Professor of Mobility Cathy Macharis holds ULB Francqui Chair 2021-2022

Every year the Francqui Foundation awards 'Francqui Chairs' whereby a university professor teaches at another Belgian university. This year, the Franqui Chair 2021-2022 of the Université libre de Bruxelles was awarded to VUB professor Cathy Macharis. She will give a series of lectures on 12 March, 23 March, 19 April and 28 April. The inaugural lecture on 12 March is titled: "Sustainable mobility and logistics: with a factor of 8 to a new mobility system".

Cathy Macharis is Professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Her researchgroup MOBI – (Mobility, Logistics and Automotive Technology) is aninterdisciplinary group focusing on sustainable logistics, electric andautonomous vehicles and urban mobility. Her research focuses on how toinclude stakeholders within decision and evaluation processes in the fieldof transport and mobility. She has been involved in several regional,national and European research projects dealing with topics such as theimplementation of innovative concepts for city distribution, assessment ofpolicy measures in the field of logistics and sustainable mobility,development of a multi actor multi criteria analysis framework, etc. Shepublished several books and wrote more than 100 papers. She is thechairwoman of Brussels Mobility Commission and vice-chair of Nectar(Network on European Communications and Transport ActivitiesResearch).

Inaugural lecture on Saturday 12 March

The transport sector is responsible for a quarter of CO2 emissions. And their share is still increasing. In this inaugural speech, Cathy Macharis explains how we can reduce emissions by a factor of 8:"We can achieve this goal by starting a transition process based on 8Rs: Avoid, Avoid, Change, but also by Accelerating, Connecting, Changing and Falling in Love."

Practical:

ULB Solbosch, 87 Avenue Adolphe Buyl - Building K - Auditorium Lafontaine, 12 March 2022

  • 11u00 : Introduction Charline Urbain, vicerector ULB
  • 11u15: Lecture Francqui Chair - Cathy Macharis
  • 12u30: Reception