Our Communication Manager and PhD Candidate in Infrastructures and Transport at Sapienza University of Rome, Manuel Merolla, has won the Young Researcher Award at the 8th Conference on Sustainable Mobility (CSuM 2026), held on the island of Skyros, Greece (1-3 July 2026), under the theme “Green and Digital Transition”. The conference was organised by the University of Thessaly’s Department of Civil Engineering, Traffic, Transportation and Logistics Laboratory (TTLog), in collaboration with the University of Kentucky and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (USA), bringing together researchers and professionals to discuss the latest advances in sustainable mobility.
The award recognised Manuel’s paper “Bike as Best Friend: A Multimodal Crowdsourced Framework for Anticipating Cycling Conditions in the Greater Copenhagen Area“. Developed under the supervision of Prof. Luca Persia, and building on work carried out during Manuel’s research visit to the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in 2025 under the external supervision of Prof. Filipe Rodrigues, the research proposes a novel framework that combines crowdsourced reports, artificial intelligence, and official mobility indicators to anticipate cycling conditions. By integrating citizens’ perceptions with objective data, the framework supports evidence-based decisions by local authorities and helps make cycling systems safer, more resilient, and more sustainable.
Beyond the award, our team actively participated in the scientific programme of CSuM 2026, taking part in the Sustainable Urban & Participatory Planning Summer School, organised by Prof. Eftihia Nathanail and Prof. Nikolaos Gavanas from the University of Thessaly.
This recognition represents an important milestone for our research group and reaffirms our commitment to advancing high-quality research, fostering international collaboration, and developing innovative solutions for the future of sustainable transport.
