Sustainable transportation for a resilient Europe
Action The Foundation deploys a large palette of complementary activities.
Research
Webinars
Awareness
Social incubator
Networking
Support
Analysis
Tools
EU funded projects
There are some themes of particular interest for the Foundation that will be in priority exploited in its activities: gender issues in public transport; young people co-involvement in mobility and transport policies; mobility in a zero emissions city; energy and climate costs of digitalisation and the role of mobility/transport/connectivity in hindering the shrinkage of cities and regions.
Vision
Over the last decades, our societies went through significant economic, social, political, and environmental challenges that reshaped all the sectors, including urban mobility and public transport, the “circulatory system” of cities. Faced with an ever-increased phenomenon of urbanization and private car ownership culture, the public transport revamped itself at all levels: more extensive and modern fleet, diverse digital tools to make use of the system and integrate the other city services, innovative marketing approaches to increase its attractiveness.
To respond to the social and environmental pressures of our society, and equally to exploit their full potential of contributing to more safe, healthy, and liveable cities, some challenges lay ahead for urban public transport and mobility sectors:
What is the environmental and GHG (greenhouse gases) footprint of their various digitalized tools? How can it be improved? To what extent these energy-intensive sectors can adapt and be resilient to climate change and other potential disruptions in our societies? Is public transport inclusive and safe for all categories of population, irrespective of race, gender, age, physical and intellectual disabilities?
Mercury Foundation was set up to create contexts of reflection, analysis and action on such societal issues and impacts related to urban public transport and mobility, to facilitate the adoption of sustainability principles in these sectors, with a particular focus on climate neutrality and resilience, social inclusion and gender balance issues.
Approach In Roman mythology, Mercury is, among others, the God of good communication, of travellers, and equally of boundaries and luck.
Steer multi-actor processes
Interdisciplinary approach
Participatory methods
These methods encourage dialogue, policy exercises, and mutual learning, enabling professionals, researchers, and nonscientists, such as users, citizens, and other stakeholder to play an active role in the shaping of a more sustainable urban transport that reflects local realities and opportunities.
Team Mercury founding members
Mercury founding members come from countries and cities situated along the Danube, a symbol of fluidity, circulation, nature, openness and conviviality, characteristics that the man-made transport systems should equally aim.
Ralph Gambetta
Ralph has a strong involvement into the transportation and mobility sector. During his career he has built up a large experience in digitalisation and smart ticketing. He is in charge of institutional relations and business development at the Brussels based Calypso Networks Association (CNA) where he is also acting as Secretary General of the association. Further he is Chairman of the UITP IT&I Commission and chairs of the Smart Ticketing Alliance. He is also member of various associations dedicated to sustainable mobility.
Ana-Maria Pălăduș
Ana-Maria Pălăduș comes from Turnu Măgurele, Romania. With a master’s degree in international economics from Institute of Political Sciences in Paris, she has been working in the public transport digitalization processes for more than 15 years, both at international, European and national levels. For over 17 years, she is equally acting as sustainability expert, enabling public institutions, NGOs, and companies to understand the social, economic and environmental challenges of our societies and integrate them in their core businesses.
Danijela Baric
Danijela Barić is a university professor with a background in transport engineering. She specializes in multi-criteria decision-making, focusing on transport safety, human factors, accident prevention, education, and sustainable mobility promotion. With a substantial contribution to numerous research projects, she has authored over 100 scientific and professional papers. She founded and leads a research group at the University of Zagreb, is a member of several international scientific and engineering associations (ERA, UIC, GLCN, TreSP-Network, WCTRS, CNA) and has organized national and international workshops, round tables, and conferences.
