| 1. |
- Abebe, Henok Girma, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
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Arguments against Vision Zero: A Literature Review
- 2022. - 1
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Ingår i: The Vision Zero Handbook. - Switzerland : Springer Nature. ; , s. 107-149
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite Vision Zero’s moral appeal and its expansion throughout the world, it has been criticized on different grounds. This chapter is based on an extensive literature search for criticism of Vision Zero, using the bibliographic databases Philosopher’s Index, Web of Science, Science Direct, Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Phil Papers, and by following the references in the collected documents. Even if the primary emphasis was on Vision Zero in road traffic, our search also included documents criticizing Vision Zero policies in other safety areas, such as public health, the construction and mining industries, and workplaces in general. Based on the findings, we identify and systematically characterize and classify the major arguments that have been put forward against Vision Zero. The most important arguments against Vision Zero can be divided into three major categories: moral arguments, arguments concerning the (goalsetting) rationality of Vision Zero, and arguments aimed at the practical implementation of the goals. We also assess the arguments. Of the thirteen identified main arguments, six were found to be useful for a constructive discussion on safety improvements.
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| 2. |
- Abebe, Henok Girma, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
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Equity and Social Justice considerations in road safety work: The case of Vision Zero in New York City
- 2024
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Ingår i: Transport Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0967-070X .- 1879-310X. ; 149, s. 11-20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper analyses how Vision Zero (VZ) efforts in New York City (NYC) account for equity and social justice implications of road safety work. VZ policy documents, research literature, popular science and opinion articles on road safety work in the city were studied with a prime focus on equity and social justice. Twelve semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in road safety and transport planning in the city and at national level were conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of policy design, the adoption process, and the role of equity considerations in the city's road safety work. The results show that major equity and social justice issues arise in the adoption and implementation of VZ. These issues are primarily related to equity and fairness in the distribution of life saving interventions, the socio-economic impacts of road safety strategies, and the nature of community engagement in policy design and implementation. The findings point to a need for VZ practitioners to give due considerations to equity and social justice implications of VZ policies and strategies. Among others, it supports the need for understanding the nature of past equity and social justice problems in road safety and transport planning in the VZ policy design process. Moreover, the findings suggest the need for empirical studies on the socio-economic implications of VZ strategies and interventions.
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| 3. |
- Abebe, Henok Girma, 1988-, et al.
(författare)
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Equity and Social Justice Considerations in Road Safety Work : The Case of Vision Zero in New York City
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper analyses how Vision Zero (VZ) efforts in New York City (NYC) account for equity and social justice implications of road safety work. VZ policy documents, research literature, popular science and opinion articles on road safety work in the city were studied with a prime focus on equity and social justice. Twelve semi-structured interviews with stakeholders involved in road safety and transport planning in the city and at national level were conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of policy design, the adoption process, and the role of equity considerations in the city’s road safety work. The results show that major equity and social justice issues arise in the adoption and implementation of VZ. These issues are primarily related to equity and fairness in the distribution of life saving interventions, the socio-economic impacts of road safety strategies, and the nature of community engagement in policy design and implementation. The findings point to a need for VZ practitioners to give due consideration to equity and social justice implications of VZ policies and strategies. Among others, it supports the need for understanding the nature of past equity and social justice problems in road safety and transport planning in the VZ policy design process. Moreover, the findings suggest the need for empirical studies on the socio-economic implications of VZ strategies and interventions.
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| 4. |
- Abebe, Henok Girma, 1988-
(författare)
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Ethical Issues in the Adoption and Implementation of Vision Zero Policies in Road Safety
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this doctoral thesis is to analyze ethical issues in the adoption and implementation of Vision Zero policies. The first article analyses criticisms against Vision Zero goals and measures promoted to reach them. We identify and assess “moral”, “operational”, and “rationality-based” arguments against Vision Zero. In total, thirteen different criticisms are analyzed. The second article seeks to reconcile the two major decision-making principles in road safety work, i.e., Cost Benefit Analysis and Vision Zero, which are often viewed as incompatible. We argue that the two principles can be compatible if the implementation of Vision Zero accepts temporal compromises intended to promote efficient allocation of resources, and the results of Cost Benefit Analysis are viewed not as optimal and satisfactory as long as fatal and serious injuries continue occurring. The third article uses Vision Zero as a normative framework to explore and analyze road safety work in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The ensuing analysis shows that there are significant differences between Addis Ababa road safety policies and Vision Zero in terms of how road safety problems are understood and in their responsibility ascriptions for improving road safety problems. It is argued that enhancing road safety in the city requires promoting a broader view of the causes and remedies of road safety problems. Moreover, given the magnitude and severity of road safety problems in the city, it is vital to emphasize the moral responsibility of actors responsible for the design and operation of the road system, and entities that procure and own large number of vehicles. The fourth article analyses equity and social justice considerations in Vision Zero efforts in New York City (NYC). Moreover, this study seeks to understand and assess how the city accounts for equity and social justice implications of road safety work. The result of the study shows that equity and social justice considerations played important roles in the initial adoption of Vision Zero policy in the city. Nonetheless, the study also shows that the adoption and implementation process gave rise to important equity and social justice issues which are primarily related to the method of prioritization used in road safety work in the city, equity and fairness in the distribution of life saving interventions, the socioeconomic impacts of road safety strategies, and the nature of community engagement in policy design and implementation. The findings of this study, among others, point to a need for Vision Zero practitioners to give due considerations to equity and social justice implications of Vision Zero policies and strategies. The fifth article analyzes the nature and moral acceptability of risk impositions from car driving in a low-income country context. It is shown that car driving involves an unfair and morally problematic risk imposition in which some stakeholders, namely those who decide on the nature of the risk in the road system and benefit the most from car driving, impose a significant risk of harm on others, who neither benefit from the risk imposition nor have decision-making role related to the risks they are exposed to. It is argued that addressing moral problems arising from the unfair risk imposition necessitates the promotion, on the part of beneficiaries and decision makers, of certain types of moral obligations related to the nature and magnitude of road crash risks. Importantly, those who benefit the most from car driving, and actors who decide on the risk level in the road system, have the moral obligation to implement effective risk reducing measures that protect those unfairly risk exposed, obligations to know more about road crash risks, obligations to compensate victims, obligations to communicate with the risk exposed and incorporate their concerns in policy making, and obligations to bring about attitudinal change.
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| 5. |
- Abebe, Henok Girma, 1988-
(författare)
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The Rationality and Moral Acceptability of Vision Zero Goal and Its Interventions
- 2021
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This licentiate thesis discusses moral issues associated with road safety work, with a particular emphasis on the Vision Zero (VZ) goal and its interventions. The licentiate thesis contains three articles and an introduction that briefly discusses issues and arguments presented in the articles.The first article, identifies, systematically categorizes and evaluates arguments against VZ. Moral, operational, and rationality related criticisms against the adoption and implementation of VZ are identified and discussed. The second article in this thesis seeks to reconcile the methods of Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) and VZ in road safety decision making. CBA has been and still is a major decision making tool in road transport and traffic safety work. However, proponents of VZ question the use of CBA in road safety and transport decision making on methodological and ethical grounds. In this paper, we locate the philosophical roots of the conflicting views promoted by proponents of CBA and VZ. Then we try to identify ways through which the two methods can be made compatible.The third and final paper uses VZ as a normative framework to explore and analyse the Addis Ababa road safety work. The aim of the paper is twofold. First, the paper seeks to examine how road safety problems are actually understood by those responsible for road safety at the local level. To this end, government policy documents, reports and other relevant sources where consulted to identify how road safety problems are framed, who is assigned responsibility for addressing road safety problems and through what interventions. Second, the paper aims to examine road safety work in the city from a normative point of view, i.e., what is the best, or most adequate, way of framing the problem, and who should be given the responsibility for addressing the problem and by what measures. It is argued that enhancing road safety in the city requires adopting a broader view of causes of road safety problems, and emphasizing the responsibility of actors that shape the design and operation of the traffic system and the safety of its components.
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| 6. |
- Baard, Patrik, 1981-, et al.
(författare)
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Cautious Utopias : Environmental goal-setting with long time frames
- 2015
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Ingår i: Ethics, Policy & Environment. - : Routledge. - 2155-0085 .- 2155-0093. ; 18:2, s. 187-201
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainable development is a common goal in the public sector but may be difficult to implement due to epistemic uncertainties and required long time frames. This paper proposes that some of these problems can be solved by formulating cautious utopias, entailing a relationship between means and goals differing from both utopian and realistic goal-setting. Cautiously utopian goals are believed, but not certain, to be achievable and to remain desirable, but are open to future adjustments due to changing desires and/or factual circumstances. Quality criteria for such goals are suggested.
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| 7. |
- Baard, Patrik, 1981-
(författare)
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Cautiously utopian goals : Philosophical analyses of climate change objectives and sustainability targets
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this thesis, the framework within which long-term goals are set and subsequently achieved or approached is analyzed. Sustainable development and climate change are areas in which goals have tobe set despite uncertainties. The analysis is divided into the normative motivations for setting such goals, what forms of goals could be set given the empirical and normative uncertainties, and how tomanage doubts regarding achievability or values after a goal has been set.Paper I discusses a set of questions that moral theories intended to guide goal-setting should respond to. It is often claimed that existent normative theories provide only modest guidance regarding climate change, and consequently have to be revised or supplemented. Two such suggested revisions or supplements are analyzed in order to determine whether they provide such guidance.Paper II applies the deep ecological framework to survey the extent to which it can be utilized to discuss issues concerning the management of climate change. It is suggested that the deep ecological framework can provide guidance by establishing a normative framework and an analysis of how the overarching values and principles can be specified to be relevant for actions.Paper III is focused on normative political theory, and explicates the two dimensions of empirical and normative uncertainty. By applying recent discussions in normative political theory on ideal/non-ideal theory, political realism, and the relation between normative demands and empirical constraints,strategies for managing the proposed goals are suggested.Paper IV suggests a form of goal that incorporates uncertainties. Cautious utopias allow greater uncertainty than realistic goals (goals that are known to be achievable or approachable, and desirable),but not to the same extent as utopian goals (goals wherein it is highly uncertain whether the goal can actually be achieved). Such goals have a performance-enhancing function. A definition and quality criteria for such goals are proposed.Paper V considers whether a goal that is becoming all the more unlikely to be achievable should be reconsidered. The paper focuses on the two degrees Celsius target, and asks whether it could still be a sensible goal to aspire to. By applying the principle that ‘ought’ implies ‘can’, the role of such obligations is investigated.Paper VI surveys how to treat circumstances in which an already set goal should be reconsidered and possibly revised, and what would evoke doubt in the belief upon which those goals have been set.Two situations are analyzed: (i) a problematic or surprising event occurs, upsetting confidence in one’s relevant beliefs, or (ii) respectable but dissenting views are voiced concerning one’s means and/or values. It is suggested that the validity of doubt has to be considered, in addition to the level in a goal-means hierarchy towards which doubt is raised.
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| 8. |
- Baard, Patrik, et al.
(författare)
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Scenarios and sustainability : tools for alleviating the gap between municipal means and responsibilities in adaptation planning
- 2012
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Ingår i: Local Environment. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1354-9839 .- 1469-6711. ; 17:6-7, s. 641-662
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adaptation to climate change often involves long-time frames and uncertainties over the consequences of chosen adaptation measures. In this study, two tools designed for assisting local decision-makers in adaptation planning were tested: socio-economic scenarios and sustainability analysis. The objective was to study whether these tools could be of practical relevance to Swedish municipalities and facilitate local-level climate change adaptation. We found that the municipal planners who participated in the testing generally considered the tools useful and of high relevance, but that more time was needed to use the tools than was provided during the test process.
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| 9. |
- Baard, Patrik, 1981-
(författare)
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Sustainable Goals : Feasible Paths to Desirable Long-Term Futures
- 2014
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The general aim of this licentiate thesis is to analyze the framework in which long-term goals are set and subsequently achieved. It is often claimed that goals should be realistic, meaning that they should be adjusted to known abilities. This thesis will argue that this might be very difficult in areas related to sustainable development and climate change adaptation, and that goals that are, to an acceptable degree, unrealistic, can have important functions.Essay I discusses long-term goal setting. When there is a great temporal discrepancy between the point in time of setting and achieving a goal, many uncertainties have to be considered. The surrounding world and the agent’s abilities and values might change. This is an ontological uncertainty. We often form beliefs regarding how abilities and values might change, but this belief is always uncertain. This is an epistemological uncertainty. A form of goal called cautiously utopian goals is proposed, which incorporate such uncertainties, but enables goal setting with long time-frames.Essay II discusses the issue of goals intended to reduce great risks. We cannot expect an agent to do something that lies beyond this agent’s abilities, as exemplified in the principle ‘ought implies can’. Adjusting goals to what we currently, with a high degree of certainty know could be done is difficult. If not including an estimation of how abilities can change, important performance-enhancing functions of goals might be lost. It is argued that very ambitious goals should be set. This is partly due to the great magnitude and likelihood of unwanted consequences and partly due to the difficulty of delineating what lies in agents’ capacity to manage complex risks.Essay III discusses a decision-facilitating tool Sustainability Analysis to be used by Swedish municipal planners. One sub-part of the tool, Goal Conflict Analysis, can be used to identify how the consequences of a planned adaptation measure will affect other long-term municipal goals. Identified goal conflicts can then be used in order to determine whether the conflicts are acceptable, or whether a different adaptation measure should be worked out. The paper discusses a workshop in a Swedish municipality in which the tool has been tested.
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| 10. |
- Björnberg, Karin Edvardsson
(författare)
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Historic Injustices and the Moral Case for Cultural Repatriation
- 2015
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Ingår i: Ethical Theory and Moral Practice. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1386-2820 .- 1572-8447. ; 18:3, s. 461-474
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It is commonly argued that cultural objects ought to be returned to their place of origin in order to remedy injustices committed in the past. In this paper, it is shown that significant challenges attach to this way of arguing. Although there is considerable intuitive appeal in the idea that if somebody wrongs another person then she ought to compensate for that injustice, the principle is difficult (albeit not impossible) to apply to wrongdoings committed many decades or centuries ago. It is not clear that historic injustices can meaningfully be corrected, or compensated for, and there are several arguments why, even in cases where there is a prima facie moral case for compensation, repatriation might not be a legitimate means of remedy. In order to bring analytical clarity to the issue, this paper discusses the various steps of the argument that must be addressed in order to ground a valid repatriation claim based on historic injustices.
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