SUM4ALL

The aim? To expand its influencing role in the transport sector by providing detailed guidance on “HOW to” implement policies included in the Catalogue of Policy Measures (CPM) and test those recommendations through pilot projects.

The SUM4ALL project is being undertaken by POLIS, with support from Heather Allen (an independent consultant on gender and urban transport, with wide experience in this field) as part of our role within the SUM4ALL Gender Working Group which is a consortium of transport stakeholders working towards gender equality in the mobility sector.

Funded by the FIA Foundation - an international charity which supports financing and shaping projects and advocating to secure a change in policy and practice - POLIS will be working closely with the leading transport stakeholders including the Michelin Foundation, ITF and others.

The impetus for the project

As the SUM4ALL Global Roadmap of Action (GRA) identified very clearly, the position of women as passengers, decision-makers and workers in the sector is very far from ideal, and as a result, the impact of the policy measures and frameworks which are being put in place for sustainable mobility solutions is diminished. The SUM4ALL Gender Working Group (GWP) has also noted that this wider shortcoming goes beyond a failure to understand the current needs and views of women in the sector, but also includes a lack of receptiveness to the role that women can play in terms of a green and just recovery post-COVID.

As a result, the GWP has decided that a project which establishes practical resources for use in-country to support women to reverse these trends. Such a project would include evidence on best practices and practical changes in regulations, laws and other structures to support women to:

• take up decent and secure work opportunities that challenge occupational segregation
• identify employer, transport authority and government responsibility to enable women to acquire the skills they need to secure those roles
• Identify scope for action and change locally, nationally and globally
• and to successfully promote the objectives of sustainable mobility

This concept note outlines a project which would be a useful addition to the work of SUM4ALL and could begin to address this issue by considering good practice in a small group of key countries, with a very specific focus on two key areas:

• The production of a practical guide to the essential regulatory and legal changes which need to be made to secure greater female participation in the sector, based on good-practice examples.
• As part of this practical guide, it will also explore the role of existing local, regional and national networks, which are supporting the transport sector in expanding women’s representation and their role in promoting women’s entry and career progression. The guide will provide good examples and advice for collaboration between the transport industry and such networks going forward.

• For further information, please contact Juliette Thijs and Isobel Duxfield or check the project website