Parking research Parking as an agent of change Dr Kat Lovell, from the TransPark research team, continues the discussion started in the December issue of Parking News* about the work on interoperability between parking and energy by the University of Sussexs Science Policy Research Unit and the BPA. Dr Ralitsa Hiteva, principal investigator for TransPark, finds out more How can innovation help the parking industry respond to, and contribute towards, a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and achieving net zero? Through the business-model mapping of the UK parking industry carried out during TransPark, we found that it is a well-established sector, with longstanding relationships, collaborations and capabilities. Business models are siloed and aligned according to the activities of key stakeholders, mainly local authorities, large parking operators, hospital trusts and service providers. However, with the required changes in how and why people travel, achieving net zero offers a shifting landscape. There are already initiatives and trial projects going on in and around the parking sector but what is striking about the level of change needed for a transition to sustainability is the extent to which a range of sectors need to work together and connect expertise and capabilities into new ways of living and working. We need to view parking as a strategic space for connection between different types of actors developing responses to mobility change, and see it as an important point for connecting complex and novel developments to the people and places that need 34 britishparking.co.uk PN Feb 2021 pp34-35 Interoperability Feature.indd 34 22/01/2021 12:43