On 26 and 27 November, EPF’s Katie Bulanowski attended the 2025 Polis Conference in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The conference brought together over 1,000 stakeholders from cities, industry, and research to discuss a diverse range of mobility topics including transport poverty, inclusion, and behaviour change.

Katie participated in the session “Paved With Purpose: Streets for All”, where speakers presented tools and projects they are working on to improve public spaces. In her presentation, Katie highlighted two ongoing EU-funded projects where EPF is involved: InclusiveSpaces and UPPER.

The InclusiveSpaces project actively engages policymakers, researchers, service providers, and citizens, especially those in vulnerable situations, to rethink urban environments and to support inclusive, sustainable mobility solutions. Furthermore, the project is developing and demonstrating a set of advanced assistive tools and technologies that foster universal design principles, empower diverse target-groups, and promote climate-friendly practices. During the Polis session, Katie presented the project’s objectives and approach, tools and technologies, as well as some early co-design outcomes. Project findings will be translated into actionable policies, frameworks, and recommendations to support an inclusive and climate-friendly built environment. This work will be led by EPF starting in January 2026.

Katie closed her presentation with the UPPER project, which aims to strengthen the role of public transport as the cornerstone of sustainable and innovative mobility. More specifically, she focused on the Mobility-as-a-Right (MaaR) concept, which recognizes that “accessibility + inclusiveness = freedom”. MaaR is one of the pillars of the UPPER project, aspiring to ensure inclusive mobility and that all citizens are taken into consideration.

Katie’s Polis Conference presentation can be viewed here.

The full conference programme and presentations can be viewed here.