On 15 October 2025, DG MOVE organised a conference in Brussels on “Young people and transport jobs: making transport careers more attractive”. The event brought together young people from across the European Union and representatives from all transport modes to exchange directly about career expectations, barriers, and opportunities.
Mrs Anneke Zwigtman (ThyssenKrupp Veerhaven) participated on behalf of EBU/ESO, the founding organisations of the European IWT Platform, as a representative of the IWT sector. The discussions held during the event,made clear that inland waterway transport remains largely unknown to many young people as a possible career path. As she observed, the perception that “’unfamiliarity breeds contemp” strongly influences choices: young people tend to choose a sector they already know, rather than take a step into something they have never heard of.
Participants also stressed that many young people fear making a choice that will limit their future options. Therefore, it is essential to show that a career on board can lead to a wide range of opportunities afterwards, both within and beyond the sector.
This underlines once again the importance of actively promoting inland waterway transport and raising awareness among young talent.
A final report summarising the outcomes and proposals from the conference will be shared once published, including new ideas to address the challenges identified during the discussions.
