In February marked the official kick-off of the CONIFER project at the Mobilise group of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). This meeting brought together a dynamic consortium of partners from across Europe: Belgium, Hungary, Poland, Germany, and Portugal. Funded under the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) program of 2023, CONIFER (Co-Imagining Needs-Based Mobility Visions for the Proximity City) aims to reimagine urban mobility through participatory foresight, policy innovation, and creative engagement methods. See the list of all funded projects here: 15-minute City Projects - DUT Partnership.

Why CONIFER?

Cities are evolving towards 15-Minute City (15mC) models, where daily essentials—work, education, healthcare, and leisure—are within easy reach by walking, cycling, or public transport. However, successful mobility transitions require inclusive planning that reflects the needs of all city users, particularly children, young people, and their caregivers, who are often overlooked in urban design. CONIFER seeks to bridge this gap by co-developing youth-driven visions for sustainable mobility, ensuring proximity-based living is accessible, equitable, and aligned with community needs, transferring this as policy recommendations.

Kick-Off at VUB: Collaboration in Action

The CONIFER kick-off meeting at VUB brought together a diverse consortium of research institutions, city authorities, SMEs, and non-profits to set the stage for the project's three-year journey. Partners did:

• Align on methodologies and key research objectives
• Discuss the implementation of six Civic Labs across Belgium, Portugal, Hungary, Germany, and Poland
• Explore participatory foresight approaches such as gamification, design thinking, and digital storytelling
• Define strategies to engage young people and policymakers in urban mobility planning

Meet the Partners

CONIFER unites universities, research organizations, city authorities, and civil society groups working at the intersection of urban mobility, participation, and sustainability.
Core partners include:

• Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) (Project Coordinator), Belgium
• International Federation of Pedestrians (IFP-r), Belgium
• CollectiveUP (CUP), Belgium
• KTI Hungarian Institute for Transport Sciences, Hungary
• Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME), Hungary
• Universidade de Aveiro (UA), Portugal
• Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, and Energy (WI), Germany
• Institute for Art and Innovation, Germany
• Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences (IGSO PAS), Poland
• Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland
• Municipality of Matosinhos, Portugal

 

Cooperation partners include:

• City of Kortrijk, Belgium
• City of Brussels (Service public regional de Bruxelles), Belgium
• Fundacja Pedestrian Space, Poland
• Estrada Viva, Portugal.
• Centre for Budapest Transport, Hungary.
• International Federation of Pedestrians, Switzerland.

 

What's Next?

In the coming months, CONIFER will launch Civic Labs in six European cities, bringing together young people, caregivers, and urban stakeholders to co-create mobility visions for inclusive, sustainable, and walkable urban futures. Stay tuned as we explore innovative ways to empower communities and redefine urban mobility!

IGSO PAS will be participating in the project in support of and participation in diverse tasks as well as specifically leading tasks related to analysis of political discourse on mobility in the 6 cities where project civic labs are based and also providing the development and training of methodology related to photovoice and walkshops for use in the civic labs.

Local Coordinator: Associate Professor Dr. Ewa Korcelli-Olejniczak
Researcher: Associate Professor Dr. Mariusz Kowalski
Researcher: Annika Lundkvist is a PhD student at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization