Future Flight Governance: Socio-Legal, Environmental and Economic Approaches

This book seeks to bridge disciplinary and scholarly gaps by bringing together a range of social science studies to capture state-of-the-art advancements in the field of advanced air technology governance, as the vision for the future of aviation systems evolves.

With novel and innovative developments taking place in many different technological fields, the future of aviation is at a pivotal point. Advanced air technologies including drones, Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicles, and electric/hydrogen-fuelled Conventional Take-Off and Landing aircraft could transform how we live, move, and transport goods. What we call ’Future Flight’ encompasses a complex range of legal, social, economic, cultural and environmental issues that cut across a diverse range of sectors, stakeholders and disciplines. This book discusses the transformative nature of emerging advanced air technologies through an inter- and cross-disciplinary lens, with chapters covering law, economics, geography and accessibility, alongside other relevant issues that look beyond conventional methodologies and traditional disciplines.

The book will be of interest to academics, practitioners, policy makers, regulators and those stakeholders working at the intersection of law, policy and governance of emerging technologies, science, the environment and the economy.

Mariela de Amstalden (Dr.iur., LL.M, FHEA, attorney-at-law) is an interdisciplinary and socio-legal scholar. Her academic research focuses on the law of transformative technologies, global economic governance and intellectual property rights. She is currently on research sabbatical as visiting fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge (UK) under a Royal Society APEX Award (APX\R1￿024) for her work on the legalities of future technologies. Formerly, she was an Associate Professor in Law and Technology at the University of Exeter (UK), and Assistant Professor in Intellectual Property and Innovation Law at the University of Birmingham (UK).

Adam Michael Packer is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Institute for STEMM in Culture and Society (ISTEMMiCS) at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, and he is part of the ESRC Future Flight Social Science research team. He received his PhD degree from the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford. His research is broadly interested in the relationship between technology, innovation, and society, with a focus on urban governance and citizenship.

Michael Lewis is a Professor at the University of Bath School of Management. An experienced researcher, teacher and advisor in operational and supply systems, he is the author of more than 60 journal articles and books, including the widely translated textbook, Operations Strategy, now in its 7th edition. His portfolio of activities has included a long-standing engagement with public policy: health and social care services, local government, major project initiation, public-private partnerships and, most recently, the governance of complex technologies, including unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Recent drone related publications include ＂A Better Way to Pilot Emerging Technologies＂ published in MIT Sloan Management Review in 2024.