From September 6th to 8th 2023, the Politecnico di Milano hosted the 51st edition of the European Transport Conference (ETC 2023), organised with the support of the Department of Mechanical Engineering (DMEC). The conference was opened by two invited lectures given by Ms Mona Bjorklund, the Head of Policy Coordination of the European Commission DG MOVE, and Prof. Rosario Macario, University of Lisbon, on the new mobility concepts after COVID. Prof. Pierluigi Coppola, DMEC, lead of the local organizing committee and Director of the Board of the Association for European Transport (AET), presented the conference programme including more than 200 selected papers to be presented in nine parallel sessions over the three conference days.
The variety of topics and the multi-seminar approach make ETC unique compared to other European transport conferences. The topics cover up-to-date international subject matters, such as policies for energy transition and for contrasting climate change, in addition to the latest innovation in transportation like autonomous vehicles and Urban Air Mobility along with more conventional - but equally important - topics like sustainable urban planning and equity in transport investment.
The conference turned out to be a great networking opportunity, especially for students and scholars of Politecnico di Milano, who had the chance to be attending - for free - scientific seminars and interacting with about 600 delegates from Universities, companies and worldwide institutions, in order to establish new partnerships and discuss future professional and research projects.
In fact, ECT has always been a place where theoretical and applied research meets institutional bodies and companies. This year many exhibitors joined in, such as the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), and the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region (EUSAIR), which set up a stand to present the ongoing Interreg ADRION projects on mobility.
Many were the social events planned, such as the welcome aperitivo organized on the beautiful terrace at the Collina degli Studenti in the Bovisa campus and the social dinner on Thursday.
