It is being organised by the Department of Geography and Regional Planning, University of Cape Coast (UCC) in collaboration with the International Network for Transport and Accessibility in Low Communities (INTALInC).

The workshop on the theme, “Transportation and Mobilities: Meeting the needs of vulnerable population in developing countries”, is being attended by experts from the academia, industry, Departments of Gender and Social Protection and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

It forms part of series of INTALInC’s interdisciplinary focus and country-based workshops using case studies from cities in Bangladesh, Ghana, India, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa and Uganda to investigate the specific mobility concerns and accessibility needs of children and young people in the aforementioned countries.

It seeks to build lasting research partnerships to develop research to promote urban transport systems that could meet the travel needs of low income populations in cities of developing countries.

Topics to be deliberated on include Children’s and young people’s mobilities in the Ghanaian context, Walkability of routes to school, methods of researching young vulnerable population in Ghana and a stakeholder discussions on mobility and young vulnerable populations.

A professor of Transport and Social Analysis at the Institute of Transport Studies, University of Leads, Professor Karen Lucas, noted that social consequences of inadequate transport systems in developing cities have been largely ignored by policy makers.

According to her, people should be able to travel affordably without fear for their lives whether on foot, by bicycle or by public transport. Prof Lucas said the Network sought to discuss and expose the important links between people’s ability to move and their opportunity to participate in life-chance opportunities such as employment, education, healthcare and welfare services.   “We want the network to draw together a wide range of expertise and experiences from within and outside the transport sector, especially in related fields such as housing, health, education and social welfare,” she added.

Professor Albert Abane, Lead Project Officer, Ghana said outputs from the workshop would be communicated to local and national decision makers to inform policy documentation to combat the challenges faced by the youth and vulnerable people in the transport systems in developing cities.

He said the population of the vulnerable in the society was increasing and therefore governments have to include them in every facet of national planning. The workshop will be replicated in Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Uganda from August 2017 to June 2018 when the project ends.