Alumni Spotlight: Maria Eugenia Keller, Argentina

Alumni Spotlight

Maria Eugenia Keller co-authors peer-reviewed article on speed management

2018 DRSC alumnus Maria Eugenia Keller has co-authored an article for the Accident Analysis & Prevention journal on shared responsibility for speed management and its role in Safe System thinking.

Other contributing authors include Barry Watson, Sherrie-Anne Kaye, Ioni Lewis and, DRSC course leader, Mark King.

“The most important aspect of (the Delft Road Safety Course) was the people, both alumni network and Professor Fred Wegman. He became my mentor after the course and provided crucial advice when I was applying for PhD opportunities.”

The research draws on semi-structured interviews with over 30 global road safety experts, mainly from Sweden and Australia, in order to better understand how the concept of shared responsibility for speed management can be better operationalised through the Safe System lens. It identifies four key themes:

The meaning of “responsibility”

Behavioural vs. systemic mindset

Stakeholder engagement and buy-in

Adaptive speed management governance

These themes draw out key details of how the concept of shared responsibility is implemented in practice and the associated challenges. Overall, the research points towards “the necessity of broader stakeholder involvement, clearer delineation of roles and responsibilities, and enhanced accountability mechanisms.”

The article forms part of Eugenia’s doctoral research on “Applying systems-thinking to improving speed management” at Queensland University of Technology, which she has been working towards since 2022.

Prior to this, Eugenia worked as a technical advisor for road safety and sustainable mobility at the Pan-American Health Organisation, and as the Director of the National Road Safety Agency of Argentina where, using her experience as a DRSC scholar, she was able to contribute to better-informed policy making by generating insightful and timely policy-oriented evidence through qualitative and quantitative methodologies.

Eugenia also credits DRSC with providing her access to an international network of experts and practitioners, which inspired and encouraged her to pursue her academic studies.

Eugenia is now paying forward this support having been invited as a guest lecturer on the Global Road Safety Leadership Course, Buenos Aires edition, and recently meeting up with fellow DRSC alumni at the Road Safety on Five Continents conference at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.