From 25 to 28 August 2026, four GEMOTT researchers, Monika Maciejewska, Oriol Marquet, Iker Etxarte Sunsundegi and Victor González Parra, participated in the 17th European Sociological Association (ESA) Conference in Warsaw. The team was particularly pleased to share its research in Warsaw, one of the ATRAPA project’s study cities. The city’s ongoing urban transformations provided a highly relevant setting in which to reflect on the social dimensions of changes to urban space and mobility.
The conference provided an opportunity to bring GEMOTT’s research on mobility and urban transformation into dialogue with broader sociological debates, particularly in light of this year’s focus on democracy, public trust, social participation and sustainable futures.
Through exchanges with researchers working in different fields, the team explored how sociological perspectives can enrich the study of urban transitions, public acceptability, fairness, ageing and everyday mobility.
GEMOTT contributed to the conference with three presentations:
- Iker Etxarte Sunsundegi presented “Enhancing Public Acceptability of Urban Spatial Transformations through Moral Framing”, co-authored with Monika Maciejewska and Oriol Marquet. The presentation introduced the study’s research design and preliminary findings on how moral framing can shape public responses to transformations of urban space.
- Oriol Marquet presented “Beyond Climate Attitudes: Why Fairness Drives Support for Superblocks and Other Street-space Reallocations”, co-authored with Monika Maciejewska. Developed as part of the ERC-funded ATRAPA project, the research examines how perceptions of fairness influence public acceptance of interventions such as superblocks and the reallocation of street space.
- Victor González Parra presented preliminary findings from “The Role of Public Transport in Delaying Mobility Decline: Life Paths of Older Adults Explored through the Trajectory Equifinality Model”, co-authored with Oriol Marquet and Monika Maciejewska. The study explores the role of public transport in supporting mobility throughout later life, paying particular attention to individual life paths and experiences of mobility decline.
The presentations provided an opportunity to receive comments, insights and perspectives from scholars approaching related questions from different areas of sociology, which was particularly valuable at the current stage of the research.
Beyond the conference, Warsaw offered an inspiring setting in which to reflect on urban change and observe how interventions in the city centre are gradually reshaping mobility, public space and connections between neighbourhoods. These transformations are being followed through ATRAPA’s ongoing research.
