SMEP! – Shared Mobility Equity Principles

From challenge…

Did you know that women have less access to shared mobility than men? Although research on the link between gender and mobility is still young, a growing number of studies show that women use micro mobility less (e-steps, shared bikes) often than men, feel more unsafe on public transport and are underrepresented in the mobility sector. Next to transport poverty, safety risks and emissions, gender inequality is one of the major challenges for our mobility system.

Mpact aims to engage young people in the transition towards more sustainable and shared mobility. After a successful student challenge in 2021 in which we challenged youngsters to make their campuses more accessible, we will, during the academic year 2023-2024 and on behalf of the Federal Public Service Mobility, look for solutions to reduce gender inequality in public transport and shared mobility.

…to solution!

With SMEP! – Shared Mobility Equity Principles, we want to challenge students from Belgian universities and colleges to formulate policy proposals that can make women’s use of public transport and shared mobility more inclusive and equitable. As part of this project, students can:

• Identify issues of gender inequality in shared mobility through a survey and identify what barriers they themselves experience when using shared mobility modes or public transport;
• Participate in interactive guest lectures in which Isobel Duxfield will elaborate on the link between gender and mobility and look for solutions to reduce the gender gap;
• Team-up with fellow students and participate in a hackathon in which they develop a concrete policy package that can help reduce the gender gap in public transport and in shared mobility. They will present their vision at one of the biggest and most interactive conferences around shared mobility – Shared Mobility Rocks (in Brussels). There, they will be judged by national and international experts and have a chance to win a prize. 

During and after this program, we communicate the problems our students identify and the solutions they propose to the political level via a blog post, a webinar (Mpact session) and via the Mpact newsletters. By doing so, we let our students’ voices influence policy!

Interested in contributing to the survey or joining the hackathon as a student?

Ready to make a difference? Are you living in Belgium and between 18-34 years old? Participate in our survey and be part of the solution!

As you can see, we have made a distinction between the actual survey and the survey for getting your contact details. We do so because we ask some sensitive questions in the survey and want to guard the anonymity of the respondents. Please fill in both of the surveys below, it only takes 15 minutes.

Click here to participate in the survey 

Click here to provide us with your contact information and receive more information about the Hackathon. By signing up, you have a chance to win a movie ticket!

See you soon!

Esen (NL/EN) – hackathon, guest lectures: Esen.Kose@mpact.be 

Zara (FR/EN) – hackathon, guest lectures: Zara.hublet@mpact.be

Jelten (NL/EN/FR) – literature study: Jelten.Baguet@mpact.be