Message from the WCTRS President – Professor Rosário Macário

Dear colleagues and friends,

Our Society has completed 50 years. An outstanding achievement in bringing together diverse cultures and approaches to research, covering five continents, and accompanying the evolution of societies all over the world.

What a valuable patrimony we have!  

And how much we have to thank all past presidents, from the founders to the current president, and the successive steering committees’ members, for their invaluable volunteer dedication to the development of our WCTR society, that made us reach where we are today.

Since 1998, I have served the WCTRS in various capacities, and today I feel deeply honoured to assume the seat of President.

WCTRS is a unique, valuable and respected organisation within the transport research community. After 50 years of successful evolution, the roots are mature and should be preserved.

In these last 50 years, the world has changed considerably, and transport research has addressed new problems, new targets, and new challenges; as researchers, we must accompany that evolution and contribute to improving our communities into a better world. 

In doing so, WCTRS must face evolving critical issues in transportation by encouraging innovative transport research in all fronts of our long-adopted multi-disciplinary, multi-sector and multi-region approach.

WCTRS must also keep, evolve and form active partnerships with relevant international organisations to promote research and development in the least favoured countries and regions. Being named “World” gives us equity obligations to the research communities. This is a mission we must embrace in the coming years.

Maintaining a dynamic society between conferences is fundamental to creating opportunities for collaboration among academia, industry and decision-makers. This is a virtuous triangle that we need to stimulate.

There is plenty of evidence that climate change is a primary challenge and an insurmountable driver for action all over the world (even if some denials exist), new technologies arrive, and data science and artificial intelligence are leading change in many sectors, while regulation and governance are yet to find their most efficient role in this fast-changing world.

All of these are critical factors in research on transport systems, which increasingly emphasise the field’s systemic and multidisciplinary character. New avenues must be explored, and transdisciplinary research is fundamental to guiding future problem-oriented research that benefits from interaction among teams with different and complementary scientific backgrounds.

As an example of this emerging trend, see the high number of Synergy grants (66) awarded by the ERC (European Research Council) in its last call, as well as many other opportunities launched by multilateral organisations on all continents.  The currently established research and educational culture is insufficient to face current and future challenges. Transdisciplinarity is the most profound change that will impact WCTRS and the broader research world in the coming years. Motivating researchers and organisations to engage in transdisciplinary work is, in itself, a challenge.

As we celebrate 50 years, we must reflect on our values and roots when establishing our strategic vision for the future.  WCTRS must be a reference near decision-makers, industry, research centres and academia. To achieve it, we must address change while drawing on our ethics and maturity, and reach these entities with our outputs and our capacity to envisage the future.

WCTRS evolved over the years, anchored in solid rules and principles that provided a very democratic and respectful way to adjust the Society every 3 years. This kept us united in a culture of mutual respect and trust, central pillars of the WCTR Society that should be well-kept.

I had the privilege and honour of serving the Society, interacting directly with many of those who have led its construction. This is insightful knowledge that supports my ambition to achieve the following strategic objectives in the future:

• Emphasise outreach with decision circles, industry, international organisations, educational and research entities;
• Promote opportunities for innovation in research with a sound scientific basis.
• Renovation of the Society with emerging generations. There is a clear interest among young researchers in WCTRS.
• Intensify our outreach actions in both the developed and developing countries.
• Exploring practical ways of increasing membership from non-represented countries.

Looking forward for an effective contribution of WCTRS to a better world.

Prof. Dra M. Rosário M. R. Macário (PhD, DSc)
WCTRS President