1. Spain consistently ranks among the nations with the most cities participating in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK. What has driven this success?

As far as we are concerned, the success in participation lays in the coordination and awareness-raising work that has been carried-out since 2000 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Since 2001, it has been mandatory in Spain for municipalities to install permanent measures to register their participation in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK, thereby making the initiative more long lasting and ensuring that municipalities continue to benefit year after year. Over 2000 permanent measures were developed in Spain each year over the last 10 years.

Permanent measures involve political and budgetary oversight so the municipal plenary meetings are the ones to control EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK participation, which gives greater visibility among all political groups and to the citizens themselves.

It is fair to add the work of the Spanish Coordination to the reasons for success, which conducts annual reports recording all measures and activities conducted in the municipalities.

2. Why do you think EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK is so popular in the country?

A part of its popularity comes from the fact that it is a topic that has entered public debate, not only in municipalities, but in society in general. The Spanish Coordination has enhanced the participation of organisations, institutions, companies and other sections of society to perform actions on sustainable mobility, taking their share of responsibility in choosing their mode of mobility.

Being a European initiative promoted by the European Commission and coordinated by the Ministry, municipalities feel part of a wider European celebration, gaining visibility within a common project, and learning about mobility actions in other European cities.

It is also to be pointed out that Spain is a country where most of its cities and towns have old quarters, and recovering them through actions such as pedestrianising streets, traffic restrictions, speed restrictions, and so on, represent a great advantage. These advantages are appreciated by the public immediately since they contribute to the improvement of quality of life.

San Sebastián, Santiago de Compostela, Valladolid, Gijón, León, and Vitoria, for example, have all been participants in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK from the beginning and have strategically embraced sustainable mobility. It has also spread to other cities - a good example is Murcia, the city that won the 2015 Spanish and EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK awards.

3. What are the main challenges that you face in encouraging cities to take part in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK in Spain?

The main challenge is to involve more cities in a progressive way, but also and fundamentally, civil society and the media. The aim is to make citizens responsible for their behaviour when it comes to choosing a means of transport. That is the reason why in the Spanish Awards, presented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, there are additional categories for the media and for companies and social organisations that encourage the use of sustainable mobility in their field.

Awareness-raising remains the main challenge since it involves the promotion of changing patterns of mobility that depend on the individual decisions of each citizen, which demands a pedagogical and sensitive approach.

4. What is the future of sustainable mobility in Spain?

Sustainable mobility is a cross-cutting element in each municipality’s politics that touches upon different areas, such as urban development, traffic, environment, health, and so on. The trend should be to develop integrated and horizontal policies that improve quality of life in the city, especially through education, awareness, innovation and urban planning, with the preparation of mobility studies related to new urban developments.

It will also be necessary to expand the level of participation and involve new actors that visualise and replicate sustainable mobility policies. We believe that the future will require the increased exchange of experiences between Spanish and European cities. This could be facilitated through a database managed by the European Commission.

A new study suggests that compact cities that focus on cycling and walking could boost the health of citizens. Land use, transport, and population health: estimating the health benefits of compact cities, a paper by an international team of researchers, was published last week in UK medical journal The Lancet. The team used characteristics from six cities – Boston (USA), Copenhagen (Denmark), Delhi (India), London (UK), Melbourne (Australia) and São Paulo (brazil) - to model the city-specific effect of land use and urban design interventions on the choices of transport and population health.

The authors argue that considerable health gains are observed by city planning that encourages a compact city - namely, a city of short distances that promotes increased residential density, mixed land use, enhanced public transport, and an urban form that encourages cycling and walking.

The paper says that a ‘compact-city approach’ reduces pollution from motor vehicles, and that policies that incentivise walking, cycling, and public transport while reducing subsidies for private motor vehicle use will influence the health and sustainability of growing cities. “City planners and policy makers - who have the power to influence the health of rapidly expanding cities and increasingly motorised populations - need to prioritise the minimisation of health risk exposures while maintaining or enhancing the mobility of city residents,” the authors write.

For more information, visit eltis.org.

The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK website has been nominated for the prestigious .eu Web Awards in the category "Better World". The Awards recognise the most impressive websites with the .eu domain in terms of both design and content. The Better World category focuses on websites that promote green initiatives and environmental protection.

www.mobilityweek.eu will compete against two other finalists for the prize, which includes a trophy and certificate, a promotional video, and a web award icon for the winner’s website and social media channels. Previous winners have benefitted from increased visibility and website traffic as a result of the award.

A jury comprised of communication experts will select the final winner. The award ceremony will be held at the Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels (Belgium) on 16 November 2016. The awards are run by EURid, the registry manager of the .eu country code domains upon appointment of the European Commission.

For more information, visit webawards.eurid.eu.

The CIVITAS2020 initiative on cleaner and better transport in cities launched its new peer-to-peer exchange programme at the CIVITAS Forum in Gdynia (Poland), which took place from 28-30 September 2016. The programme consists of study visits and work placements on innovative transport measures, and is open to practitioners and city representatives who are interested in learning from, and sharing their knowledge and experience with, peers in other European cities.

Work placements offer transport professionals a hands-on, three day learning opportunity in another European city focused on a topic area which responds to their local needs. Study visits offer the opportunity for a group of up to 10 city representatives to travel to another European city facing similar challenges in sustainable urban mobility to learn about possible solutions and best practices.

Financial bursaries are available to cover travel and accommodation. Exact dates of the visits will be decided in cooperation with the host and the visiting cities. Those interested in being either a host or visiting city should fill in the application form available online by 7 November.

For more information, visit the CIVITAS website.

2016 has seen the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK campaign shatter its previous participation record, with an astounding 2424 cities from 51 countries celebrating the week. The previous record was set in 2011 when 2264 cities from 43 countries participated.

Cities and towns around the world held activities under this year’s theme of 'Smart and sustainable mobility - an investment for Europe', referring to the close ties between transport and economics. Many cities held a "Car Free Day", in which areas of the city were closed off to motorised vehicles and opened to citizens, while others held activities that showcased the benefits of opting for sustainable modes of travel. A sizeable portion of those participating also enacted permanent measures that encourage a shift to low-carbon forms of mobility.

Cities that carried out all three of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK criteria are eligible to apply for the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award. Winners of the award receive a three-minute video in both English and their native language highlighting their achievements. The call for applications for the fifth edition of the SUMP Award is also open. This year's award will recognise the local or regional government that has done most to integrate urban freight with their Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, or SUMP.

For more information, visit the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK website.