Call for speakers: 40th International CIECA Congress: “Harmonisation Saves Lives”

cieca logo

Following its highly successful congress on Lifelong Learning in Road Safety in Marseille (2006), CIECA is delighted to announce that its next congress will take place in Zagreb, Croatia on May 29-30 2008, hosted by CIECA’s Croatian member HAK.

In line with the congress theme of “Harmonisation Saves Lives”, there will be an emphasis on exchange of best practice in the fields of road safety education, driver training, testing and ‘novice drivers’ in general.

We are looking for speakers to address specific themes in a series of workshops (in English, French, German and Croatian) during the event. These themes are likely to be:

  1. Youth culture and its implications for driver education and licensing:
    How has youth culture changed in the last decade? Is it different from one country to another? How can youth culture be characterised, and what implications does this have for the driver education & licensing process? This workshop will discuss inter alia the social, environmental and safety-related attitudes of young people today and how the licensing process could develop as a result.
  2. Post-licence ‘2nd phase’ novice driver training
    A number of countries require novice drivers to complete obligatory post-licence training (Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Estonia, Luxembourg…). Other countries have considerable experience in offering voluntary post-licence courses. What are their experiences and how can other countries learn from this?
  3. Applying modern technology in the theory and practical test
    The last few years has seen the introduction of a number of hi-tech devices in the theory and practical test. The theory test has seen the introduction of hazard perception testing and moving virtual imagery. Online ‘e-testing’ is being considered. Driving examiners use digital pens and laptops and the test can be recorded on camera. How can modern technology support the testing process and what is still to come?
  4. Young driver safety campaigns: an international comparison
    Experience shows that information and communication campaigns can be designed and implemented in many different ways. What examples are there of recent road safety campaigns aimed at young drivers around Europe and further afield? And what best practice conditions should such campaigns fulfil?
  5. Road safety education for 12-16 year olds
    Moving beyond CIECA’s core competencies in the field of driver training and testing, what initiatives are there in the area of road safety education for the slightly younger age group of 12-16 years old? How do such initiatives and programmes fit into a long-term road safety education agenda? What can we learn from the EU ROSE_25 project on road safety education for children?
  6. Innovative programmes, methods and tools for driver training & education
    In recent years, Norway has introduced a driver training curriculum based on the GDE matrix, and several countries now have obligatory 2nd phase training for novice drivers. Coaching and self-assessment tools are gradually being introduced in driver education. At the same time, the potential for simulator- and PC-based driver training has grown considerably. This workshop brings together all recent and future innovative means to render driver training more effective.

Please note that each workshop/theme will contain several speakers. Each workshop will last approximately 3 hours and the expected number of participants per workshop will be 50-70 persons.

In addition, we are looking for a keynote speaker to present the current situation regarding “novice drivers and their accident risk in Eastern (or South-Eastern) Europe”.

If you are interested in speaking at this even