Global Youth Coalition Member Feature: Leonid Ljubotina

1. Where are you connected right now? Tell us about the work you're doing.
I am currently based in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia. I’ve been working as an Expert Associate of the Department of Transport Planning at the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences (FPZ) for the last three years. I’ve usually been involved in projects focused on road traffic safety specifically international ones supported by the EU or the ones focused on supporting low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs). I am also involved in national projects.

A lot of the projects we perform are based on the International Road Safety Assessment Programme (iRAP) Safety Assessment methodologies. FPZ is an iRAP-accredited institution and is one of the few institutions awarded with the iRAP Centre of Excellence title. I’ve been involved in a number of iRAP projects worldwide in countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Ghana, and the United Kingdom. There are currently two projects in Kenya and Ethiopia I am also supporting.

Besides iRAP projects, I was also involved in the NetSafety project funded by the EU commission. The project focuses on the development of a common methodology for a network-wide road safety assessment initiative. This involves the ranking of the existing road network in categories according to their crash risk potential. I also had the opportunity to work on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), Public service obligation documents, and some road safety inspections and audits.

2. How did you first get involved in road safety and how long have you been working in the road safety and sustainable mobility field? 
During my Master’s study at the University of Maribor, I was offered the opportunity to choose between two study modules during the final year; road safety or mobility. The obvious choice was road safety given that I was fond of road safety-related courses that I took during my previous year’s studies. That was the first time I started gaining hands-on experience in the road safety field. My professor immediately involved me in ongoing road safety projects at the University. After I got my degree in 2019, I was fortunate enough to join the team of road safety experts at the University of Zagreb. I continued my career from there and I was able to work exactly in my field of specialty.

3. Can you tell us a little about your area's road safety and sustainable mobility situation? 
I would say that Croatia is in a special situation given that it has a national Traffic and Transport faculty. This is not the case in many countries where road traffic is usually under the roof of civil engineers. Having a dedicated Faculty allowed for the development of in-house road traffic experts who cover a broad range of traffic and transport challenges.

This, in turn, is reflected in the nation’s steady decline in road traffic accidents and crashes as experts are constantly working to improve the situation. A similar trend can be observed in the sustainable mobility domain where there certainly is a lot of room for improvement. A lot of work is currently being done with cities to realize the importance of SUMPs, Master Plans, and other strategic documents where sustainable mobility solutions are proposed. Some specific examples can be seen in the increase in cycling facilities and infrastructure around cities or subsidies for providers of public transport so that those areas can continue to be operational and so that the demand does not cover service costs.

4. Why do you think it's important to include young people in local and global road safety efforts
Firstly, I think that there are respectively quite a few road safety engineers (or road safety experts) not just on a local scale but also on the global one. By increasing the number of road safety engineers, a ‘’critical mass’’ of experts would develop. This group would advocate for and contribute to the field of road safety, enabling a faster approach to meet Vision Zero or the target of zero road deaths by 2050. The future is in the hands of the youth and young people should join road safety efforts in order to shape the world of today.

5. Why did you join the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety? 
I joined the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety because the Youth Coalition’s goals and objectives really resonated with me and I wanted to join a network of like-minded road safety enthusiasts. Besides that, I think that the Youth Coalition offers great networking and collaboration opportunities, bringing together road safety experts from all over the world.

6. What are your comments on the Youth Coalition? Its activities? Its opportunities?
I am very satisfied with the Youth Coalition’s actions so far, especially with the advocacy work done by Youth Coalition’s members. We also get regular invites for workshops and presentations. We are also asked to directly participate in Youth Coalition’s activities. Another perk of the Youth Coalition is the availability of promotional and awareness-raising materials which I frequently post around the faculty.

7. Any messages for people who have not yet joined the Youth Coalition? 
Join our amazing team of young fellows! Let’s keep #ClaimingOurSpace together, for a better future.