On June 9 2023, Varvara Nikulina successfully presented and defended her PhD dissertation “Scaffolding for multistakeholder dialogue-based processes in Strategic Planning for transitioning to sustainable mobility”. The dissertation presents further forms of methodological support that can help structure participatory multistakeholder dialogue-based processes:− a framework for analysing the complexity of co-production settings in relation to epistemic communities, linguistic diversities, and culture;− a rapid scenario planning method to support regional visioning for sustainability transformation; and− the MUSTS tool that connects sustainability goals at multiple levels with stakeholders who have the power and legitimacy to act upon them. To conclude, the methodological process-supporting tools that were investigated and those developed in this research offer a form of “scaffolding”that aids facilitators to organise more efficient and effective participatory processes. These scaffolding tools are rooted in transdisciplinary co-production of knowledge research and offer promising elements for a toolbox for strategic planning for transitioning to sustainable mobility.

Examiner and main supervisor: Dr. Henrik Ny (docent), BTH

Supervisors: Professor Göran Broman, BTH och Professor Henrikke Baumann, Chalmers 

Opponent: Associate Professor Julio A. Soria-Lara, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain 

Members of the examining committee: 

– Associate Professor Robert Hrelja, Malmö University

– Senior Research Fellow, Olivia Bina, Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Portugal

– Professor Sara Gustafsson, Linköping University

Read more about Varvara’s PhD dissertation at the DIVA website https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:1753536