In 2023, EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK broke its record for campaign participation, with 3,351 towns and cities registering activities to raise awareness about sustainable and active mobility from 16 - 22 September.

Towns and cities from 45 countries in Europe, and beyond, participated during the main event week, including Argentina, Ecuador, Japan, Mexico, Peru, and South Korea. As usual, local authorities used the week to test innovative planning measures, promote new infrastructure and technology, measure air quality and noise pollution, and get feedback from the public. Participating towns and cities - both old and new alike - joined an international community of local and regional authorities, organisations and people committed to encouraging behavioural change in favour of sustainable and active mobility.

Returning cities Dublin and Brussels organised a wide range of activities, such as the “Great Dublin Bike Ride” and “Bike Disco” to encourage Dubliners to travel by bike instead of by car and Car-Free Sunday in Brussels which, according to Mobiel 21, saw an estimated 1.2 million people enjoy the initiative in the capital. A Clean Cities Campaign survey among Brussels residents showed that almost 60% are in favour of having a car-free day once a week.

Alongside returning participants, new towns and cities, like Valença (Portugal) which organised a car-free day featuring activities to raise awareness about emissions and road safety for cyclists, joined the campaign for the first time.

This year, the focus was on saving energy. Energy and mobility poverty levels continue to rise due to high costs for residents and businesses across Europe, while operating public transport remains a large expense for city budgets. Reducing these expenses through energy-efficient transport will support affordable and sustainable transport infrastructures. Following Russia's unwarranted invasion of Ukraine, it is also crucial to reduce dependency on Russian oil and to shift to sustainable energy sources, which will simultaneously move Europe toward a climate-neutral future by 2050.

In addition to EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK’s record-breaking participation, over 860 brand-new MOBILITYACTIONs have been registered so far in 2023. The campaign’s answer to highlighting the growing importance of mobility management, MOBILITYACTIONs promote behavioural shifts toward a sustainable urban mobility culture and can be registered by NGOs, schools, companies, and local authorities. Notable actions from 2023 include a collaboration between Rome, Dublin and Lisbon to engage with children between the ages of 10 - 14 to solve urban mobility challenges related to cycling through the Bicycle Heroes project and the BikeToWork: Paris La Défense initiative, a two-day event organised by the local authorities of Paris La Défense and Mobility Makers targeting 180,000 employees.

For more information on towns’ and cities’ activities visit the Participating towns and cities page.

Learn more about this year’s MOBILITYACTIONs here.