Talk on Rural Mobility, Deprivation and Innovation
Dr. Koen Salemink from the University of Groningen has been invited to Robert Gordon University in Scotland to give a talk on Rural Mobility, Deprivation and Innovation as part of the G-PaTRA project.
The talk will be held on November 1st, 13.00-14.00 in Room 317 in the Aberdeen Business School Building.
Dr. Salemink will discuss how regions throughout Northwestern Europe are struggling to sustain mobility in rural areas. He will argue that little changed in the four decades since Malcolm Moseley published his classic work on rural accessibility in 1979. However, advances in ICT means that new mobility innovation offers the potential for exciting new transport and accessibility solutions but creates new institutional and operational challenges for policy makers and transport providers.
In his talk, Koen will discuss transnational issues around rural mobility in the North Sea Region, and will examine the potential for digitisation to underpin a rural scope and a rural-based approach to access and mobility. He will argue that new transport technology is typically developed with metropolitan areas in mind it is vital that identify innovation that help address some of the unique challenges involved in providing access and mobility in rural and island areas. Dr Salemink will argue that if digital innovation is to be a core driver behind contemporary rural mobility policies and practices, then social and economic needs of rural communities should be the starting point for innovation, rather than trying to adapt primarily urban technology and practices for use in rural localities with rural bandwidth.
The talk should be of interest to colleagues working in the fields of transport; innovation; computing and logistics; health and social care in rural areas; built environment and planning; and rural and island tourism. There are plans to capture the talk and make it available on the G-PaTRA website and social media for those who are unable to come along.