An interview with Olof Rabe, Mobility Projects Manager, City of Malmö

What activities did Malmö undertake to help it win the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award?

There are several activities that I think contributed to our success, but if I have to highlight some of them I would say that the temporary reformation of a street, the opportunity for citizens and visitors to discuss mobility issues with officials, and our whole-day conference were three activities that turned out well.

For the whole week we devoted a street in the centre of Malmö to EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK, focusing on the number of pedestrians and cyclists, and reforming the street into a welcoming space for all people. That became a great activity and left a strong impression that people in the city still talk about.

During the week officials from our Streets and Parks Department were present on the street, and visitors got the opportunity to discuss Malmö’s mobility issues with them.

We also held a whole-day conference on the theme of the year. Invited speakers from different fields talked about the issues from their perspective. Local politicians debated the theme and the information presented. At the end the audience had the opportunity to discuss in smaller groups.

What does winning the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award mean to the city?

The award is a recognition that we are doing good work when it comes to sustainable mobility. I also think that the award makes the citizens of Malmö proud of their city. Of course, for those involved in the project it is really a fantastic response. As the success of the project increases, the demand also grows to make more efforts for active travel.

What are the benefits of taking part in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK from a city perspective?

We have ambitious goals for our future traffic system, as clearly stated in our Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP). To accelerate towards our goals, we must first create a greater demand for sustainable mobility. This requires working across all levels in the city. Citizens of Malmö, property owners, shopkeepers and other stakeholders have a key role to play in this development. EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK is particularly important in this process. It creates commitment and demands in a way that can facilitate the work to reach the city’s goals.

What advice would you give to cities that are looking to follow in your footsteps and take home the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award?

- Try to combine the event with a city development project.

- Involve the city inhabitants, property owners, business owners and other stakeholders which are most affected by the event and the development project.

- Concentrate the event to a specific location in the city, link all activities to the theme, present the permanent measures under the week, and rather focus on fewer but clearer activities. Also try to have activities every day.

- Evaluate the project. We allowed external actors to do a visitor survey during the week as well as a project evaluation of the entire work process before, during and after the project.

The European Commission has launched the European Transport Innovation Challenge 2017, a new award offered to young transport innovators for creative solutions for goods and services that will contribute to reducing CO2 emissions in transport.

The solutions can be the result of research, can be in any transport mode, and in many different sectors linked to transport, such as solutions in healthcare, retail or food sectors. The key word is innovation.

The prize will be an all-expenses trip for 12 young innovators aged 18-35 to Strasbourg (France) for the ITS Congress and Exhibition in June 2017.

In addition to receiving free travel and accommodation, and having the opportunity to network with leaders in the world of intelligent transport in Europe, the winners will receive personalised coaching at a dedicated mentoring workshop before the Congress begins.

Applications can come from a person, a team, a company (providing it is an SME) or any other type of legal entity anywhere in the European Union a country associated with the Horizon 2020 programme.

Both individuals (including those working for administrations and transport providers) and SMEs are eligible.

Entrants should describe in less than 1,500 words how mobility in Europe could be cleaner and more efficient. The deadline for applications is 2 May.

For more information, visit ec.europa.eu.

In an awards ceremony hosted last night at the Théâtre de Vaudeville in the heart of the Belgian capital, Malmö (Sweden) and Brussels (Belgium) were recognised for their outstanding work in advancing sustainable urban mobility. Malmö was awarded the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award for its long-term focus on active transport modes such as cycling and walking. The 5th Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning was given to Brussels (Belgium) for its successful freight strategy.

The awards were presented by Violeta Bulc, European Commissioner for Transport, and Daniel Calleja, Director-General for Environment.

"I'm inviting cities to come on-board and work with us, to help Europe meet its ambitious climate objectives. I would like to congratulate this year's finalists who showed that greener and smarter urban mobility is already possible. I was particularly impressed by the long-term strategies developed by Malmö to encourage active travel and by Brussels on sustainable freight. I hope they can inspire many others," said Commissioner Bulc.

"We have great candidates and great role models for sustainable mobility at this award ceremony," said Director-General Calleja. "Shifting towards sustainable and shared modes of mobility is at the centre of great opportunities, particularly for improving quality of life and growing our economy sustainably."

The ceremony followed the first day of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Workshops, which kick off the preparations for the 2017 edition of the campaign under the theme of clean, shared and intelligent mobility, as encapsulated by the slogan “Sharing gets you further”.

Malmö overcame stiff competition from fellow finalists Lisbon (Portugal) and Skopje (former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), while Brussels edged out Budapest (Hungary) and Stockholm (Sweden).

For more information, read the press release.

The Urban Electric Mobility Initiative (UEMI) and the urban mobility SOLUTIONS Network are calling for cities from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America to become involved as leading city, take-up city or training participants.

The SOLUTIONS Network and UEMI are looking for take-up cities to work together on the implementation of sustainable urban mobility measures. As part of urban implementation actions the team now works with cities to assess the opportunities for e-mobility concepts in their wider sustainable transport strategy.

The mission of the SOLUTIONS and UEMI partnerships is therefore to support the take-up of innovative sustainable urban mobility solutions in cities across the world and foster the integration of urban electric mobility solutions into sustainable transport concepts. This activity is part of the EU-funded project FUTURE-RADAR. All activities within the context of the initiative will take place between May 2017 and May 2020.

The call is open until 30 April 2017. For more details on the process and the application form, visit the UEMI website.

Universities are the engines of innovation and knowledge in Europe. As centres of learning, exchange and ideas, they can help drive the world towards a better, more sustainable future. The U-MOB LIFE project is harnessing the power of European universities to support the development of sustainable mobility in Europe.

Universities are also major commuting poles in many European cities. By improving the mobility patterns of universities, the transportation system of an entire city can benefit. To this end, the U-MOB LIFE project partners (including four universities in Rotterdam, Krakow, Bergamo and Barcelona) will gather best practices from universities across Europe. In addition to making university campuses more sustainable, there is a great potential to influence the travel habits and tendencies of students, which can have a big impact on the mobility practices of future generations.

To read the full article, visit the ACTION in the Spotlight page.