Gianluca Borghi, Parma Deputy Mayor for Environmental Sustainability, Energy and Mobility, presented a Letter of Commitment to implement the European Declaration on Cycling to the European Commission during the closing plenary of the CIVITAS Forum on 3 October 2024. The document outlines Parma's plans to set the wheels in motion for other cities to follow suit in implementing the European Declaration on Cycling.

“As cities across Europe work to achieve climate neutrality and improve quality of life, it is imperative that cycling remains a priority in EU sustainable mobility strategies. The CIVITAS Initiative has a vital role in ensuring that cities are equipped with the resources, knowledge, and network to implement the European Declaration on Cycling successfully. I call on the CIVITAS Initiative to keep promoting the principles of the declaration and to continue supporting cities in creating safe, connected, and inclusive cycling networks, enabling the full potential of cycling to be realized for healthier and more vibrant communities.” says Gianluca Borghi, Parma Deputy Mayor for Environmental Sustainability, Energy and Mobility.

The Parma Letter of Commitment reflects key messages from the CIVITAS Politicians Exchange Forum (PEF) held on 1 October ahead of the CIVITAS Forum. Over 15 elected representatives from European cities met with Eddy Liégeois, Acting Director for Investment, Innovative & Sustainable Transport at DG MOVE, and cycling sector representatives. They discussed challenges and solutions for implementing the European Declaration on Cycling, highlighting the need for political leadership, strategic planning, investment in cycling infrastructure, education, and partnerships. The session also stressed multimodal integration and e-bike adoption to enhance accessibility and reduce car dependency.

“The City of Parma has made great efforts, together with CIVITAS, to showcase the best practices in sustainable urban mobility and innovation. We appreciate their commitment to take concrete actions in implementing the European Declaration on Cycling” highlights Eddy Liégeois, Acting Director for Investment, Innovative & Sustainable Transport, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport, European Commission.

"Designing urban spaces that prioritise people and integrate innovative mobility solutions are crucial for a just transition. When executed thoughtfully, these efforts will lead to happier, healthier, and more resilient communities”.

These were just some of the reflections of Thomas Haddock, Coordinator of NetZeroCities, while cycling over 300km to Parma for  the CIVITAS Forum last week! Upon his arrival Thomas and Andreas Piller, CIVITAS coordinator, signed an MoU, which outlines how the CIVITAS Initiative and NetZeroCities will work together to strengthen support for cities to develop sustainable mobilitysystems as a cornerstone of their transition to climate neutrality.

"Together we’re putting the wheels of climate neutrality in motion” emphasises Andreas, highlighting the essential role that active mobility plays in achieving climate neutrality.

The CIVITAS Forum, which took place between 1-3 October, is the flagship conference of the CIVITAS Initiative. EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK was also represented at the event in the exhibition area by Coordinator Juan Caballero. There he joined forces with 400+ sustainable mobility policymakers, practitioners, planners, academics and more to share knowledge and collaborate towards three key streams:

• Climate-neutral and resilient mobility
• Smart, connected and efficient mobility
• Inclusive and safe mobility for all

Day 1 began with politicians from all over Europe coming together for the CIVITAS Politicians Exchange Forum. The focus was on implementing the EU cycling declaration at all levels. Some crucial elements discussed covered political leadership, ensuring a clear vision and financial resources to unleash the full potential of cycling. This lead to a key highlight of the event in the shape of the City of Parma commiting to the EU Cycling Declaration implementation. The document, which Gianluca Borghi (Parma Deputy Mayor for Environmental Sustainability, Energy and Mobility) signed in the closing ceremony on Day 3, outlines Parma's plans to set the wheels in motion for other cities to follow suit in implementing the European Declaration on Cycling.

Key themes highlighted by speakers and participants during the event covered financing, policy and infrastructure needs, as well as inclusion and collaboration. A delegation of youth representatives encouraged more youth involvement and diversity to better represent the needs of all in sustainable urban mobility planning. Gunta Anca, Vice president of the European Disability Forum, also reinforced the key message of the conference, that sustainable urban mobility is not only about green and active transport, but also about inclusivity and ensuring that no-one is left behind in the mobility transition.

View the photos from the CIVITAS Forum 2024.

Despite Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, eight cities and towns across the Ukraine participated in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK in 2024. During this year's campaign week, awareness-raising activities in the Ukraine ranged from pedestrianising streets and roller skating competitions, to a school bus excursion to the local municipal transport company to motivate pupils to use more public transport.

Active EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK cities included Lviv, which hosted its 2nd Urban Mobility Forum, Chernivtsi, Irshava, Krasnokutsk, Slobozhanske, Uzhhorod, and the front-line cities of Chernihiv and Poltava, where only a few weeks prior, a deadly attack had led to over 50 fatalities and hundreds being injured.

To learn more about the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK activities in Ukraine, click here.

Education and awareness-raising around sustainable mobility are central to creating a generational change in Lithuania, according to Kęstutis Vanagas, National Coordinator for Lithuania. In this interview he shares his insights, experiences and hopes for EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK in Lithuania.

What activities are you most proud of from the Lithuanian EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2023? 

We are particularly pleased by the Sustainable Mobility Fair we organised in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. More than 30 different organisations, both from the private and public sectors participated. During the event, organisations showcased their products and innovations to the public and promoted alternative ways of travelling. We also held seven panel discussions on various sustainable mobility topics, ranging from utopian notions of whether cities can exist without cars to the inevitable future mode of transport - autonomous transport. The event attracted considerable interest from the public and was broadcast on the internet.

Surprisingly, many of the good practices shared on sustainable mobility during the campaign week, came from private companies. For example, some of the main banks in the country encouraged their employees to travel sustainably to work by providing incentives such as points for public transport tickets or swimming pool passes. In Lithuania we don’t often hear about such promotional activities from private companies, so it was nice to see how they also contribute to sustainable mobility.

The campaign was complemented by the celebration of our National Cycling Conference, and the Lithuanian Sustainable Urban Mobility Conference. Both events, held either during or around the campaign week, helped bring visibility to the campaign and highlighted the importance of these themes. 

What challenges did you face in preparing for EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK?

In some cities we have observed a lack of political will to address issues related to sustainability. In other municipalities, there is motivation, but a lack of the necessary resources (staff availability as well as finances) to successfully push the campaign forward. It has therefore sometimes been challenging to convince local authorities to register for the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK; those with limited means do not prioritise it. An example of this could be the lack of success with a car-free day within the municipalities, since it is often highly unpopular and requires clear communication with residents highlighting the benefits of such an initiative. However, we, on behalf of the Ministry, are, continuing to push for a car-free day for this year. 

The promotion of sustainable mobility beyond the campaign is also challenging. We believe it should be a part of every-day practice, and not just promoted during a single week; that’s why we have planned other events around the topic throughout the year. This year, for example, we have already managed to organise the second National Cycling Conference.

Let’s focus on ‘Shared Public Space’ – the 2024 theme. What does this mean for Lithuania? 

Public spaces are the reflection of a city’s mentality; they portray the awareness of both its inhabitants and authorities. We understand Shared Public Space as the area that begins outside of our homes. This does not only concern spaces like parks and squares, but connecting elements such as streets, pavements, pedestrian boulevards. These ‘mobility spaces’ are the spaces used daily by citizens to get from one point to another, connecting them with mobility and the shared space they live in. It is highly important that this concept comes hand in hand with the capacity of citizens to move safely and efficiently from point A to point B.

We would like to focus on the idea of sharing mobility for the 2024 campaign; this means, sharing mobility vehicles (bicycles, scooters, cars etc.) to navigate these shared spaces. Car-sharing is already quite popular in Lithuania, especially in larger cities. However, we are aware that we are still heavily car-centred, so the aim is to try and shift the focus to more sustainable ways of travelling. 

Despite improvements being made to infrastructure (investment in public transport, electrification, implementation of subsidies for the purchase of electrical cars and the construction of new cycle paths), we have still seen an increase in private car ownership. An added challenge is, therefore, about convincing car owners to change to more sustainable modes or vehicles. People who already use sustainable mobility options are more likely to switch to shared bikes, scooters, etc.; but this change is less observed among citizens that already own a private vehicle and use it regularly.

What potential is there for spreading awareness?

We see a lot of potential for awareness-raising; particularly with the ‘sharing mobility’ perspective for Lithuania. It could also allow businesses to participate in their own ways. This would be a positive means to going beyond promoting sustainable mobility and focusing on a more sustainable and circular economy too. 

It seems that the main challenge in Lithuania is not related so much to improving infrastructure, but to finding the right incentives for change in citizens’ mobility habits. Education plays a crucial role here in ensuring a generational change; awareness-raising of sustainable mobility needs to start in kindergarten or elementary school. We have seen good examples/initiatives of education in cycling in countries such as the Netherlands, UK and Belgium, where children are taught how to use bicycles safely from a young age. 

Kęstutis Vanagas works as Future Mobility Policy Group Advisor for the Ministry of Transport and Communications. He has been EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK National Coordinator for Lithuania since 2022. 

Learn more about EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK in Lithuania. 

The City of Budapest has planned and tested car-free initiatives for several years, with its most recent iteration during the 2023 EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK - a car-free weekend counting over 10,000 participants and a car-free day - emerging as a resounding success. Alongside other promotional activities and the implementation of mobility measures, the city’s ambition to open the lower Pest embankment to pedestrians and cyclists permanently caught the attention of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award jury, resulting in the city’s award win earlier this spring.

A tradition established during the pandemic, which saw a large section of the lower Pest embankment open to pedestrians during summer and holiday weekends, is now set to become a reality: from the Chain Bridge to the Elizabeth Bridge, cyclists, pedestrians and public transport will get to experience a new area along the Danube. The first phase of construction, which includes a promenade on former parking areas with trees, green spaces and benches, is set to begin in the coming months.

Arriving at this point though, was a multi-step, collaborative process according to Orsolya Barsi, Head of the Department of Climate and Environmental Affairs, Budapest:

“The first openings started only on the weekends during the first COVID lockdown and this was then extended for a couple of weeks for the summer period, when kids were out of school. Then we added more months with weekend closures, so last year this period encompassed 7 months and the year before was more or less the same. The period when it was completely closed to traffic and opened to pedestrians, cycling and community programmes was one month.

We have also been measuring the effect on traffic on other roads, and there are agreements with different NGOs and municipalities that after this test period there will be a decision on the opening based on these results. Meanwhile, we have already closed the Chain Bridge to cars, making it more attractive for people using buses, bicycles, taxis and motorcycles. This represents a big milestone because this bridge marks where the embankment point starts and has resulted in the traffic calming of a much larger area on both sides of the Danube.”

Before the City introduced its ambitious plans for the area, however, the embankment had quite a different future in store.

“In the early 2000s there were plans to expand the Buda side embankment to a two-by-two lane road to create a tunnel to double [motor vehicle] capacity; and instead of having a sort of highway in the middle of the city, we decided to take a different route and to give a part on the Pest side back to the citizens.”

In addition to receiving overwhelmingly positive reactions from users and a general increasing acceptance for this type of large-scale change, Orsolya’s team, together with public institutions, has continued to measure the impact of the car-free initiatives.

“The traffic results show that emissions were lowered in the centre significantly and there were some increases on other bridges and the outer ring road, but they were not significant. So really what we have seen is that some of the motorised traffic has completely disappeared.”

Budapest is one of a growing number of cities permanently opening areas of their city centre to pedestrians and cyclists, in addition to organising expansive car-free days and/or weekends. In 2023, 1,182 towns and cities participating in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK registered a car-free day. Many are also working towards making these events more regular or broadening their scope.

The Hungarian capital’s replicable car-free initiative offers further inspiration for towns and cities, following our recent interview on the annual city-wide Car-Free Sunday in the Brussels Capital Region. When asked what advice she would give to towns and cities hoping to organise a car-free day or transition from a car-free initiative to a permanent pedestrian area, Orsolya emphasised the importance of families and collaboration:

“I think it’s very important to target families. A big part of the programmes we organised focused on families and how to involve children by also providing events dedicated to them. For example, we lined up all the different types of vehicles (tram, bus, taxi, etc.) which kids could enter and see the driver’s area. The kids loved it, and you could see them queueing up to push the horn of the tram.

Last year, we also had a festival on the Chain Bridge combining many different activities and emphasising the traffic reforms. We also provided some minor funding to NGOs for activities organised during European Mobility Week. It is important to also focus on professional communities, to involve different people working with city transport and mobility, listening to different opinions and providing communications channels and a platform to discuss issues.”

Check out the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK’s How to organise a car-free day in ten steps to get started on organising a car-free day in your town or city.