The inspiration to establish “Gaučė ir Ko”, a Lithuanian company specializing in urban planning, sustainable mobility, and engineering consulting, in 2017 stemmed from a desire for the luxury and freedom to choose projects that I find meaningful.
“After years in academia, the private, and public sectors, I realized I wanted the autonomy to decide what and with whom I work. This choice revolves around projects that have a tangible impact on people's quality of life. It wasn’t just about working "for myself" but rather about a deeper need to work on specific themes such as sustainable mobility, territorial development, and climate change mitigation – areas that directly improve daily life for people,” Dr Kristina Gaučė, founder of JSC “Gaučė ir Ko”, told The Baltic Times Magazine.
“It remains crucial that our work is not short-lived but creates strategies with long-term value and meaning. This is why the company’s mission goes beyond the technical execution of projects to contribute to changes that make living spaces more comfortable genuinely, enabling people to choose, be healthier, and foster stronger social bonds. The core question in our daily activities is: how will the territories and residents' quality of life improve through the implementation of our ideas?” S.Gaučė adds.
The company provides sustainable mobility planning and management services, conducts related research, and offers conceptual solutions. Is your field niche? What exactly do you do?
Simply put, we aim to help public sectors, organizations, businesses, and ultimately the end beneficiary – society – understand how and why people move and make that movement more sustainable, safe, accessible, convenient, and efficient. This empowers various population groups to have equitable opportunities for everyday travel. This means ensuring that everyone – from a child to a person with a disability or a rural resident – can travel in a way that suits them: sustainably, quickly, safely, and fully integrated into societal life.
How do we achieve this? It usually starts with analyzing the situation and data, identifying problems, and gaining a general understanding of cities' and regions' development dynamics and trends, as well as the factors influencing individual travel choices. From this emerges conceptual solutions that can be developed into long-term strategies for cities or organizations or detailed into specific recommendations for infrastructure solutions.
Is it niche? Perhaps for now. But it’s a vital area. Sustainable mobility is not just about modes of transport or connectivity between points – it’s about people's daily lives, the comfort of cities, and environmental impact. If cities were likened to living organisms, we (Gaučė) are those who help regulate their circulation.
The company’s sales revenue doubled last year compared to 2022. How was 2024 financially for you?
Good. The results are gratifying, but I’d note that this wasn’t a "sudden leap" but rather the fruit of consistent effort over the years. In the early years, we invested a lot – not only financially but also in time and energy – to build a reputation that reflects us and allows us to choose the projects most important to us. It’s rewarding to see this paying off. I must highlight that our achievements result from passion and belief in our mission.
Which projects are you especially proud of? Why?
We are proud of projects that were large, ambitious, and most closely reflected our core competencies. For example, the Vilnius Sustainable Mobility Plan, guidelines for developing sustainable city mobility, and the transport concept for the Lithuanian General Territorial Plan until 2050. These are essentially long-term roadmaps for urban and regional transformations.
However, I am particularly drawn to projects where I can witness the real impact on people's lives. For instance, during the implementation of Ankara's sustainable mobility plan, I saw children and adults learn to ride bicycles as part of the project. In Vilnius' Old Town and residential quarter humanization projects, we experienced cities through the eyes of people with disabilities and the elderly. Addressing their needs in our projects was an invaluable experience. It’s more than infrastructure or data-driven solutions; it’s about tangible change in people’s daily lives and the courage to propose or initiate something new. It’s inspiring.
Does Lithuania’s business environment and the state’s attitude toward your business sector meet your expectations? What should the new government focus on?
There is still a lack of genuine understanding among all stakeholders that this is not just about environmental protection or transport infrastructure – it’s about people and ensuring their rights as full-fledged citizens to access services and choices in a healthy, high-quality environment. This should be a fundamental right, not a luxury.
The state’s understanding is relatively fragmented and polarized. A holistic perspective and a clear vision of what kind of cities, regions, and populations we want to see in 40–50 years are missing. Do we truly grasp urbanization and economic trends? What habits do we want to shape in residents? Are our strategies mere declarations for the near future, or do we genuinely want to influence development directions, taking into account experts’ and scientists’ insights but, most importantly, people’s needs now and in the future?
Having mobile, quality-living citizens should concern all sectors (not just environmental or transport), as this impacts not only economic growth and social cohesion but also fosters trust that the state can make human-centric decisions.
Sustainable mobility, sustainability, and environmental protection are important to you. How are these integrated into your daily decisions?
Fully. Even with gift exchanges, paper bags, and ribbons are reused for years – sometimes outlasting our projects. But seriously, sustainability is not just a declared value for us; it’s an integral part of everyday life. Our team lives by what we believe in. None of our colleagues chooses polluting transport. We commute by public transport, bicycles, or on foot, and for longer trips, we opt for electric vehicles or shared transportation. This is not due to strict company policy but personal convictions that change starts with ourselves.
Which international projects have you participated in?
Over the seven years of our company’s existence, we have worked with numerous foreign partners on projects funded by various European and international funds like Interreg, EUKI, Horizon 2020, CIVITAS, GIZ, UNDP, EIB, and EUD. The main goal in all these cases was to promote sustainable mobility solutions and changes in population mobility.
These projects can be categorized into four types:
Research and experimental development, innovation (analyzing data from various countries to create activity models and prototypes).
Policy formation (developing EU, national, or local-level guidelines and recommendations for implementing sustainable mobility initiatives).
Technical assistance (preparing actionable plans for cities, organizations, and hubs to achieve sustainable mobility goals).
Capacity-building projects (training, workshops, experience-sharing sessions, and study visits).
This experience, spanning scientific experiments to mobility policy formation, enables us to professionally apply international expertise in specific cities or areas.
Your team consists entirely of women! Why?
Yes, only women, and it’s fantastic. Women are empathetic and caring, which aligns with our projects, focused on care for cities, the environment, health, and quality of life. This team composition happened organically. In building the team, I didn’t intentionally avoid male colleagues; the key expectation for current and future team members is shared professional and personal ethics. Reputation and recognition in our professional field are very important to us. I’ve been fortunate to assemble a team where everyone shares the same values. It just so happened that the team consists only of women—young but highly experienced professionals in their field.
What growth and development opportunities do you see?
We aim to become a leading company in the field of sustainable mobility in the Baltic region. Our growth goal focuses on qualitative expansion rather than quantitative. We see growth primarily through strategic partnerships and participation in highly ambitious projects. Mobility management, planning, strategies, and policy formation are becoming increasingly relevant due to climate change and urban congestion. We have much to offer in this area and are already recognized internationally.
What do you expect from 2025?
In business, ambitious projects and reliable partners. But fundamentally – peace in the world.
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