For communities without significant public transport infrastructure or financial resources to upgrade to private electric vehicles, a push to decarbonise mobility has the potential to further marginalise our most vulnerable groups particularly in smaller towns with less developed infrastructure. As such, while decarbonisation may be the ultimate policy objective, achieving just transitions to more sustainable mobility is key to meeting wide-spanning policy goals.
Making effective place-relevant mobility policy and interventions requires detailed analysis and understanding of place assets, dynamics, individual and community need, and capabilities. Given the complex nature of the problem, a multidisciplinary team involving researchers, policymakers, service providers and communities is needed. The CONUNDRUM team brings together different disciplines and expertise relevant to the co-creation, development, adoption and deployment of solutions. The team works closely with a diversity of stakeholders, to identify appropriate place-based options and solutions based on current and future need, accelerate the deployment of actionable proposes solutions, and develop a set of tools to support community empowerment and local authority capability-building amidst the mobility transition.
Our team has evolved over the course of the project and you can find information on our current team below. Dr Abhilash Chandra Singh (TCD) and Dr Kieran Harrahill (TASC) worked as core members of the research team during the Grow phase of our project and remain important collaborators in their new roles.
Profiles
Professor Niamh Moore-Cherry is PI for CONUNDRUM. She is Dean of Social Sciences and College Principal in the UCD College of Social Sciences and Law. She is also Full Professor in the UCD School of Geography and Honorary Professor at the Bartlett School of Planning, University College London. Her research focuses on place-based urban and regional development, governance and the impact of territorial politics on just and sustainable outcomes for communities and places.
Prof Brian Caulfield is co-PI for CONUNDRUM. He is Head of Discipline in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin. Since joining the Department Prof Caulfield has embarked on an intensive research program addressing global issues such as the environmental impacts of transport. He recently provided advice to the Climate Change Advisory Council on pathways to decreasing transport emissions by 2030.
Dr Dean Phelan is a Research Fellow in the School of Geography at University College Dublin and co-Investigator on the CONUNDRUM project. A feminist and anti-colonial scholar, his work examines power and marginalisation in urban spaces to forge impactful pathways for sustainable and just transitions of urban systems amidst the climate crisis.
Dr Conor Dowling is a Senior Research Fellow in Trinity College Dublin whose research explores the intersection of developing sustainable, resilient systems and social impact. Conor’s work is shaping evidence-based, people-focused strategies to address some of the most pressing challenges facing our communities today. Winner of the Trinity ‘Sustainability Leadership Award’ 2025.
Zikang Ji is a PhD researcher in the School of Geography at University College Dublin, currently working as a research assistant on the CONUNDRUM project. His research focuses on the developmental trajectories of small towns in Ireland, with particular attention to regional policy and spatial inequality. Within the team, he supports data analysis and visualisation through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), contributing spatial insights to the project’s wider goals.
Dinar Syaharani is a Research Intern working on the CONUNDRUM project and based in the School of Geography at University College Dublin (UCD). Dinar is a student in the MSc Architecture, Urbanism, and Climate Action program at UCD’s School of Architecture, Planning, and Environmental Policy. Her research interests focus on climate resilience, community resilience, and sustainability.
Lucile Damien is a Research Intern working on the CONUNDRUM project and based in the School of Geography at University College Dublin. Lucile is a student in the MSc of Environmental Policy at UCD’s School of Architecture, Planning, and Environmental Policy. Her research interests include circular urbanism, urban food policy, and green mobility.
Jacqueline Sardinha Amoranto is a Research Intern working on the CONUNDRUM project and based in the School of Geography at University College Dublin. Jacqueline is a student in the MSc in Architecture, Urbanism and Climate Action program at UCD’s school of Architecture, Planning and Environmental Policy. Her research interests include socio-spatial inequality, sustainable transportation systems, and public participation processes in planning.