prime example of such real-world laboratories are those developed by Energieavantgarde Anhalt. This registered association wishes to contribute to sustainable land management in the context of the energy transition in rural areas, featuring small and medium-sized towns. A comparative analysis of these real-world laboratories is conducted using core characteristics from the scientific debate on real-world laboratories. As a result, the insight gained from this analysis can be used for future development and research.

Global plastics production has grown rapidly in recent decades and is leading to an increased discharge of plastic waste into the environment, presenting a complex socio-ecological problem. The southern North Sea and its tributaries are affected by plastic pollution due to dense population, industrial use, as well as tourism and recreational activities. A paradigm shift is necessary to reduce the outflow of plastic waste from rivers and inland waters into the North Sea. In order to foster a socio-ecological transformation, one opportunity is to involve stakeholders from all sectors, who regulate, produce, trade, use, recycle and dispose plastic products, through a transdisciplinary process. Real-world laboratories as a science-practice interaction approach are conceptualised to produce robust knowledge to solve real-world environmental and societal challenges. The aim of this study is to determine how the design and early implementation phases of real-world laboratories should be executed to achieve socio-ecological transformation. We assessed the case study of an inaugural regional stakeholder meeting of the real-world laboratory ‘Plastic-FREE-sia’ in Northwest Germany by in-event observations and a subsequent participant survey. Our findings of this stakeholder workshop highlight the significance of involving diverse stakeholders from multiple sectors in the real-world laboratory process and emphasise the need for balanced representation. The interests, benefits and goals of individual stakeholders must be identified from the outset and aligned with the socio-ecological problem setting, in order to prevent conflicting objectives. Concluding recommendations for the design and early implementation phases of future real-world laboratories are formulated.

Real-World Laboratories (RwLs) are increasingly used as instruments of urban transformation, yet their complexity poses challenges for systematic documentation and cross-case learning. This article combines a detailed case report of an RwL on car-reduced neighborhoods in Munich with a critical reflection on the Case Reporting Scheme (CRS), a recently proposed framework for structuring documentation across RwLs. Applied retrospectively, the CRS supported data organization and facilitated interdisciplinary reflection through its tripartite framework of context, lab, and experiment features. However, limitations became apparent—particularly in capturing iterative, non-linear processes and in distinguishing overlapping subcategories. Based on our experience, we argue that while the CRS fosters structured reflection and transparency, it requires refinement and integration with complementary evaluation frameworks to fully capture the dynamics of urban experimentation. We further reflect on the CRS as a tool that facilitates communication and coordination within transdisciplinary teams and has the potential to improve project governance. Our study contributes to ongoing debates about the usability and further development of RwL documentation frameworks, especially regarding transferability and analytical depth. Our findings support calls for more comparative, empirically grounded approaches to evaluating and documenting urban transformation initiatives. We conclude by proposing the iterative and context-sensitive use of tools like the CRS as a foundation for more transparent, reflexive, and transferable practices in sustainability-oriented urban research.

Transport activities are a significant factor in environmental pollution, especially in cities. Therefore, measures aimed at electrification of public transport are particularly important. The aim of the paper is to present the origins, status and development dynamics of electromobility in Polish cities, especially the second generation of electromobility, i.e. vehicles that do not require continuous connection to the energy source. In practice the second-generation electric vehicles can be identified with battery-powered vehicles, hydrogen and hybrid vehicles. The study was prepared on the basis of an analysis of literature, industry documents or development strategies. In addition, a database of information on zero- and low-emission vehicles in public transport (i.e. electric and hybrid buses) was compiled to analyse the phenomenon. The study shows that the implementation of electromobility in Poland has already emerged from the initial phase. The possibilities for developing battery technology vary in cities of different sizes. In 2021 in Poland, the share of low-emission buses in the public transport fleet was several times higher than that of electric vehicles among passenger vehicles. It is most likely that the Polish road to electromobility leads primarily through public transport. The following factors influencing the development of electromobility were identified: these were primarily EU and Polish legislation and regulations, the presence of manufacturers of rolling stock and electrotechnical equipment, and – at the local scale – organisational, economic and social issues.

Among the activities that cities are taking to reduce the emissions of harmful substances emitted by conventional engine-powered vehicles is replacing the fleet with electric vehicles in public transport that can operate in urban areas. Fleet conversion is a process in which one of the decisions that must be made is the choice of lines that should be served in the first place by electric buses. Due to the specificity of the battery charging process, the routes of lines serviced by electric vehicles should run through sections that are as little exposed to disruptions as possible, which can adversely affect the travel time of these sections. The main goal of the article was to develop a method that supports the search for bus lines that are characterized by the highest level of reliability and punctuality and therefore also by the stability of the travel time between stops. The proposed method makes it possible to indicate critical interstop sections that have the greatest impact on the sensitivity of the line to disturbances. It was assumed that the more critical sections of the route, the greater the risk of bus delay, which may be disadvantageous in the case of electric vehicles due to the need to reach the battery charging station in time. The method was implemented on the example of selected lines in the Upper Silesian region (Poland) for data covering four years (2016–2019). The proposed approach allowed for the development of the ranking of lines, corresponding to the order in which the conventional fleet should be changed to electric.

Developed and developing countries have a lot of public transport networks and vehicles. This is the most important traffic key to consider. In particular, the restrictions imposed by the pandemic and the psychological factors left on people have made public transport even more important. In recent years, various micro-mobility applications have been seen in covering the last-mile distance in public transportation. Depending on the reason for the travel and the distance to be covered, the user can choose between scheduled and non-scheduled public transport services.The former are characterised by predefined timetables, routes and fares that cannot be changed either by the driver or at the request of the user. The latter are instead related to the square service or taxi service and garage service or Transportation Network Company (TNC) services .The development of electric vehicles (EV) is strongly influenced by consumer demand resulting from economic and environmental factors.The combination of EV and ridesharing also brings major benefits in terms of reduced traffic congestion, reduced environmental impact and in many cases also lower costs for the user. By incorporating e-buses into public transport fleets, a green public transport fleet can be achieved which can provide a step further towards sustainable transport system. In addition, in urban areas with low-speed limits, electric taxis can offer a faster, more efficient and cost-effective solution, as can small buses in the form of demand responsive transport (DRT) services. Unfortunately, there are still a number of problems limiting the development of all-electric transport services. This is the main reason for the spread of hybrid transport services rather than the experimentation of full electric vehicles (EVs) in the case of many non-scheduled services.Through a comparative overview of different case studies and strategies implemented by European and non-European countries, this research highlights the benefits and criticalities related to the integration of EVs and especially taxis in varying city sizes and lays the groundwork for future research steps.

In theories of social practice, energy consumption is commonly understood to follow from social practices performed by humans. Yet smart home technologies and automation more broadly raise questions about this conceptualisation. This chapter rethinks theories of practice to include automated devices and systems not only as the material arrangements within which humans perform practices (following Schatzki), but as carriers and performers of practices. It takes a historical perspective to describe different types of smart home automation and their co-evolution with the performance of everyday practices. The chapter argues that by bringing Latour’s symmetrical anthropology into theories of practice, humans and non-humans can be included as part of both the material arrangements and as possible performers of practices.

Bottom-up social innovations are being used in the transportation sector with unintended outcomes for carbon emission reducing potentials. Activists and policy makers have called for studies on the potentials of such innovations in reducing carbon emissions to aid policy recommendations. This study explores the potentials of such an innovation in the transport sector in Nigeria of reducing carbon emissions. Called Message by users, this social innovation is used like an informal courier service to deliver items of trade, documents and medicine among others using the public transportation system. This social innovation saves users costs of transporting the items themselves using public or private transportation or formal courier services. Data on number of Messages sent was collected by personal observation at a public transport terminal for Ikeja bound passengers from Ile-Ife (towns in southwestern Nigeria) for seven days. Ninety-four Messages consisting of 106 items were observed to be sent at the terminal using the Message system during the period. Two scenarios that may lead to savings in carbon emissions were highlighted in the study; the first, if the sender boards a public transportation vehicle to deliver the item and the second, if private transportation was used rather than the Message system. The round-trip distance for the two options was estimated to be 400 Km. A six-passenger 2-litre engine public transportation vehicle which consumes an estimated 9L/100 Km was assumed for the study. The results showed that for the first scenario, 1,297.2 Kg CO2 will be produced and 7783.2 Kg CO2 for the second scenario if senders had used these alternatives other than the message system for the 94 Messages. The study concludes that the Message can be regarded as a Low-carbon Bottom-up social innovation and recommends public and/or private efforts to scale-up this innovation in other climes.

Limited Traffic Zone (LTZ) is a planning strategy that is more and more adopted by municipalities in Europe to improve their environmental conditions. It consists in the prohibition for traditional vehicles to circulate in specific areas. Although the main aim is to tackle air pollution problems, positive effects are registered in terms of reduction of noise annoyance and in terms of improved “quality of life” if specific conditions are respected. On the other side under the drive of the global market, the number of circulating electric vehicles in urban sites is also increasing. In the next years we expect to experience a new and not well-known urban soundscape. In this paper is presented an overview of recent urban projects and policies that deal with noise control and how these experiences will match into the next years with the sound characteristics of new electric vehicles for private and public transportation.

The government policies and cost benefits led to the surge in penetration of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) and Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) into both public and private sectors, challenging the electric grid's potential to maintain its stability and efficiently serve the purpose. The penetration of PHEVs brings technological advancements and environmental benefits to the traditional transportation and electrical power systems. Designing of appropriate charging methods to satisfy PHEV owners helps to improve system performance and avoid transmission and distribution system expansion.;The primary objective of this thesis is to model a coordinated charging algorithm to charge maximum number of PHEVs with the existing infrastructure at a Charging Station (CS) located in residential locality. The stochastic driving patterns of PHEVs are studied and different charging strategies are developed. The Optimized charging scheme is obtained for American Electric Power utility distribution feeder modeled in OpenDSS. Further, PHEV customers are modeled into price responsive consumers capable of participating in Demand Response programs to economically charge their vehicles and render support to the stabilization of power system. Consumer behavior modeling has been done by developing extensive demand-price elasticity matrices (PEMs) which are utilized to calculate the level of demand response.;This thesis also proposes a concept of converting the existing Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system from guideway power rail propelling vehicles to Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) by developing a novel routing algorithm based on the data provided by West Virginia University's Department of Transportation and Parking. This turns into a feasibility analysis of implementing new EV technologies in electrification of public transportation. The routing algorithm involves Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) Optimization resulting in hourly schedule of all the vehicles satisfying the passenger demand. The effect of charging load of BEVs on the electrical distribution system is analyzed by performing a time series simulation on AEP distribution feeder.;Additionally, the impact of PHEV charging on power market prices i.e. Locational Marginal Prices (LMP) in a distribution microgid scenario is presented. Locational marginal pricing is a market based wholesale pricing approach adopted by six out of ten national electricity markets. The uncoordinated charging of EVs results in unplanned peak demand causing system changes and fluctuation of LMP. The stabilizing effect of coordinated charging scheme is demonstrated on IEEE 13 Node test system.

Many EU countries have used financial incentives to promote electric light commercial vehicles and decarbonise urban freight transport. However, the high costs of electric light commercial vehicles still pose a significant adoption barrier. This paper evaluates the impact of financial incentives on the total cost of ownership of electric light commercial vehicles in the European Union and their role in achieving the cost-competitiveness of electric vehicles. A pairwise comparison is performed for three weight categories of electric and diesel vehicles in twelve countries. Our analysis shows that financial incentives have a high impact on the total cost of ownership and have proven necessary to achieve electric vehicles' cost-competitiveness in most cases. However, in specific cases, financial incentives may no longer be needed as the cost of electric vehicles' ownership would have been lower than diesel vehicles even without them. This paper demonstrates the importance of adjusting government incentives to avoid unnecessary funding allocations while promoting the decarbonisation of light commercial vehicles, particularly as the number of incentives does not directly correlate with electric vehicles penetration.

The changes in geopolitical and ecological conditions brought about the need to use environmentally friendly sources of vehicle power. This impacted the accelerated activities related to the use of hydrogen fuel in transport means. Based on the observations carried out in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, it was found that the process of implementing hydrogen-powered vehicles in public transport is connected with difficulties faced by transport companies with regard to the purchase of these transport means. This study aims to analyse the conditions for making decisions regarding the implementation of hydrogen-powered buses in urban transport. A case study was considered, and the factors influencing the decisions related to the application of hydrogen-powered buses in Poland were analysed. The survey method was used to carry out the research. A questionnaire was developed, and the survey was conducted among representatives of transport companies that provide public transport services in Polish cities. As a result of the research, it was found that city authorities play a key role in deciding on the implementation of hydrogen-powered buses. The highest ranks among the proposed criteria influencing the decision on the purchase of hydrogen-powered buses were the economic ones. The concerns and benefits resulting from the potential purchase of hydrogen-powered buses were also examined. It was revealed that the decision to buy buses is most influenced by factors such as ensuring access to hydrogen and its price. The recommendations for transport companies and city authorities were formulated.

Mobile green billboards on the road? The impact of electric ride-hailing vehicles on electric vehicle promotion and air quality

The transport sector in Nigeria is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and urban air pollution. This study investigates the contrasting trends in emissions from electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV) and fossil fuel-powered vehicles in Nigeria. The objective of this paper is to explore the role of electric and hybrid vehicles as sustainable transportation options that contribute to emission reduction. It examines the environmental, economic, and technological implications of adopting these vehicles, with a specific focus on Nigeria. It also evaluates global best practices and how they can inform domestic policies and infrastructure development. Using recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), International Energy Agency (IEA) and the World Bank, scholarly articles and industry sources, the study finds that emissions from EVs are declining, driven by increased adoption, government incentives, and rising public awareness of environmental issues and climate change mitigation. In contrast, emissions from fossil fuel vehicles continue to rise due to rapid growth in vehicle ownership, the prevalence of aging and inefficient vehicles, substandard fuel quality, and inadequate public transport infrastructure. The study concludes that while Nigeria’s efforts to promote EVs are yielding positive results, these gains risk being undermined unless systemic challenges in the broader transport sector are addressed. The paper recommends a comprehensive policy approach, including stronger EV incentives, improved fuel quality regulations, modern public transport investment and stricter emissions standards, to achieve sustained reductions in transport-related emissions. These findings contribute to the discourse on sustainable transportation pathways in developing economies.

The state of atmospheric pollution is determined by the growth of the population, the amount of transport and the generated volumes of emissions. The object is the process of analyzing passenger transportation in the city. The subject is passenger transport analysis methods. Purpose: analysis of passenger transportation and approaches to optimization of public transport based on the concept of a smart city. Tasks: analysis of passenger transportation, classification of existing conceptual approaches to optimization of public transport with low carbon emissions, systematization of existing methods, means and types of neural networks in smart cities, analysis of successful implementation projects. Methods of statistical analysis, linear and non-linear interpolation, logical generalization, comparison, grouping, analysis and synthesis. Results: the analysis of passenger transportation in the city revealed that statistical data sets indicate a decrease in the main indicators of passenger traffic and an increase in the volume of emissions of carbon-containing compounds. The classification of existing approaches to the optimization of public transport is carried out according to the priority of public transport, hybridization and electrification of vehicles and the implementation of IT monitoring. During the systematization of methods and means in smart cities, the following are highlighted: smart transport systems; electric vehicles; transport sharing networks; smart applications and information systems; innovative payment systems; unmanned vehicles; information boards and announcement systems; networks of bicycle paths and equipped sidewalks; environmental monitoring systems. Among neural networks, recurrent, convolutional, and deep neural networks have been proposed as those that contribute to route optimization and traffic prediction. Conclusions: the statistical analysis of passenger transportation established that reducing carbon dioxide emissions is an unresolved task for both public transport and the transportation system. It is proposed to include methods and means that optimize public transport, reducing the carbon footprint of the initiatives of implementing the concept of a smart city, which are successful all over the world. It is proposed to use recurrent, convolutional and deep neural networks to optimize passenger transportation in smart cities.