Youth share visions for a sustainable mobility future at the CIVITAS Forum 2021
The European Commission has officially declared 2022 the European Year of Youth. There is no doubt that young people have been consistently stepping up at the forefront of a variety of sustainability actions, and sustainable urban mobility is no exception. On 19 October, 17 youth delegates came together for the Mobility Powered by the Youth conference – a side event of the CIVITAS Forum 2021 – to continue pushing this work forward.
The conference provided young mobility professionals and changemakers at the early stages of their careers with an opportunity to present their visions to a large audience. Selected young professionals presented their sustainable urban mobility research – conducted as a part of an internship, graduation assignment, hackathon or university course – to initiate exchange of views and knowledge among speakers and attendees. Furthermore, the event connected youth with the European Commission, with Dr. Octavia Stepan, Head of Sector, CINEA and Georg Houben, Policy Officer, DG ENER both joining the conference.
The young researchers hailed from Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Slovakia and the United Kingdom. Their research and presentations spanned four overarching topics: demand and urban space management; active, micro and shared mobility; liveable and inclusive cities; and smart cities.
This event was complemented by the launch, on 20 October, of the CIVITAS Network of European Universities Active in Urban Mobility. The ambition of the university network is to enable educational institutes to build connections with other institutes active in the field of urban mobility, and to exchange ideas on future cooperation activities to be facilitated through CIVITAS.
The network kick-off took place both on-site and online, as part of the CIVITAS Forum 2021, with representatives from relevant European universities. Dr. Marcel Rommerts, Head of Unit, CINEA opened the session, while representatives from Breda University of Applied Sciences led the discussion.
CIVITAS is committed to empowering young mobility professionals through its “Fresh Brains” programme. Within Fresh Brains, organisations working in urban mobility express their needs, and CIVITAS develops tailor-made opportunities to work with students and youth to meet those needs via internships, hackathons, tactical urbanism, and urban living labs. In other words, the programme connects organisations with fresh perspectives, and provides youth with career-building opportunities.
For more information on Fresh Brains and how you can get involved, visit: civitas.eu/fresh-brains.
Author: Breda University of Applied Sciences
