This year my dear ragazzi, I will not write words of mine to wish you nice and resting holidays , as I have been  touched by the episode that have shocked the community of a municipality in my country in Sicily, RAVANUSA. A gas explosion has destroyed 7 buildings , forming a giant crater where  9 persons have lost their lives. One of them  was Pietro Carmina, a retired philosophy school teacher much loved by his students.

I’d love to unite to his ragazzi and give a thought to him and to his contribution to the life of many many students , translating the letter he wrote to them when he retired 3 years ago, from Istituto Foscolo in Canicatti’.

Dear friends, in the world , there are so many Professor Carmina, so many dedicating their lives to reach the souls and the real feelings of many ragazzi in the classes, instilling passion, love, real and profound knowledge and experiences. Students who are not numbers , but hearts blossoming to life. I hope you’ll make this letter yours for any moment of despair, lost of sight and fatigue during your beautiful path of life.

Keep your dreams alive and the tiller handle straight, also in these difficult time of Pandemic, stay steadfast on your feet, there will always be someone willing to guide and support you.

Professor Carmina,  grace and grandness to you, you’ll be remembered.

Alessandra Gorini

“To my ragazzi, of yesterday, of today.

I just closed the school register. For the last time. While awaiting for the bell which will free them  and will let them swarm towards the holidays, I find myself looking at all of them, in front of me. And, as in an imaginative kaleidoscope, behind their faces I see others, many, hundreds, all those I have come across in these last 43 years of mines.

Of many I remember everything : even the smiles, the jokes, the gestures of disappointment, the way of justifying themselves, of confiding, of communicating joys and sorrows, of others, many in truth, only the face or the name. Friendly alive  relations persist with some, but the passage of time and distance have weakened or interrupted, alas, those with many others.

I have reached the end of the line and the most excruciating sadness is not so much in being enrolled by right in the club of the elderly, as in separating myself from these guys.

 I believe I have given everything I could to everyone, but I also believe that I have received more, much more. I’d love to embrace you all ; the ones I meet in the street , the ones who are friends on social media, and, through you, reaching all the others, embracing you all, wherever you are.

I’d like you to know that one of my happinesses is feeling remembered; one of my joys is knowing that you are affirmed in life; one of my satisfactions is the conscience and the awareness of having tried to teach you that life is not a « scratch and win »: life needs to be grabbed, biten off, conquered.

I learned something from each of you, and from each of you the joy of living, the vitality, the dynamism, the enthusiasm, the desire to fight. The years of high school, however beautiful, are not always happy or easy, especially when you have had to deal with a professor that some mornings reached sublime levels of surliness and harshness, in short…. he broke big. But he did it on purpose, in an attempt to pave the way, highlighting obstacles and difficulties.

I apologize if sometimes I haven’t listened properly, if I have not been able to establish the right empathy, if I have only judged appearances, if I have disappointed expectations, if I have given more value to results and neglected the path and progress , if, in a word, I have not lived up to your expectations and I have not been able to make you perceive that you have been and are important to me, because you have formed my second family.

One last recommendation, while my bus is stopping:

 use the words I taught you to defend yourself and to defend those who don’t have those words;

do not be spectators but protagonists of the history you live today: slip in , get your hands dirty, bite your life, do not “adapt”, commit yourself, never give up on pursuing your goals, even the most ambitious ones, put on your shoulders those who cannot handle: you are not the future, you are the present.

Please: never be cold-hearted, don’t be afraid to take risks so as not to make mistakes, don’t stay glued to messing around with your iPhone all day long. Read instead, travel, be curious (remember the rabbit in Sofia’s world?) I did, or rather, I tried to do my part, now it’s your turn.

Our paths diverge, but remember that you have been part of my experience, of my history and, therefore, of my life. For this reason, even now that you are grown up, for advice, for a disappointment, or simply for a laugh, a memory or a greeting, I am there and I will be there. You know where to find me.

Here you are. The bus has arrived. I stop here. To you, have a good trip ”.

PROFESSOR PIETRO CARMINA

Ravanusa

I was lucky enough not to be confronted by any terrible, catastrophic event throughout my life unlike the ones my parents and many other people around the world have experienced.

I was also lucky enough not to see any of the Y4PT Youth around the world suffer because of war since the beginning of our organization which was founded 16 years ago.

Unfortunately, I am devastated to say that I am no longer lucky. Four of my dearest Afghan friends, colleagues and volunteers who did so much for the world, are now stuck in Kabul, Afghanistan where the rules now is no rule. 

We have all heard about Afghanistan, Iraq, and many horrible wars and violent actions all over the world; we have all heard the news many times distantly during our lives, sympathizing with the poor populations who were going through hell. We have also, at times, met refugees and have heard stories from families and people close to us. We were moved for a little while, at that little glance of despair but then we all went back to our regular lives.

However, today is the day that you must not abandon their cries for help, because that one friend, that one youth, that one smile, that one collaboration is part of your world. You cannot turn your eyes away and you must not want to turn your eyes away because they need us now more than ever.

Day by day, moment by moment, through time, through the lack of intelligence of our societies, the craziness of our divisions, you are the missing puzzle piece that gives us hope about how much we are all united. Each of us have different life experiences and unfortunately, some of us are not privileged enough to have peaceful life experiences but we must unite in order to make sure they do. With all the atrocities , separations, deaths , scissures and deathly wounds happening as a result of war, we must not stay silent and accept them.

This is why we are calling upon you to pick the side of those who yearn to seek protection and peace. They need us to give them hope with a capital H , the right to live a proper, serene life without war and calamities.

My dear Afghan friends are living a life of hell right now; whilst you, me and many others are laughing, eating , sleeping , loving,  working and moving around without any interference. 

They are fearing for their lives, with no proper income, a safe place to sleep and are terrified of making the wrong move. Their chance for a proper life lies in the hands of any person who is willing to provide them with documentation, visa and a plane ticket to live a safe life abroad. Their only misfortune is being born in a place that will never allow them to lead a normal and safe life full of prosperities and that is just unacceptable.

Will you make the impossible possible? Will you give them life? 

They were all studying to learn more, to have that chance of illuminating other paths, other lives, to help their country, to help  their people and nation grow.

Now,  because of the cruelty of the people who created this war and the deadly games played, they are separated from their spouses and away from each other with a tiny red thread binding them that can break any moment. 

Project yourself in that hell, project your children in that hell; what will you do for your children, what will you do for your parents? You’ll do  EVERYTHING to make the impossible possible

I’m asking you to help us make the impossible possible, through; 

Searching for chances, contacts , possibilities and if not possible help with a donation; so they’ll have to cross that frontier to another country to save their lives. They will then need to wait for days and maybe months for securing a visa which is still dependent on somebody willing to make that effort to bring them out.

I still remember when I met them, their smiles , their respectful and demure attitude, a sign of great humbleness and dignity.  Will we all give them a chance to live? 

So far, we have heard  loads of useless words on social media from politicians in different countries.

So far, bureaucracy and long listing priorities are threatening their lives. 

So far, my Afghan friends are counting on us in this world  of ours, where legality and respect for the weaker are constantly at risk.

Will you make the impossible possible?

This is a heartfelt appeal to all  and each of you to use all your abilities and possibilities and to make that move , jump higher and help them with us.

If you cannot find any chance of contact, please do support their escape , as banks are not open in Kabul and they will need to be accommodated somehow, somewhere maybe for long. 

You can send your support to our Y4PT Bank Account with the mention:

Afghani Support 

Y4PT BNP PARIBAS

BE82 0016 9153 1668

They will thank you from the bottom of their heart

With love,

Alessandra

AFGHANISTAN AND ITS HISTORY

If you want to have a first reading about Afghanistan and its rich variety of population from the Prehistoric Era , you can just start with Wikipedia to become more friendly with this important population and country.

Human habitation in Afghanistan dates back to the Middle Paleolithic Era, and the country’s strategic location along the Silk Road connected it to the cultures of the Middle East and other parts of Asia. The land has historically been home to various peoples and has witnessed numerous military campaigns, including those by Alexander the Great, Mauryas, Muslim Arabs, Mongols, British, Soviets, and in 2001 by the United States with NATO-allied countries. It has been called “unconquerable” and nicknamed the “graveyard of empires“,though it has been occupied during several different periods of its history. The land also served as the source from which the Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, Hephthalites, Samanids, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Khaljis, Mughals, Hotaks, Durranis, and others have risen to form major empires.

Read more on Wikipedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan#Demographics

“Live as if you were the key to solving the transportation issues. Because in a way, we all are.” Lucía Moreno González-Páramo, UK / Spain, Civil and Structural engineer, Team Compal

Another season shifts and settles. Here in Stockholm, the summer sun is drawing what has been sown into full growth and bloom. In the centre of the city, a trolley is pushed from one raised herb garden to another, watering the tidy boxes of aromatic green in the intense light and heat. Between the conference centre and the railway station, groundspeople are carefully tending and replanting perfect flowerbeds. And here, among patches of shade from steady trees, tiny midges are happily feeding on participants of the 3rd Global Y4PT Hackathon as they exercise and meditate in the warm air.

In the framework of the 63rd UITP Global Public Transport Summit Stockholm 2019 – the world’s oldest, largest and top leading sustainable transport event – the winners of local and global Y4PT Hackathons have gathered for the finale of a third year. These young researchers, students and professionals bring together expertise and knowledge from over 40 events worldwide.

In a soft curtained room in Stockholmsmässan, a record-breaking 45 initial ideas were pitched by the young participants. Addressing healthy and sustainable mobility, and universal accessibility through local experience and global scalability, some of these ideas were brand new, while others built directly on previous successes.

“The final in Stockholm is like a dream – to work with people with the same objective. I already feel like a winner because the technology we made is now used by the government of Colombia to save lives and improve mobility.” Walter Gavez, Columbia, Engineer, Team Evital

From these 45 ideas, 12 were voted by the group for development and teams were formed around them.

During the 3 days of the hack, these diverse collaborative teams, with members hailing from over 30 countries, developed each idea into a prototype and pitch, which was tested and refined throughout with international industry mentors.

“I believe that working in interdisciplinary groups, where everyone can share different ideas and visions of things, added to the cultural value of our perspectives allowed us to achieve much more interesting projects.” Alejandro Sanchez Gutirrrez, Mexico, Biomedical Engineer, Team Check

These projects were presented to a panel of international judges representing the 5 Y4PT Ring Cities –  Dubai, Manchester, Menden, Milan and Moscow – UITP and Y4PT.

“I would tell those living in the future to work across geographic, gender and racial barriers to overcome their future challenges. I will tell those living in the world today that our challenges are only surmountable through collaboration and idea sharing.” Disun Vera-Cruz, Nigeria, Remote Operations, Team Clearway

During the opening ceremony of the UITP Global Public Transport Summit Stockholm 2019, the winners of the 3rd Global Y4PT Hackathon Finale were announced and prizes presented:

The winners, and all our hackathon pioneers then joined the congress, welcoming visitors and dignitaries to the room where these ideas were created, and taking to the show floor.  

The theme of the summit is “The Art of Public Transport”, and throughout we experience transport professionals wrestling with what it is to be an artist, what it is to truly create. Aesthetic inspiration quickly travels to the immediacy and power of making things happen. To the awareness of detail, and to lasting human impact.

This is the core of Y4PT Hackathon.

As we return to a breath in the green space, we are as aware of the midges as we are of the trees. I am reminded of a saying I read on a whiteboard at Tower Hill Tube station, London: “If you think you are too small to make a difference, you have never been in the dark with a mosquito”. I look it up – it is an African proverb. Told, but not credited, like so much of our shared knowledge.

Look again at the names and faces here – follow them as they recur. They are creating the future of our mobility, of the ways we navigate our world. Now they are hackers, here to challenge and create. Here to buzz in your ear and make you notice what you previously had not. Tomorrow they will be beside you, and you will follow where they lead. Don’t wait, invite this now.

“Humanity and community will always remain. Working together as one knowing that together you get farther. Don’t forget that you are not the only one.” Alejandra Ortiz Rengel, Ecuador. Designer Team Check

It is not perfection and completion that keeps us going, but other lives and ways of being – and these may not sit comfortably with what we currently choose to recognise as our own. A tiny itch of a bite in the summer sun spurs me to move, and I realise I had sat too long on one position. My body is glad of the change.

Being part of something greater than ourselves is not always easy, smooth or convenient, but it is in these times that we learn truly what our actions are capable of transforming.

– Laura Trevail; Stockholm & Southend On Sea, June 2019

“The world is a small world for passionate people” – Eloi Stree, VR Developer, and Y4PT Hackathon Winner & Mentor

 

 

In a little under a week, Y4PT participants and mentors will be travelling from all over the globe to Stockholm, to take part in the 2019 Y4PT Global Hackathon Finale. Our adventurers will bring and share their winning ideas from the past 2 years, and, in the framework of the UITP Public Transport Summit, create and present new solutions to our planet’s most pressing problems.

 

To those outside the field, transport may seem an unlikely leader and champion in the fight for the future of our world. On our journeys we see huge vehicles, grey roads, and shimmering fumes. We get lost in stations, miss connections, wade through grinding and wasteful delays. When we travel, when we move, all around us are reminders of the dangers we face now and may yet leave as our legacy to those walking the Earth after us.

 

The truth is, though, none of us are really outside this field. Transport is not a sector that can ever hide away. However we choose to use or build it, however we participate, however it carries us; we all have to find a way to get from one place to another. From the moment we wriggle in our parents arms and reach out towards something we want on the other side of the room, we are working out how to get around, and what we can make use of to help us get there! We humans are ambitious beyond the limits of our own bodies; ambitious beyond the limits of our current abilities; ambitious beyond the limits of our resources. This ambition gives us the power to achieve great things for ourselves, for our communities, and for our world. And also the power to deplete, to pollute, to waste, and to destroy. Nowhere is this battle for balance more tangible than in the ways we travel. For the entirety of human existence, transport has been right at the point where idealism and messy reality meet. So this is where we choose to stand, to create, and to make a difference.  

 

“I have learned to never give up, and find [a] solution for every situation I encounter” – Sabin Dimian, Landscape Engineer, Product Designer, Y4PTHackathon Participant and Winner

 

Our Y4PT community – participants, mentors and supporters alike – are determined, proactive and visionary. We know in our hearts, and can conjure in our minds a future where sustainability, humanity, equality and health are fundamental to practical innovation rather than words thrown into a wishing well for funding. We have the guts to be building this world right now, with our own hands. We can see and create the destination. Our challenge is to you; Can you get here? We can help you find the way.

 

 

Every time we plan a journey, we launch ourselves into an uncertain future. We put our hopes, our goals, our safety in the hands of others. And not just those who build the machines and routes to move us, not just those who operate and maintain them, but also those who create the ways we navigate from where we are now to where we want to be. Whether across a town, a continent, a galaxy or an ambition; navigation is key.

 

On arriving at each Hackathon destination, the first thing we experience is the transport within that location. We find ourselves, new and young each time, in an unfamiliar place, with somewhere we need to be. How to we get there? Often the smallest and most immediate steps are the hardest. We know there is a train, but how do we find the platform it is leaving from?

 

“As an avid world traveller, I have faced many challenges when trying to use public transport in non-English-speaking countries like Russia where even signs were in a local language and very few people spoke English.” – Ion Morozan, Software Engineer, Product Designer, Y4PT Hackathon Participant and Winner

 

Replace “English” with Russian, Arabic, Spanish, Hausa, or whatever our mother tongue may be, and we find we are all of us thrown each time into a moment of uncertainty on arrival in any place that does not share a language we are already familiar with. The joy of growing understanding during our stay will come, but first we must overcome the initial confusion. Right at the time when we need to achieve something very practical and specific! And the confusion is not just with words; symbols, patterns, placement and customs taken for granted can be very different. Even a small difference can shake it up – people travelling from one city to another sharing the same language still often find the differences overwhelming.  

 

It is the same in our lives and work, when striving to achieve a powerful fresh goal. It is often the most immediate, tiny, practical steps into the the new that are the most daunting. It is the same pattern of challenge each Y4PT Hackathon team faces, when generating and beginning work on a new idea.

 

“Looking from different perspectives, taking into account the different needs that people have in their lives and countries. And this, I think, is not a matter of country. We’ll be there to share our experience, and to create something that will hopefully be available to a lot of people all over the world.” – Massimo Santi, Mechanical Engineer, Y4PT Hackathon Participant and winner.

 

Many translate that experience directly into solutions. Joint winners of the 2017 Global Finale in Montréal, “UpWay”, took on the challenge of Metro navigation head-on with a combination of Augmented Virtual Reality, and Bluetooth beacons. In Dubai and Moscow, teams “Alwan” and winners “Portunhol” faced this challenge using the universal language of Colour. “Pomoshnik”, also a winner in Moscow, built on “FindMyTaxi”’s Montréal chatbot development to create a conversational solution, as did “BeMyGuide”. And “SellingRed” so improved navigation in the Moscow Metro that as well as taking 2nd place, the team were taken on to work on the official app, and aid international visitors throughout the FIFA World Cup 2019.  

 

Moving outside the stations to the streets, Dubai Winners “Namshi” proposed moving walkways throughout the city to aid navigation and provide ease of healthy mobility at the same time. Many teams, including “Origin”, also Dubai winners, and “EcoTravellers” used navigation to inform and incentivise healthy and sustainable transport choices, rewarding positive choices.

 

 

Also incentivising healthy mobility, and thinking beyond the limitations of any one city, “Walkarama” (Moscow), focused on building a global walking community.

 

Alongside human navigation, projects have also addressed the logistics of locating and moving physical assets in more sustainable ways. Montréal 3rd place winners combined the two with “uDeliver”’s clever combination of wayfinding and crowdsourced courier service, and IMOVE Berlin winners AKM made mutually beneficial use of host Urbi’s location and usage data to enable sustainable transport providers to better manage their assets.   

 

Y4PT Participants have explored solutions to navigation challenges, and also how navigation impacts all other elements of transport. All with the important advantage of working in teams made up of participants from many countries, and with many different skills. Each knowing how to navigate problems and journeys in their own spheres, and open to sharing with and learning from others.

 

“The ability to share knowledge is something astonishing. If we empower this to its best, we could provide a better life to a lot of people all over the world.” – Massimo Santi, Mechanical Engineer, Y4PT Hackathon Participant and winner.  

 

Now, at the Y4PT Global Hackathon Finale, participants will once more walk bravely into the new. A fresh quest, in the City of Stockholm, among industry leaders and great opportunity at the UITP Summit 2019. In the space of just a few days, ideas will be dreamed, developed, presented and finessed.  Old friends will greet each-other, new friendships and collaborations will be made. The magic of ambition meeting great love for our shared world will again mean our ability to travel is carried far beyond the expected, to where we really want to go.

 

 

“I think that this group of people can solve any problems that we are facing.” – Sabin Dimian, Landscape Engineer, Product Designer, Y4PTHackathon Participant and Winner

 

The expertise and fresh viewpoints of our young participants stand ready to join the discourse and exploration developing our transport of the future. They will be grasping the opportunity to learn from, and to inform the transportation decisions of the future that are developed here, and will be presenting their new ideas and projects at the Y4PT Hackathon Fair – described in 2017 as “The most exciting thing in the Congress”. These are the young people who will challenge and inspire. These are the young people who bring the solutions of the future. Join us in room T6, follow us on social media, invite us to visit your stands, sit on your panels and join your debates.

 

 

Whether you are a delegate, an exhibitor, a speaker, a journalist, an investor, or following us from afar, these are the young people who will help you find your way.

 

“How would you like to see the future? Now go for it, and build your own future!” – Johnny Heesterbeek, Engineer and Y4PT Hackathon Participant

 

– Laura Trevail; Southend & Disneyland Paris. May 2019

 

TEAMS REFERENCED:

 

UpWay: “An augmented reality app to help people find their way in, out and around city transport hubs and underground networks” Aleksandrs Konopackis, Eloi Stree, Jonathan Adiaheno, Charles-Henri Van Nuvel, Ignacio O’Mullony

 

Alwan:  “Breaking the language barrier with colour”   André Borges, Jean Marinho, Bisher Zumot

 

Portunhol: “Colour coding hardware and software solution to help the guidance and management of crowds, inexpensively integrating with existing @moscowmetro technologies” Andre Borges, Luis Martins, Fernando Giraldo Montoya, Esteven, Bernardo Tavares, Vreixo Gonzales Caneda

 

Pomoshnik: “Passenger communication platform integrated into existing Moscow Metro application, providing route planning, ticketing, security & live support” Ion Morozan, Sabin Dimian, Riccardo Scarinci, Mariam Khalifeh, Emma Phiri, Stefan Binder, Uli Stroetz

 

FindMyTaxi: “Decreasing wait times for shared taxis in developing countries” Emma Phiri, Keven Villeneuve, Myriam Beauvais, Abhishek Gupta, Poyan Nabati, Sebastien Blais-Fernandez

 

BeMyGuide: “Virtual assistant for easy, clean & sustainable city navigation”  Dafne Medina, Diego Cardenas

 

Selling Red: “Gamification app about #moscowmetro life. RL quests, which can be promoted by local businesses, provide users with points to spend at the inner metro e-shop” Rimikhanov Husein, Vladislav Bakhanov, Nikolai Zhikin, Dmitry Kuznetsov, Stanislav Vorobiev

 

Namshi: “Eco-friendly city moving walkways” | Facundo Di Giacomo, Simon Carpman, Riccardo Scarinci, Mariam Khalifeh

 

Origin: “App rewarding green route choices” | Soorya Kumar, Shaurya Sood, Bilal Shabandri, Kevin Martin

 

EcoTravellers: “AR trip planner rewarding green routes” | Ahmad Mehravaran, Fares Bou Najm, Hadi El Baba, Mostafa El Sayed

 

Walkarama: “Walk the world from your phone” Ignacio O’Mullony, Vreixo Gonzalez

 

uDeliver: “A city logistics crowdsourcing solution connecting commuters to parcel delivery”  Filip Ivic, Tomas Janovsky, Jan Kouba, Tomas Kouba,, Matej Kuraja, Dejan Pavkovic, and Uli Stroetz

 

AKM: “Helping sustainable mobility providers optimise physical resources” Kai-Ting Chan, Abhinav Suman Paul, Matthias Kuhn

“Sustainability is the key. Plan all your actions with this in mind.” – Riccardo Scarinci, Algorithm Designer, Project Manager, Biz Dev. Y4PT Hackathon Participant and winner.

 

 

As we travel together, the sun is beginning to grow warm over part of the world. Spring is rising with the dawn, heating the earth and coaxing the seeds of plants and ideas to crack open and send tendrils of potential out into the unknown.

 

Beneath our feet and in our hearts, this journey is moving from hope to happening in a season of new growth.  

 

And elsewhere on this same planet, at this same time, the year is cooling into autumn. Plants and animals are preparing to survive the winter; gathering resources, sheltering what is important and shedding what is no longer needed.

 

Surrounding us, and in our brains, this journey is moving from hope to happening in a season of harvest, readiness and conservation.

 

Our world is in balance, breathing steadily in and out. From all our different seasons, our different weathers; we global elements of Y4PT travel together. We meet, we exchange, we travel on. We return to meet again.

 

 

Beginning the morning’s work with meditation, we focus on our breathing. In, and out. Steady, balanced. The flow of air and ideas uniting our community in this moment. All our languages, our skills, our unique experiences brought together; breathing in and out.

 

As we breathe the air of the places we meet, we are aware that it gives us life. We are aware that we breathe in the oxygen we need. But what else are we breathing?

 

Perhaps we listen to traffic passing outside. Or perhaps to the movement of trees. Perhaps we hear people laughing. Or perhaps we hear horns and shouting.

 

Someone reaches into their pocket for a tissue and blows their nose. Perhaps the white paper is grey with the dust of the city. Perhaps someone else is using their asthma inhaler more than usual today. Perhaps we are tired. Perhaps there is a little catch in our throats..

 

We know why we are here. Our world is in danger. We have been choking it up for years. Creating processes, vehicles, objects, and whole places that seep, exhale, belch and slough off dangerous waste. Tiny particles shivering off and away, into the air. Into the air, and so into us as we breathe. Every particle containing the potential for sickness and disease. Heart disease, stroke, COPD, respiratory infections and lung cancer – just from breathing. And not just now, as we are learning and aware of the danger, but every day as we go about our lives.

 

 

We have been building ourselves cities – wonderful human gatherings where we can work together, make friends, make families. But for generations, we have built them in ways that stifle us, and even take our lives.

 

“The trend I see is that people are more inclined over short term goals and wins and they don’t foreseen the big picture or the implications of their actions over long term.” – Ion Morozan, Software Engineer, Product Designer, Y4PT Hackathon participant and winner. 

 

We have prioritised expansion, without conserving what we need. We have been living as though it is always spring. But at Y4PT, when we meet, we have travelled from all the seasons, not just one. We are here to create and to inspire a better, healthier way. We do not need to do things the way they always have been done. We are new generations. We choose to work with the balance of nature, rather than attempt to conquer it.

 

“Don’t repeat the mistakes of the past and don’t consider mankind superior to all the rest of the organisms in the world.” – Vreixo González Caneda, Software Developer, Y4PT Hackathon participant and winner.

 

Mistakes of our past and present have polluted not just the cities themselves, but far beyond. In 2012, the WTO reported that one in eight of total global deaths was due to air pollution, making air pollution the world’s largest single environmental health risk. New data in 2018 revealed that one in nine people globally breathe highly polluted air.  As well as particulates, a wide range of gasses in our polluted air including Carbon Monoxide(CO), Chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs), Nitrogen Dioxide(NO2) and Sulfur Dioxide(SO2), are forcing the climate of our entire planet to change.

 

Our air knows no borders. So our ideas too must travel. Just as every particle or molecule of pollution contains the potential for harm, every spark of an idea contains the potential to prevent and reverse this damage. And so we meet, we exchange, we research, and we create the solutions of the future.

 

We know that just pushing the problem elsewhere is not a solution, because we all come from somebody else’s “elsewhere”. Truly global collaboration owns and addresses the whole challenge.

 

“My hope is that the pollution generated by transport and especially private transport might be reduced in the years to come, even removed [and replaced entirely] with sustainable power sources. My fear is that we just move the contamination from place to another, for example from city centres to the surroundings of big batteries manufacturers.” – Vreixo González Caneda, Software Developer, Y4PT Hackathon participant and winner.

 

In 2015, we launched the #BreatheableCities World Campaign; a multi-stakeholder initiative measuring people’s exposure to and inhalation of air pollutants through different modes of transport, in order to estimate impact on human health.

 

 

In the first experiments of this kind ever performed in the country, Bogotá DC (Colombia, South America), was the was the first city to host the Campaign, organising two editions to date. The first measuring black carbon during the course of a day, and the second integrating exposure and inhalation aspects, monitoring a wider range of air pollutants over a 12 day period.

 

The studies concluded that not only did car drivers experience the highest exposure to particulate matter, but that those engaging in healthier mobility modes, such as cycling, while suffering significantly lower exposure (almost half), were vulnerable to increased inhalation of pollutants due to the physical effort that would otherwise provide health benefits. Our polluted air is making even #HealthyMobility significantly less healthy.  There is no option but to clean up, and fast. 

 

 

“I hope and I’m sure that it will be sustainable one day, but my fear is when this will happen.” – Silvio Biasiol, Software Developer, Maker and Y4PT Hackathon Participant.

 

The Youth of Y4PT are not prepared to wait for older generations to come up with the answers. Why wait, when 8.8 million lives a year could be saved? At each Local and Global Hackathon, ideas are pitched that can solve these problems. From the improved air pollution monitoring hardware of Montréal Global Finale 2nd Prize-winners “Air4”, to the integrated rural transport of Menden Local Hackathon winners “Get moving”, Y4PT teams are offering improvement, optimisation and innovation at every step. Skilful teams of young minds develop these ideas, carrying them forward and exposing visiting mentors, judges and supporters to the inescapable truth that things can be done differently, and that the people capable of making these changes are already here. We must welcome and invite them. We must employ them; and not to continue our work as it already stands, but to listen to them, learn from them. They know how to make it work, and they know that it is practical and logical to improve.

 

“Technology moves forward rapidly, and […] current standards tend to leap behind quickly. Therefore nowadays humanity is still actively looking for popular movements which could eventually become the standard. So once humanity can be convinced to adopt a greener or better standard, this might become the next million-dollars platform for the years to come.” – Johnny Heesterbeek, Engineer and Y4PT Hackathon Participant.

 

The world is listening to the youth, and is beginning to change. Even those of us motivated only by the bottom line are aware that these changes must be made.  What is best for us as humans, is best for us as cities, as countries, and as a planet. A healthy way may seem simple and obvious, and ideas promoting it are often selected to win these competitive Hackathons – so why do we keep avoiding it in our everyday lives?

 

“What makes people happy in a city? Clean air, green spaces to meet and play, facilities in proximity of each other. Put these wishes central to your urban developments and mobility decisions. I can guarantee you will face many temptations in your daily work, especially of things that people want (more), but never forget what makes people happy in the end! – Geert de Leeuw, Urban Geographer,  Lecturer in the Built Environment, and Y4PT Hackathon Participant and Mentor

 

 

 

– Laura Trevail; Brussels & Southend. April 2019