Teams of students from GUMed, PG and UG will prepare proposals for solutions and concepts for the functioning of future stops of the PKM South. The works are being developed as part of the second edition of the Railway to the South competition, organised jointly by the Fahrenheit Universities (FarU) and the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway (PKM).

The inauguration of the second stage and the first workshop took place on Friday, September 21 at the Medical University of Gdańsk. The ceremony was hosted by one of the participants in the competition, Michalina Gryzio, a student at GUMed. 

- 'It can be said that now all the counters are zeroed because each of the eight teams from the final of the first stage will be joined by five participants from three universities,' - explained dr inż. arch. Magdalena Podwojewska, deputy dean of the Faculty of Architecture at PG - 'now we are just going to negotiate to what extent the visions can be implemented, which elements are the most important, and which ones the students may not have thought of yet.'

The participants' task will be to develop detailed concepts for innovative environmental, social and economic solutions for the eight projects selected in the first stage. All teams must have a representative from each of the universities that make up the FarU - the Medical University of Gdańsk, the Gdańsk University of Technology and the University of Gdańsk. The winning teams will receive financial prizes worth a total of PLN 20,000 from PKM SA.

- 'I'm glad that public transport is not "passe",' - said Grzegorz Mocarski, President of PKM SA. 'We've travelled to ministries, we've been to several government institutions, and everyone likes the project. They tell us: you're thinking European, where do such ideas come from? There are no such ideas in Poland. And we draw from the best.'

One of the objectives of the Railway to the South competition is to strengthen the attractiveness of passenger rail for users. The PKM South investment will not only improve communication with the southern districts of Gdańsk but will also better connect the regional railway network with the capital of the Pomeranian voivodeship, as Leszek Bonna, deputy Marshall of the Pomeranian voivodeship, mentioned during the inauguration.

The ceremony was also attended by the Vice-Rectors for Student Affairs - prof. Tomasz Smiatacz (GUMed) and prof. Barbara Wikieł (PG), prof. Sylwia Mrozowska, Vice-Rector for Cooperation and Development (UG), prof. Adriana Zaleska-Medynska, Director of the FarU, and prof. Lidia Wolska, Head of the Faculty of Environmental Health Studies (GUMed).

Later in the meeting, students from the Medical University of Gdańsk presented challenges and problems related to the design of public space. Aspects of environmental health, health psychology or accessibility were discussed, affecting both the environment and the quality of life of residents who use public space daily.

Presentations were given by Agata Karczewska and Daria Szczygielska, 'Environmental health in the design of public space - factors determining health'; Oliver Hirsz and Krzysztof Kovaćs, 'New ways of shaping urban space - the idea of Green - Blue City'; Wiktoria Kucharek, 'Environmental health in the design of public space - the influence of vegetation on health and well-being'; and Aniela Brzezińska, Michalina Gryzio, Urszula Ostrowska and Justyna Święcicka, 'Health psychology in the design of public space'.

Immediately after the official inauguration, the first workshops began, organised by dr inż. Maciej Tankiewicz from the Department of Environmental Toxicology at GUMed, the competition coordinator on behalf of the University. During the workshop, participants had already been assembled into interdisciplinary teams and were working on usable solutions for the stops. According to the schedule, the activities of the second stage of the Railway to the South competition are scheduled until the end of January 2023, and the winners of this edition will be announced at the beginning of February next year.

PKM SOUTH - about the project:

This is a joint initiative of the Pomeranian Voivodeship Self-Government and the municipalities associated with the Gdańsk-Gdynia-Sopot Metropolitan Area. The project, prepared by the self-governing company PKM SA, foresees the construction of a new railway line from the Gdańsk Śródmieście SKM stop to the planned Kowale junction, providing for the possibility of its subsequent connection with both the existing railway line no. 248 (PKM) and the currently closed line 229 (Pruszcz Gdański - Stara Piła), which requires modernisation. At present, a Technical-Economic-Environmental Study of the PKM South is being prepared, which at the end of 2023 will not only determine the recommended route of the PKM South but, above all, will be the basis for making financial and material decisions regarding the future implementation of the project and the optimal phasing of the entire investment.

For more information, visit the PKM South project's dedicated website.