‘Road Safety Management Master’ kicks off with unique seminar in Lebanon
Upon the invitation of Renault Foundation and Saint Joseph University, students, professors, traffic police officials and NGO representatives attended a unique seminar on Road Safety in Beirut on September 13 and 14, 2012. The seminar, held at the university, heralded the commencement of the Renault Foundation-sponsored ‘Road Safety Management Master’ for its inaugural academic year.
Speaking at the two day event, which was designed to give attendees and students an insight into elements of the Masters course, GRSP Vice Chairman and Road Safety Expert Leader at Renault, Jean-Yves le Coz (seen below) said: “Even if road transport doesn’t make the every day headlines, it is still the most risky means of transportation. Safety is an investment, over these two days we will give you a glimpse into what we shall develop over the coming 12 months”.
“The importance of the masters lies not in the information it aims to deliver. No single organization can pretend to represent or monopolize knowledge at this time. What we will endeavour to give you during this course is the know-how and the methodology” he said, ‘’so as to make of you leaders in road safety in your countries and abroad’’.
The first day of the seminar focused on technical issues such as the types and causes of road crashes, road epidemiology and the kinematics of trauma. Day two looked more at the actions in road safety, such as public policies as well as international and non-governmental actions.
Speaking about international and non-governmental actions, it was inevitable for le Coz to mention GRSP. “GRSP is a militant Organization that is truly trying to take part in awakening public awareness of road safety around the world, one of the key requirements in this Decade of Action”. He went on to note the major role GRSP plays in the generation and dissemination of global Good Practice Manuals.
In addition to le Coz, sessions were given by Renault experts such Yves Page, Jacques Faure, Jean Grebert, and others.
The Student View
The first year of the ‘Road Safety Management Master’ will include 14 students from Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine and Algeria. We spoke with some of them so as to better understand their motives behind enrolling in the course and how they benefited from the induction seminar.
As to enrolling: “Developing my competencies in road safety and bringing the international knowledge to Egypt” said Mostapha, a civil engineer from Egypt. “These two days taught me that road safety is not just about engineering, but it is also a comprehensive issue including public health, the safety of the vehicle and rescue operations”.
Amel from Morocco noted: “Road Safety is important for Morocco as well as for the entire MENA region. This course is essential so as to build a regional network to disseminate the good practices. The seminar was quite rich with valuable information and it was a good opportunity for us to meet with these international experts and benefit from their experience”.
For further information on the ‘Road Safety Management Master’ see: www.fondation.renault.com/en/programmes/road-safety-management-master/presentation and www.manser.usj.edu.lb
