A decade of LMIC work learned us that the development of national knowledge centers both at universities and research institutes is to be considered as one of the major issues in the coming years. A sustainable knowledge infrastructure in LMICs is needed to transfer safe system principles to local traffic situations and to serve as a longstanding road safety memory. This view is based on our cooperation with many alumni from the Delft Road Safety Course, on our consultancy in Cambodia as well as on our activities in the PIARC TC 3.1 Working group 3.1.1, see report (2023).
Road safety for all took the initiative to address this problem and to propose an international program to develop solutions: KARSIP. The acronym KARSIP stands for Knowledge And Research for Road Safety in LMICs: an Investment Program. For several years we have been advocating such a program, first in private mailings and later publicly in various prestigious international forums: the PIARC World Road Congress in Prague, 2023 (presentation Godthelp), the 15th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion in Delhi, 2024 (workshop report Wesemann), and the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in Marrakech, 2025. The concept is also described in a paper published in the international journal Traffic Safety Research. The idea was widely supported but it was difficult to engage partners for a start-up team.
In May 2025 RSfA decided to take the lead of organizing the first phase of KARSIP, aiming at developing a number of pilot projects in LMICs. An Executive Committee was installed joining the forces of RSfA (Stipdonk, Godthelp, Wesemann) with dr. Mark King (Queensland University of Technology) and dr. Aliaksei Laureshyn (University of Lund). Thanks to the previous promotional efforts they could bring together a broad group of international experts who support the development of KARSIP. In a general meeting in September 2025, these experts and other KARSIP friends committed to a strategy and approach for the next steps, focusing on the development and funding of pilot projects to demonstrate the benefits of widespread implementation.
Since the Executive Committee has made important progress: installing a website (www.karsip.org ); composing reference groups for training and research organizations; developing a pilot project in Sri Lanka, where the University of Moratuwa will establish a road safety research institute; and assigning a development manager to build partnerships and explore funding possibilities.
The pilot project in Sri Lanka was co-financed by RSfA and took off on 1st of February 2026. The development manager (Lucas Harms) was assigned by RSfA as of 1st of September 2026. A second Friends meeting is envisaged in Fall 2026.
Please visit www.karsip.org for more details and the call to support KARSIP.
