Overview
The strategic research programme 'Unified steering and organisation of the transport and communications sector at regional level' is one of the priority areas within TOIs more general research areas, 'Planning and decision-making processes'.
The objective of the 'Planning and decision-making' research area is to provide knowledge of how planning and decision- making processes function within the transport and communications sector and how different institutional and organisational conditions affect plans and outcomes of such processes. Particular focus has been directed at national and regional levels. The research area also covers the development of new planning forms and tools which may be of major significance for more sustainable transport policies in the form of co-ordinated area and transport planning in urban areas, parking policies, mobility management and strategic impact assessment.
The 'Unified steering and organisation of the transport and communications sector at regional level' programme is directed towards the regional level, with an emphasis on evaluating processes in large cities and counties and evaluations on of institutional changes which affect the conditions for implementing transport and communications policies at this level.
The programme covers four main activities:
- Development trends in the transport departments' organisation
- Steering and policy tools at regional levels
- International experiences with steering of transport and communications policy at regional levels
- Discussing institutional development for a regional transport and communications policy.
This programme is a strategic institute programme (SIP), aimed at developing new research areas and rendering professional activities leading to a deeper understanding. The programmes status is reported to the Norwegian Research Council every year. The initiative to establish the strategic institute programme was made by the institute itself, while the Norwegian Research Council is held responsible for the professional quality assurance of the SIP.
Funding
This programme is financed by the Norwegian Research Council and the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (NALRA), with a yearly grant of approximately EUR 87 500, giving a total budget of EUR 350 000 over the four years from 2000 until 2003.
The major part of the budget is spent on man-hours worked by research workers at TOI.
There is no available information about the future funding at the moment.