How can we create and maintain a pan-European transport planning profession that best serves the ever-changing needs of society?

That’s what we’ll be asking an eminent line up of transport professionals from across Europe at a Transport Planning Society special session at the European Transport Conference in September 2021.

We are planning an inclusive panel discussion on how transport planning in European countries could be improved through better international collaboration, networking, training and skills development.

The TPS is very pleased to confirm the following panellists at the event:

• Mark Frost- Chair, Transport Planning Society
• Elaine Brick- Regional Director AECOM and Regional Representative, Transport Planning Society Republic of Ireland Branch
• Francis Cirianni- Research fellow at the University of Reggio Calabria and Vice President of the National Agency for Professional Engineers of the CNI (Italian Engineering Council), Italy
• Ines Kawgan-Kagan- Managing Director, AEM (Accessible Equitable Mobility) Institute, Germany
• Patrick Bonnel- Head of Transport Department, ENTPE Graduate, Post-graduate and Research Institute, France
• Elisabete Arsenio- PhD, Leader of the Transport Economics and Policy Group of ECTRI (European Conference of Transport Research Institutes), Portugal
• Tom Rye- Professor of Transport Policy at Molde University College, Norway and member of the European POLIS (cities and regions for transport innovation) Network

The session will be hosted by Stephen Bennett, former Chair of TPS and TPS Transport Planner of the Year 2021.

Don’t miss out on what promises to be a fascinating discussion where you will hear about:

• The success of the UK’s Transport Planning Society in developing the identity of the profession and growing it’sits status through skills development and chartership
• The experience of setting up a professional body for transport planners in Ireland
• Thoughts from our mainland European panellists on the status of transport planning and the opportunities for more professional recognition within the industry in the countries they operate in
• A panel discussion on how we can develop and improve the transport planning profession across Europe
• And the opportunity for you to put questions and comments to the panellists.

Please note that within the context of the European TransportConference, our focus will be on mainland Europe but we recognise that similar issues will be relevant in other countries. We will welcome contributions on the subject from TPS members living elsewhere.

The session will be held on day three of the European Transport Conference, Wednesday 15 September 2021 at 1200-1400 BST (1300-1500 CEST). You can find out more and register for the conference here: European Transport Conference (aetransport.org).