August 1, 2008 - Knowledge-sharing is one of the World Bank’s most important assets. Through capacity-building activities such as seminars and workshops, the Bank communicates its experiences and findings from their various initiatives with members of government, academia, industry, and the general public throughout the world. One such capacity-building activity took place this summer in Beijing, China. The World Bank’s East Asia Region and the Youth Innovation Fund partnered with Tsinghua University to deliver an Urban Transport Youth Workshop on June 13-15, 2008. The main focus of this Workshop was to target the urban Chinese youth to generate awareness about the World Bank’s role in urban transport in China, and provide education on the role of data collection practices and public participation activities in urban transport interventions. Improving Mobility Data collection and public participation processes are two main factors associated with improvements in mobility. Appropriate data inventory allows for a better assessment of the present mobility scenario, an easier identification of particular issues, and the development of proper baseline indicators.  | 
| Presentations and discussion sessions on urban mobility fostered student understanding.Â
(photo by Mariana Torres) |
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Public participation exercises provide an important source for data collection. In addition, Chinese and international experience repeatedly shows that properly structured public participation processes support development and implementation of projects with widespread social benefits and help to minimize adverse effects. Given that the young people represent an important segment of citizens affected by mobility issues, targeted public participation initiatives to this group is an important component of the data collection and participatory processes: it fosters increased awareness of young citizens in mobility issues present in their communities, and promotes their involvement in becoming part of the solution to mobility problems. This activity was intended as a complement to the strong public participation and data collection component included in the China–GEF World Bank Urban Transport Partnership Program (CUTPP). This project, approved by the World Bank Board in FY08, was designed to shift China’s urban transport policies and investments toward the promotion of public, non-motorized transport. The Urban Transport Youth Workshop had the following objectives: Educate Chinese youth on basic mobility issues, data collection techniques, and public participation processes; Generate awareness on the importance of safe, affordable, and reliable public transport, and the involvement of public participation processes in urban transport infrastructure and improvement projects; and Conduct public participation activities targeted towards young people in order to collect data on youth perceptions of mobility issues in their cities.
The Workshop brought together 27 students, college students from undergraduate to PhD candidates, representing 18 of the country’s best known transportation planning and engineering programs and thirteen Chinese cities. Students were selected on a competitive basis from a pool of 42 applicants from all major universities affiliated with the China Academy of Transportation Sciences. | 
| Senior Urban Transport Specialist Sam Zimmerman presents urban transport alternatives.
(photo by Mariana Torres) |
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This three-day workshop, consisting of lectures and presentations, was held at the Department of Civil Engineering at Tsinghua University. Educators included members of the World Bank staff, such as Senior Urban Transport Specialist Sam Zimmerman, Senior Transport Specialist Shomik Mehndiratta, and Transport Analyst Mariana Torres, as well as social scientist Li Xiaoyun, and Tsinghua Professors Yang Xinmiao and Shi Jing. The Urban Transport Workshop was a prelude to a follow-up activity involving data collection on public transport demand, supply, and performance analysis for services operating in the cities where the students are currently studying. This activity was envisioned as a hands-on individual project providing students with the opportunity to put the material learned in the Workshop into practice, and generating awareness of the state of their cities’ public transport systems. Workshop Evaluation | 
| A student ask questions and participate in discussions during the workshop.
(photo by Mariana Torres) |
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The Workshop was regarded by students as very successful. All categories for which it was evaluated were rated by students as average or above average. As comments for improvement of the Workshop, students suggested that the duration of the Workshop be increased and more time allocated for questions and answers. In general, they found the case study to be a very useful exercise and the final seminar insightful.  The World Bank sees the value in promoting capacity-building activities which support project objectives, as in the CUTPP. Based on the success of this and similar experiences, the East Asia transport team will continue to identify opportunities to engage stakeholders of Client countries in discussions on the provision of clean, safe, and affordable public transport.Â
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