Local authorities across Europe can begin registering their participation in this year's EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK.

By registering, each city will be displayed on the updated EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK website and will count towards their country’s total participation figure. Registration information can be updated at any time, so your city can register and provide more information about its activities later. The registration form is available in 28 languages.

Over the next two days the campaign's National Coordinators will meet at the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK workshops in Brussels (Belgium) to exchange ideas and information on encouraging cities to participate in the campaign, as well as on sustainable mobility more generally. A number of different EU-funded mobility projects will additionally be showcased, as well as successful local mobility campaigns from countries such as Portugal and Slovenia.

This evening will see the 2016 EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK and Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan Awards presented at a ceremony in Brussels’ Théâtre du Vaudeville. The finalists for the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award are Lisbon (Portugal), Murcia (Spain), and Palma de Mallorca (Spain). The SUMP Award finalists are Malmö (Sweden), Utrecht (The Netherlands), and Vienna (Austria). To get updates on the award ceremony, follow EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK or DG MOVE on Twitter, or search for #MobilityWeek.

Germany kicked off preparations for EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2016 in the country with a national launch event on 14 and 15 April. The event was hosted by the German Environment Agency (UBA), which is the new national coordinating organisation for Germany. During the event, local and national coordinators from Austria, Germany and Luxembourg came together to share ideas and experiences on ensuring a successful EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK.

UBA’s Head of Environment and Transport Section, Katrin Dziekan, brought some philosophical aspects to the table by asking, “how do we go about achieving real sustainable urban mobility in towns and cities?” Germany’s new National Coordinator Claudia Kiso facilitated brainstorming rounds on how to realise campaign actions and define ideal permanent measures relating to this year’s call to action: Smart Mobility. Strong Economy.

Jerome Simpson, responsible for engagement and outreach for the campaign, said of the event, “I am absolutely delighted with the response shown by so many key transport players from across Germany, following the enthusiasm shown by UBA to take on the role of National Coordinator. This is the perfect start to the 2016 campaign for Germany and I can’t wait to see the registrations rolling in.”

The event was attended by German federal ministries, non-governmental organisations, city and public transport representatives and the European Commission. Participants made clear their support and commitment to this year’s campaign, while also highlighting the importance of SUMPs and sustainable urban mobility planning. In Leipzig-Gohlis, local citizen's initiative Gegen Schall und Rauch are already eagerly awaiting the entry of their city in this year’s campaign. Groups such as these or others like schools or companies can also register their own sustainable mobility activities that take place outside of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK as a MOBILITYACTION.

For more information about the event (in German) click here.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has agreed to take on the role of Belarus National Coordinator, and are partnering with the Belarusian government to launch a new project that supports sustainable transport in Polotsk and Novopolotsk. Belarus' EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK preparations will be introduced during an event on integrated mobility planning, hosted by the Belarus Transport Union in Minsk on 26 April.

The Belarusian cities of Minsk, Novopolotsk and Polotsk took part in the 2015 edition of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK. This was the first time that any cities from the country had participated in the history of the fourteen-year campaign. An informal meeting for those interesting in implementing EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK in Belarus in 2016 will take place at UNDP's office at 17 Kirava Street in Minsk on the morning of 27 April.

The cities' participation was supported by a number of NGOs, including the Belarus Transport Union, the Center for Environmental Solutions, the Interakcia Foundation, the Minsk Cycling Community, and the Green Network. The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK European Secretariat saw the opportunity to identify a national coordinator in the country, particularly after the UNDP in Belarus publically supported the campaign.

Belarus' new National Coordinator is Igar Tchoulba. To see the contact information for the National Coordinators, click here.

The updated Communication Toolkit and Visual Guidelines for EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2016 are now available online. The Toolkit provides the components to create materials to promote EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK activities, while the Visual Guidelines lay out the rules for doing so.

Materials available include templates for official EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK posters, social media banners, and powerpoint presentations. Relevant fonts, logos, and illustrations are also included. Groups of files for specific products can be downloaded individually, or the whole toolkit can be downloaded at once.

Many of the graphical elements, such as those featuring Edgar – the campaign’s mascot – using different forms of transport, can be used to illustrate the campaign and this year's theme. This year EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK is promoting the idea that stable and growing economies can be supported through a transition to sustainable transport and active modes such as walking and cycling.

For more information and to download the materials, visit the Design Resources page.

The European Commission has announced the names of the finalists for the 2015 EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK and SUMP Awards. The awards will be presented to the winners at a ceremony on 20 April 2016 in Brussels (Belgium) with Commissioner Violeta Bulc, responsible for Transport, and Commissioner Karmenu Vella, responsible for the Environment, in attendance.

The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award honours the local authorities who promote sustainable urban mobility exceptionally well and successfully focus on a shift towards more sustainable means of transport. The finalist cities were recognised as having performed exceptionally well in promoting multimodality, in line with last year’s theme ‘Choose. Change. Combine.' Long-term measures undertaken in the cities were also taken into account. This year’s edition received 53 applications from 19 countries. A shortlist of ten cities was made, with the final three finalists being Lisbon (Portugal), Murcia (Spain), and Palma de Mallorca (Spain).

The award for sustainable urban mobility planning aims to promote the adoption of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) across Europe, and to distinguish the mobility planning champions in line with the annual award theme. This year's edition focuses on multimodality and intermodality in sustainable urban mobility planning, which refers to the combination of various transport modes within one trip or separate trips. The three finalists are Malmö (Sweden), Utrecht (The Netherlands), and Vienna (Austria).