Zooming in and out on everyday mobility practices in a rural, mountainous area of Switzerland

Abstract

To combat climate change, carbon emissions from everyday mobility must be lowered. This can be achieved by improving vehicle efficiency, shifting to low-carbon modes of transport and avoiding travel. Most of the literature focuses on shifting mobility away from cars, mainly in the context of commuting. However, mobility is embedded deeply in everyday life and is much more complex. This research tries to broaden the scope and not only analyse the mode of transport that people choose but also the purposes that their mobility serves and how this influences their modal choice. Contrary to the dominant literature's emphasis on urban mobility, this study focuses on rural mobility, highlighting its specific challenges. As a case study, the mobility practices of residents of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Entlebuch (UBE) in Switzerland were investigated. Using a social practice approach has proven useful in analysing how individuals shape their everyday mobility. The study ‘zooms in’ on how practices are configured and ‘zooms out’ on the connection between mobility practices and mobility purposes, with the overarching aim to explore the key characteristics and dynamics of rural everyday transport in Switzerland, using the UBE as a case study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed adopting a thematic analysis approach. The results indicate that in the rural context geographical conditions and infrastructure availability exert more influence on how practices are performed than in urban contexts. Also, the time spent on mobility was valued differently depending on the mobility purpose, leading to different modal choices for different mobility purposes. Finally, the results demonstrate that strong social capital within a community can foster low-carbon mobility in three ways: shorter distances travelled for shopping and leisure purposes; a preference for active modes of transport; and self-organised collective transport. These findings highlight the importance of considering mobility practices' embeddedness in everyday life while identifying potentials for shifting to low-carbon modes of transport, as well as avoiding travel in the first place.