MOVING SAFE TO HASSELT UNIVERSITY

BY LINDA NEKESA MASIBO FROM BELGIUM

#MovingSafe2Hasselt University was an online road safety education and awareness campaign at Hasselt University in Belgium for international students from outside the European Union. The project aimed to increase traffic knowledge, skills, and awareness and to promote positive attitudes towards road safety among 80% of the international students at Hasselt University. The project team was composed of international students coming from Kenya, Tanzania, Cameroon, Albania, Luxembourg, India and Nigeria, all studying Transportation Sciences at Hasselt University.

Its goal was to raise awareness of safe cycling and pedestrian behaviour in Belgium, with 80% of the (at the moment of the project’s implementation, 713) international student population from outside the European Union at Hasselt University by the end of 2022.

ABOUT THE PROJECT LEAD

Linda, from Kenya, is a master's student at Hasselt University in Belgium, studying transportation sciences with a specialisation in road safety in the Global South. She is doing her master's under a full scholarship from VLIR-UOS. She has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and is currently a road safety intern at the World Resources Institute's Africa regional office. She also manages a social network and community of transport professionals called the Transportation Sciences Network, created by the Transportation Research Institute (IMOB) at Hasselt University.

IMPACT SNAPSHOTS

• A storytelling competition was conducted to collect the experiences of students related to mobility in the Hasselt and Diepenbeek area. For this activity, there were 35 submissions received in total. There were 4159 people reached through the storytelling collection campaign through various communication channels.

• The story collection process culminated in a trivia night where a video produced by the campaign was shown. 25 people attending #HasseltRoadLife campaign launch + Trivia Night.

• Increased active interest among students in road safety, transport and mobility and youth engagement.

• A new proposal was accepted for funding by the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety. The new project, Safer Roads Now, builds on the learnings and successes of #MovingSafe2HasseltUniverisity to strengthen youth participation in sustainable mobility in Hasselt and Diepenbeek.

ABOUT THE LEAD ORGANISATION

The Transportation Research Institute (IMOB) of Hasselt University combines research and education activities and works on sustainable solutions for problems within domains of transportation, road safety, behaviour, road design, tourism and autonomy. Researchers and lecturers from IMOB supported the project by offering supervision and technical advice.