BAYinTRAP - Baltic Youth influencing Transport Policies
Overview
Objectives:
Project seeks to create opportunities for active involvement of young city citizens into process of sustainable urban transport policy development. This can be achieved by creating and testing youth participative planning model for transport policies and future transport systems. Social engagement in entire urban planning domain is insufficient and neglected by urban transport decision makers. Regional and local authorities are continually executing new EU transport policies but leave no margin for public commitment. European communities have an absolute right to influence policy making process and to be a contributing partner in discussion on various mobility aspects in their cities.
In order to obtain these ambitious goals, the dialogue with decision makers and relevant actors have to be established first. Past European experiences show that youth can be the most efficient and committed social group pushing awareness rising process ahead and acting as a great medium in communication with the rest of the society. Youth can provide genuine testimonial of accession to transport issues and become successful multipliers for the message of clean and sustainable transport policies. Therefore, project will take an advantage on youngsters' creativity, enthusiasm and often useful critical approach to some of the encountered problems and use it to generate extensive discussion of road safety, accessibility and various improvements in urban traffic systems with policy makers, road and traffic engineers, urban planners as well as expert researchers.
Methodology:
The aim is to have youth remarks, ideas and request for changes to be considered and resulting in feedback in strategies and adjustments in urban policy development and implementation, oriented at mobility requirements of young city citizens. If youth is addressed in a proper manner they can take an active part in policy development clearly stating mobility needs and other ideas about clean and sustainable urban transport but there has to be clear vision for installing direct dialogue and communication platform for both parties.
To cope with this challenge project wants arrange series of summer camps involving school youth to take part in urban cycling rides exploring and investigating urban space. Youth will jointly conduct urban research concerning aspects of accessibility, traffic safety, missing elements of urban infrastructure, poor communication solutions and other relevant reflections that they may have on existing traffic realm in their cities. Information collected will serve youngsters to present their proposals for changes in the context of urban transport using various youth like manner means of data presentation. Each summer camp envisages on site meeting, identifies and involves politicians, administration and other stakeholder representatives who are going to familiarize with youngsters' reflections, listen and act when addressed by youth.
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