A Competence Centre to assess and advance societal readiness towards adoption of Innovative Air Mobility solutions to increase social welfare

IAM-CC assesses the societal readiness and equitable integration of Innovative Air Mobility into urban systems driven by the core question: “How can IAM improve social welfare?” We focus on the problems it can solve, society’s readiness to adopt it, and on how to deploy it fairly. Our participatory, evidence-based methodology moves beyond passive public acceptance toward active co-creation, guided by the Responsible Research and Innovation framework. Citizens, city authorities, and logistics operators are empowered to shape IAM deployment decisions from vertiport location to noise thresholds and Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. Three Living Labs (Madrid, Milan, Coimbra), totally enabling 830 participants, will provide the real-world testbeds where innovative societal readiness pilots will be conducted, combining immersive VR/AR, stakeholder dialogues, and real-world demonstrations to validate tools and governance models.We build tools that quantify IAM’s potential to transform cities through faster emergency logistics, reduced congestion, and green job creation, and measure risks such as social exclusion, job displacement, and environmental injustice. To ensure long-term impact, we will establish the IAM Competence Centre, a hub for open-access tools, training, and a community of practice. Key outputs of IAM-CC include the IAM Societal Readiness Assessment and Analysis, the IAM Impact Quantification platform, immersive VR/AR tools for public engagement, and a Recommendation System that supports replicable, context-sensitive IAM deployment. These innovations will deliver a step-change in how societal readiness is assessed—moving from abstract acceptance surveys to dynamic, city-validated tools and living datasets, enabling a new generation of evidence-based, inclusive IAM planning.By integrating social sciences and humanities expertise, IAM-CC will support smarter urban planning, inclusive policy-making , and stronger community engagement.