Education, science and practice: international student workshops focus on successful infrastructure solutions to improve VRUs' safety

Civil Engineering degree programs all over the world typically include lectures on road design and road construction as an integral part of training. Given the importance of a safer road infrastructure for all road users, educational institutions such as universities are required to teach road engineering skills to tomorrow’s professionals and to raise their awareness about the issue of road safety. The initiative outlined in this paper is evidence that adding an international student workshop to a curriculum can greatly contribute to motivating students to engage with this topic.
Since 2006, students from four participating universities from Russia, South Africa, Germany and Switzerland have taken part in the annual workshops. For seven days, students work in mixed nationality groups on projects that are always based on real problems or issues chosen by the (rotating) host country.
Our experience has shown that one of the most valuable aspects of the workshops is the students’ exposure to the problems and different solutions reached in various parts of the world. This has led students to question certain assumptions and challenge notions they may perhaps have taken for granted. The great value lies in the exposure to other points of view and in the exciting opportunities for knowledge acquisition that are offered in new and unfamiliar challenges. This article highlights the value of such workshops and, with reference to selected examples from the projects, shows the many topics explored, the results developed and the insights that have emerged.