DroneTalks I Focusing on the societal acceptance of drones from all viewpoints with Kai Bauer from EASA

We had the opportunity to talk with Kai Bauer, the Principal Advisor for Sustainable Mobility at EASA, who explained the various sustainability initiatives and research at EASA that are aimed at scaling the drone industry while also prioritising societal acceptance. Kai emphasises that societal acceptance is crucial to the drone industry's new economy, and it's essential to engage with citizens to understand their concerns before wide-scale adoption occurs. EASA's study showed 83% of European Union member state respondents felt positive about drones, but concerns about privacy, sustainability and noise pollution continued to come up. To address these concerns, EASA organises workshops like the one at Amsterdam Drone Week 2023, titled "Societal acceptance revisited: Collaborative actions to address noise, sustainability, and other citizen concerns". Kai concluded our interview with three key takeaways for the drone industry: (1) develop concrete actions to tackle societal acceptance, (2) establish common standards and (3) ensure collaboration is at the core of all drone industry innovation efforts, encompassing all diverse perspectives that range from organisations to citizens. DroneTalks Group is a collection of services and platforms dedicated to uplifting the drone ecosystem. That includes our main educational platform DroneTalks as well as specialised trainings for drone industry professionals, the event Aerial Cities for industry stakeholders (both private and government) and the job portal DroneTalks Jobs for professionals.  For more information on drone-related services, including marketing and PR, please contact us at [email protected]. Our partners at Murzilli Consulting also offer an outsourced strategic regulatory department for drone organisations as well, for more in-depth guidance.