Making Use of Research Based Knowledge in Boosting Innovation in the European Roads Sector: A Case Study on Climate Change from the CEDR Transnational Research Collaboration

The Conference of European Directors of Roads (CEDR) has carried out a pilot study examining how well the results of its first transnational research programme on Climate Change have been implemented in member states. The study forms part of a wider initiative to develop a number of key performance indicators for research implementation and to ensure that implementation of CEDR research leads to innovation in the European roads sector. Eleven European countries took part in the study which was carried out using qualitative interviewing techniques. While the overall perceptions of the interviewees were that the research programme successfully met its objectives, the results indicate a varying degree of implementation across countries. The paper reports the key benefits of the research, identifies a number of barriers to implementation and gives recommendations to improve future implementation of research.