About

Our Mission

The IPCC and the UK Climate Change Commission agree that 40-70% of the green transition needs to come from social change. At COP26, 190 countries pledged £150 trillion to tackle carbon emissions. However, social change is difficult to leverage and many projects fail, often at huge cost.

SoRA addresses this challenge with a systematic methodology for societal readiness assessment. We want to help the people who make the green transition happen – the funders, investors, local authorities, advocacy groups, individuals and communities – to improve and future-proof their projects, and drive an effective and just green transition.

Working towards a SoRA standard

Today, Technology and Market Readiness Assessment and Levels (TRL) are de-facto standards for decisions about decarbonising transport projects. That is a problem, because it favours technocratic, profitable solutions that often do not work for people and/or produce harmful consequences. SoRA and SRL are designed to complement and challenge TRL and enable more ambitious and socially responsible innovation.

Who is SoRA for?

SoRA is for anyone with a stake in decarbonising mobility: public authorities, investors, developers, advocacy groups. Broad participation adds critical input, and SoRA supports an iterative reflective process, dialogue, creative, constructive dissent, and co-design. SoRA is useful from initial project scoping to implementation and can be used for social projects (e.g. a walking bus), technological, policy, planning projects and more.

SoRA Benefits

Who we are

We are a team of researchers, service designers, sustainable transport consultants, and technology developers, working together to contribute to a future society that is socially, ethically and environmentally responsible in how it innovates. See the Team members here.

How is SoRA funded

SoRA has been funded by the UK Economic and Physical Science Research Council in the DecarboN8 project (2019-2023) and the UK Department for Transport and Connected Places Catapult 2022 TRIG Programme.  You can find out more about our research here.

Who does the SoRA team work with?

SoRADASH is based on design research with over 250 stakeholders in England, including rural and urban local authorities, Third Sector organisations, designers, planners, policy-makers, commercial innovators, researchers, and youth and citizen climate groups in the DecarboN8 project (2019-2023).  Initially we focused on understanding the need and contexts for SoRA, using interviews and creative workshops, and establishment of a Stakeholder Reference Group. In the TRIG programme we have expanded the network and experimented with web-based prototypes in co-design workshops with more stakeholders, including Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SME), an international urban design and consulting company, government agencies, and local authorities.

How do you protect my details?

We do not collect any details without your explicit consent. When you consent to share your name, contact details and email address to save your assessment and receive our newsletter, we store these details securely and do not share them with anyone. For more information, including details on how long your data is kept and more, please see our privacy and cookie policy.

How can I get involved?

You can Subscribe to our mailing list to talk to us, receive news and updates about SoRA and join our LinkedIn SoRA Group.