SafePol - Safety Policy Research Network

In fall 2015, the Swedish Transport Administration assigned a group of researchers to initiate a research network focusing on policy implementation and Vision Zero. The intention was to create a research environment with mostly social science perspectives on road safety and more specifically to understand possibilities and challenges in finding new solutions as well as implementing new policies and innovations from both a political and commercial perspective. The network was guided by a research program called "Vision Zero - from idea to implementation". The network, now called SafePol (Safety Policy Research Network), coordinated by Ann-Catrin Kristianssen, associate professor and senior lecturer in Political Science at Örebro University, contains around 15 researchers at different research institutions all over Sweden and the network also has several additional international contacts. It is guided by a new research program focusing on road safety as a sustainability goal. The network has since 2016 continuously arranged public seminars, members of the network are repeatedly giving lectures as conferences, and the network is working actively with spreading social science perspectives on road safety research. In 2023 the network received funds from the Swedish Transport Administration to continue to push for new reseach ideas on traffic safety and also to arrange outreach seminars. A seminar is arranged on 18 November, 2025 focusing on traffic safety in relation to civil society and citizens. Read more and register here: Forskarnätverket SafePol: Seminarium/webinarium om trafiksäkerhet med fokus på civilsamhället och medborgares roll 

Funding of the network provides opportunities for the researchers to establish new research projects and to broaden the possibilities to collaborate with other research environments. These funds create a base for social science research and discussion regarding traffic safety and sustainability.