YOUNG MOTORCYCLISTS FOR SAFER CITIES

BY Angie Angel

The project, Young Motorcyclists for Safer Cities or YOUMS, aims to understand the perspectives and experiences of young motorcyclists and advocate for cooperative spaces promoting road safety with a focus on youth empowerment and inclusive decision-making.

Through a multi-faceted approach, the project looks to raise awareness among young motorcyclists in Bogotá through participatory workshops and street artistic pedagogy initiatives.

Additionally, the team behind the implementation of YOUMS will collect qualitative data on road safety perceptions and experiences through a virtual survey, ensuring transparency and accessibility of information.

Leveraging this data, the project will organise virtual meetings and advocacy capacity-building sessions with decision-makers to enhance the participation of young motorcyclists in dialogue spaces and promote cooperation for road safety. Furthermore, roundtable discussions will be facilitated between motorcyclist groups and District’s Mobility Secretariat (SDM) officials to include motorcyclists in actions aimed at improving road safety for all road users.

ABOUT THE PROJECT LEAD

Angie is a civil engineer currently pursuing a Master's degree in Transportation. She is driven by her passion for active mobility and transportation as a means of social inclusion, particularly for children and the elderly.

As a project advisor at Despacio, she focused on sustainable mobility projects, including pedestrian mobility promotion, bicycle advocacy, road safety initiatives, and urban development projects such as urban logistics and electro mobility.

Her past contributions include being part of the team for previous editions of Local Actions led by Despacio. “I'm inspired to promote and lead change by the belief that accessible and sustainable transportation is essential for building inclusive and vibrant communities, and to reduce inequalities in our cities.”

ABOUT THE LEAD ORGANISATION

DESPACIO

Despacio is a colombian research center. It's objective is to promote a quality life in the cities during all the stages of the human life cycle, through applied research that challenges intuition. Its philosophy is similar to the Slow movement, which seeks to improve well-being from the most individual and familial aspects (eating, commuting, raising children, organizing the home and work) to the most collective (planning and managing slow, humane, and sustainable cities). Despacio centers its work on three issues: city, life, and climate. The organization pursues these three areas via publications, events, and a laboratory.