Summit
The Annual Summit of the International Transport Forum is the world's largest gathering of transport ministers and the premier global transport policy event.
Every May, ministers with responsibility for transport, business leaders, heads of international organisations, parliamentarians and policy makers, representatives of business associations and leading researchers meet for three days in Leipzig, Germany, to discuss the future of transport through the prism of a strategic topic.
Summit participation has grown to over 1400 participants from more than 80 countries, well beyond the 66 member countries of the ITF. It increasingly attracts business participants, with CEOs joining high-level discussions and companies presenting their work in the Summit exhibition or sponsoring the event. The annual meeting of the ITF Corporate Partnership Board is held as part of the Summit.
Summit themes are carefully prepared by the ITF Secretariat with guidance from member countries and in consultation with stakeholders. ITF's research unit supports the Summit with topical analyses and a pre-summit Research Day is organised with leading institutions to provide cutting-edge academic input to the Summit debate. Side events hosted by ITF partner organisations take place in and around the Summit thereby allowing greater opportunities for presentations of recent work and dialogue on key issues complementing the Summit theme.
Ministers have in the past adopted a Ministerial Declaration relating to the Summit theme, as well as presented ITF Transport Awards in three categories: the ITF Transport Achievement Award for excellence in transport provision, the Promising Transport Innovation Award, and the Transport Researcher of the Year Award.
A broad range of discussion formats offer many opportunities to exchange ideas. These range from the official Ministerial Session via panel discussions, workshops and demonstrations to informal presentations in the Summit's Open Stage Café. A large number of networking opportunities also exist.