Exhibitor
Paco de Anda Orellana
Graduate in Industrial Design from the Universidad Anáhuac México Norte and Master in Marketing and Advertising from the same institution.
Founder of the first civil road safety organisation in the country, Movilidad y Desarrollo México (MDM). He has received and taught road safety courses in several countries in Latin America and Europe. He participated as Road Safety Advisor for the Pan American Health Organisation and the National Council for Accident Prevention of the Ministry of Health. He was Coordinator of the Global Road Safety Programme for the Global Road Safety Partnership (GRSP) in Mexico. He is a certified Road Safety Auditor and is a specialist in the design and management of public policies in road safety with a systemic approach, strategic communication and project management. He is currently a member of MDM, a member of the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, a road safety consultant and a member of the Mobility Council of the city of Playa del Carmen, where he lives.
Osiris Gratacós
Founder of Fundación Educación Vial, co-organiser of the event together with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung e.V., KAS ADELA with strategic allies from civil society, government and the legislature.
Civil society organisation promoting safe urban mobility and responsible and sustainable urbanism.
The Event
It will be held in Panama City from the 23rd to the 26th of November with an agenda of daily visits to each of the stakeholders, up to two per day, plus some specific lunch meetings. This new format has been designed by pandemic regulations.
It takes the objectives of credible target groups and offers them this interaction with presentations, dialogues and debates.
In Panama the status of road safety and mobility is complicated by the fact that there are few professionals related to the subject and that the government appoints to decision-making positions co-partisans of the political party in charge with no knowledge of the subject. It is our commitment to intervene in the issue in the most diverse and effective ways possible, such as in this case the presentation of a road safety specialist and road safety auditor to officials from different state institutions to raise awareness of the issue and ensure that the importance of the subject is identified.
Visit
In the Mayor's Office of Panama, as well as the Department of Planning with Paulina Boza the official and the Coordinator of the Recreovía Lianna Licona and around 30 other officials in the Gladys Vidal Theatre of the Hatillo Building, headquarters of the Mayor's Office. The exhibition addresses the topic of road safety with a systemic approach which prioritises pedestrians in their diversity with respect to the management of mobility in cities and the adequacy of infrastructure that protects them over motor vehicles.
Considering that in Panama approximately 25% of jobs have been lost and income has been reduced in form of salaries, overtime, bonuses, commissions and others, bicycle lanes and cycle routes are now being promoted for urban social cycling, so that people can avoid spending money on fares, parking, fuel and others, which requires the mayor of Panama City to consider it among his plans.
At the Ministry of Education, Enriqueta De Gracia, who coordinated the participation of the exhibitor De Anda for a group of approximately 300 teachers who were taking talks on road safety, in order to introduce the topic of the systemic approach that makes the state and traffic management responsible for the prevention of road accidents, discarding tendencies such as blaming the pedestrian, a vulnerable user, for being responsible because being a victim of a road accident. The need to confront the reality of the environment that students face was discussed, for example, streets without pavements, elevated pedestrian bridges that triple distances and discriminate pedestrians with reduced mobility, or the lack of pedestrian-friendly signage.
In Mi Bus, the state-owned company that coordinates public transport buses in Panama City, with more than one million users who travel daily.
An audience of 241 workers was reached via Live and a team of managers at the headquarters located towards Las Cumbres.
With this training for the drivers of the fleet of more than 2,000 buses, the aim is to renew what has been learned about road safety and mobility and the need to be considerate of users, pedestrians, vulnerable users and people with reduced mobility. The efforts of this company, which has been state-owned for five years, to provide wheelchair facilities, new routes, the capacity to receive information from users and, in the face of the pandemic, biosafety standards on buses and at bus stops, have been recognised.
In the National Assembly of Deputies of the Republic of Panama, Transport Commission.
The Traffic Commission was convened, as well as Assembly officials dealing with the issue in general, for the presentation by specialist De Anda, which included interaction with the MPs and even triggered a debate discussing the possibility of freeing bike lanes or not. The explanation of road safety with a systemic approach presented to the MPs and their teams allows us to raise the issue with the decision makers so that they can apply it to the legislative proposals that are currently being discussed.
In the KAS ADELA Meeting with a representative of the Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects (SPIA) and the University of the Americas to share on road safety with a systemic approach and the need to update practicing professionals and those in training. The initiative to form a committee of road safety auditors and inspectors together with other universities was presented.
In Albrook, as co-hosts we have the Ministry of Public Works (MOP), the Universidad de las Américas, Universidad Tecnológica and the Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua, where they listened to the presentation on road safety in a systemical approach and exchanged opinions, initiatives and others. The issue of forming a Commission for road safety audit and inspection with the participation of universities and state institutions was also discussed.}
In a meeting with the Road Safety and Transport Council (CONTSEVI) based at the Transit and Land Transport Authority. With the Secretary General, Ramón Tapia, inspectors and other officials. A 45-minute virtual talk was given to Council members, around 20 people, on road safety with a systemically approach, and a second one was arranged to be held in January 2021.
We consider that this activity achieves officials, activists, entrepreneurs and others to process the new trends on road safety working under the guidance of the SDGs and other commitments related to road safety and sustainable, safe and inclusive mobility.
