On Thursday 8 December, 14:00-15:00 CET, the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK secretariat will hold a webinar for businesses, NGOs, schools and other actors, including cities, highlighting the best MOBILITYACTIONs of 2020.

A MOBILITYACTION is any action that promotes the idea of sustainable urban mobility. It can be limited to a specific day or last for several weeks/months and can take place at any moment of the year, not just during EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK.

MOBILITYACTION’s promote a behavioural shift towards a more sustainable urban mobility culture and are of a promotional rather than a technical nature (i.e. technical innovations themselves will not be recognised), with examples including cycling to work with your neighbours, or if you’re an employer, taking concrete action to encourage your employees to use public transport.

During the webinar, participants will also gain tips on how to draft their own perfect MOBILITYACTION.

To register for the webinar, click here.

Watch out for car-free streets, walking tours, and interactive workshops as EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK (16-22 September) kicks off today in towns and cities across Europe.

The clean and sustainable transport campaign will see over 2,700 towns and cities from close to 50 countries host their own events, shining a spotlight on the importance of zero-emission mobility for all. This is the 19th year of EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK and its well-known car-free day, when streets close for motorised traffic and open for pedestrians, cyclists, hoverboarders, e-scooter riders and more!

EU Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean said: “This year is a big challenge for our towns and cities. But the pandemic also showed us that people appreciate and expect our cities to become safer, cleaner and accessible to all. During this week and beyond, our partner cities from all around Europe will show how greener and more digital European towns and cities could look.”

In parallel, and in cooperation with EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK, the European network of road traffic police forces (ROADPOL) is organising a new campaign for road safety – the ROADPOL Safety Days (previously ‘Project EDWARD’). As part of the campaign, national police forces will record the number of road deaths on 17 September, aiming for zero deaths on that day. Public events will highlight the role that every road-user can play in avoiding fatalities, as well as the importance of traffic police in enforcing the rules and working towards the EU’s ‘Vision Zero’ – zero road deaths and serious injuries on European roads by 2050.   

Initiatives across Europe

EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK provides an opportunity for local governments across Europe (and beyond) to enable residents to test out active mobility modes and discover the benefits of sustainable forms of transport.

This year, Essen (Germany) will launch the city’s first sidewalk extension (or parklet), and will organise workshops on road safety and sustainable mobility, examining for example how local businesses can become bicycle-friendly employers. In addition, the city will launch a new e-charging station, and will install smart lamp posts.

Lahti (Finland) will celebrate the week with guided walking tours, workshops and seminars on the importance of sustainable mobility. A clean-up day will be organised, where residents are encouraged to get together clear litter from public areas around the city.

Cesena (Italy) will use the week as an opportunity to seek feedback from local residents on their new sustainable urban mobility plan. In addition, the city will invite children to submit photographs and drawings, illustrating their experience of commuting in the city.

Girona (Spain) will hand out a free breakfast to reward those who cycle to work. In addition, the city will organise guided walking tours, workshops on bicycle safety and maintenance, an exhibition on electric and hybrid vehicles, and a film screening on sustainable mobility.

Gdańsk (Poland) is arranging bicycle trips to local monuments and attractions. During car-free day, residents owning a car will be able to access public transport for free.

Participation

This year, in light of the pandemic, towns and cities have maximum flexibility when participating. Local authorities can register their events and permanent infrastructure initiatives as usual, but also their online alternatives and their short-term measures to help people move around safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Measures may include the temporary reallocation of road space to create pop-up bike lanes, or the introduction of speed restrictions.

Besides towns and cities, participation is warmly encouraged by others, including businesses, institutions, NGOs, schools and higher education institutions. All may register their MOBILITYACTION all year round.

Local authorities can apply for several awards in the context of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK:

• EU Urban Road Safety Award, rewarding local authorities for innovative measures to improve road safety. The call for applications is open from 29 September to 31 October 2020.
  
  
• EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Awards for local authorities that make significant efforts to promote sustainable urban mobility during the campaign. The application period is from 29 September to 31 October 2020.
  
  
• SUMP Award presented to local and regional authorities that have achieved excellence in sustainable urban mobility planning (SUMP). The deadline for applications is 31 October 2020.

The 2020 edition of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Best Practice Guide features the outstanding achievements of the six local authorities that were selected as finalists for the 2019 EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Awards.

Kruševac (Serbia) the winner of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award for larger municipalities impressed the jury with its strong citizen participation and political support. During the week, the city installed new cycle paths, walkways, public squares,  urban parks,  benches, a public garage, and turned several traffic light junctions into roundabouts with greenery and sculptures.

Rethymno (Greece) and Wrocław (Poland) were the runners up for the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award for larger municipalities.

Karditsa (Greece) the winner of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award for smaller municipalities organised a festival-like week of mobility celebrations, involving dozens of partners, including schools, music schools, government departments, police, firemen, associations and businesses. 

If the atmosphere alone wasn’t enough, new incentives like financial benefits for companies adopting sustainable mobility measures, and days off work for employees commuting by bicycle or on foot showed people that safe walking and cycling are appealing for reasons beyond health and wellbeing.

Alfândega da Fé (Portugal) and Paide (Estonia) were the runners up for the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award for smaller municipalities.

The guide also includes a number of inspiring MOBILITYACTIONs organised by NGOs, universities and private organisations, alongside good examples of activities carried out by municipalities both in and outside of Europe, and best practice by the National Coordination teams in a number of countries.

To download and read the Best Practice Guide, visit the Campaign Materials page.

EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK has launched a new factsheet presenting towns and cities with 10 lessons learnt from the COVID-19 lockdown regarding better urban mobility.

The lessons vary from remembering that public space is precious and thus cities should be built for people, not cars; to the impact that working from home and buying goods online has on our environment and mobility patterns.

The document also provides towns and cities with creative suggestions of activities they could organise during EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK 2020. For example, conducting polls among local residents to identify challenges and wishes for the use of public space and the way residents move, and organising a ‘selfie contest’ on social media to encourage locals to post pictures of themselves using environmentally-friendly transport options.

To read the full list of lessons learnt, and to take inspiration from the examples provided, click here.

Bruno Van Loveren, Strategy and Programming Director, Mobility Planning Authority, Brussels Capital Region (Belgium) spoke to us about winning the 8th sustainable urban mobility planning (SUMP) Award, what it means to the city, and shares advice he would give to other cities looking to follow in their footsteps.

What has the reaction been among citizens and stakeholders to the Brussels Capital Region winning the SUMP award? What does winning the SUMP Award mean to the city?

Unfortunately, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated containment, it is difficult to describe whether a buzz, if there was one, happened. We were all isolated and everything took place remotely - even the announcement of the award itself took place online and we followed it on Twitter.

We would have preferred to receive the award at the ceremony, as it was originally planned - it would have been an opportunity to exchange with the other finalists. However, we received numerous messages of congratulations from many different sectors, including the political world. 

We are obviously very proud to have received this award, especially since we also won it three years ago for our logistics schemes. For those of us who work in the planning department, it's a great reward and confirmation that our approach is relevant and recognised as such.

This is in fact the third SUMP that has been developed for Brussels. The results of the first two are mixed, without taking away their quality. We were all convinced that this one was different and is going to change things - this award is a nice validation of that.

Can you tell us a little bit about the process of designing your SUMP? What was it, do you think, that appealed to the Jury?

I would like to quote the words of the jury, which underline the way our SUMP conceives the city as an ecosystem, and the impressive participation system that has been put in place. These two elements, in my opinion, are intimately linked. It is through involving all stakeholders and listening to citizens that we have been able to gradually take into account all the dimensions of the mobility policy.

The system put in place is in fact unprecedented, at least for Brussels, in terms of its scope, its duration and the diversity of the public that we wanted to involve in the approach. It is this process itself that has led us to put aside an overly technical approach to mobility and to refocus on users, their needs, and above all their living environment.

This participatory approach is a key to the success of SUMP and, we hope to its implementation. The overwhelming majority of stakeholders recognise the value of the process, that they were able to express themselves and that they were heard, even if they do not always agree with some of the measures.

What advice would you give to cities that are looking to follow in your footsteps and win the SUMP Award?

Every city and region is different and I do not know to what extent Brussels can be an example. We are in any case open and interested in exchanging with other cities in a more in-depth way. It is also an opportunity to talk about what we have done wrong, which I am not going to discuss here, as after all we just won the SUMP Award!

If I had to give some general advice, first of all I would say that this is a long-term process - more than three years as far as we are concerned, which has to be prepared accordingly. As with all projects that take a long time, we must also accept that there will be changes along the way. The SUMP Guidelines developed by the European Commission are an interesting resource from this point of view. Of course, I say this when we ourselves did not take them into account at all, or rather, when we found out a posteriori that we had unknowingly followed them.

Finally, in order to make a process of this magnitude successful, objectives and a clear guideline are needed. From this point of view, political support, which can be limited to a simple lack of interference, is absolutely essential.