On January 26th, ISET hosted a discussion on urban mobility in Tbilisi. The event was co-organized with Iare Pekhit, a non-profit organization that lobbies, advocates, and organizes for the rights of pedestrians. Iare Pekhit is creating space for discussion between urban activists, lawyers, and decision-makers on our city's pedestrian issues to drive the change desperately needed.

The meeting was part of a string of lectures, debates, and video screenings which aims to unite society’s collective intelligence to see what we as community can do to reclaim our urban spaces, and what city hall needs to offer us, Tbilisi's inhabitants. The guest speaker was Mr. Uli Kindermann, a former integrated expert who had supported the Climate Change Office at the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia.

In cooperation with German development cooperation, Mr. Kindermann has been involved in the drafting of a national program on sustainable urban transport as a potential activity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Georgia. He has also been involved in the drafting of a concept to map, mark and improve cycling routes by collecting and analyzing the knowledge of experienced cyclist in Tbilisi. He believes that the promotion of sustainable urban mobility, including of walking and cycling, should also be a priority from national perspective, and has a high chance to attract international support.

Before the discussion, Mr. Kindermann briefly introduced the "Map-mark-improve" concept for cycling routes in Tbilisi and the rationale why the promotion of sustainable urban mobility in Georgia could be of national and even international interest, and why reforms in Tbilisi would have critical importance in any national program on urban mobility.

Discussion was facilitated by Ms. Inge Snip – community manager of the Iare Pekhit. ISET students, journalists and other NGO’s working in the field participated actively in the discussion and shared their ideas, experiences and visions on how to build our future city.