Enhancing policy legitimacy for less and slower mobility: the potential of catalytic policy instruments

To avoid exceeding planetary boundaries, individual transport has to change, which, for many people, implies less and slower mobility. This contradicts the current hypermobility paradigm, making it difficult to gain legitimacy for such policies. This article contributes to conceptual development regarding how policies for less and slower mobility can gain legitimacy by developing the concept of catalytic policy instruments, i.e. policy instruments that can punctuate equilibria and transform policy agendas. Three such instruments are analysed through European examples that assist our theoretical reflections. We consider their respective potential and preconditions for being catalytic. The instruments are visioning, which may contribute to changing norms and values and thereby establish the legitimacy of policy preconditions; public participation, which may make policy procedures more legitimate; and experimentation, which may contribute to legitimising anticipated policy effects. We also identify directions for future research on catalytic policy instruments to improve the understanding of their applicability and limitations for policy making. While not being Columbus’s egg, the strategic and tactical use of catalytic policy instruments is important for building a counterhegemonic alternative to the unsustainable hypermobility society.