The European Commission today revealed the finalists of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award and the Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP). The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award showcases local authorities that demonstrate significant efforts in promoting sustainable urban mobility, while the SUMP Award recognises outstanding sustainable urban mobility planning.

The finalists for the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2017 are: Granada (Spain), Prague (Czech Republic), and Vienna (Austria).

Granada impressed the judges with its Car-Free Day celebrations, coupled with a widespread communication campaign that incorporated advertisements on public transport. Prague excelled in creating mutually beneficial partnerships with NGOs and local businesses during the week, while Vienna carried out a diverse programme of activities that closely reflected the 2017 theme "“ "˜Clean, shared and intelligent mobility'.

For the first time, a category for towns and cities with under 50,000 inhabitants has been included as part of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award, recognising the sustainable mobility achievements of smaller cities in Europe. The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2017 finalists for municipalities with less than 50,000 inhabitants are: Igoumenitsa (Greece), Lindau (Germany), and Tivat (Montenegro).

Igoumenitsa scored well thanks to its strong efforts to communicate the benefits of sustainable mobility to residents and also those who live in nearby towns. Lindau implemented impressive permanent measures, including repurposing parking spaces, while the judges praised Tivat for its citizen engagement activities.

This edition of the SUMP award focused on shared mobility in the planning process.

The 6th SUMP Award finalists are: Greater Manchester (United Kingdom), Milan (Italy), and Turda (Romania).

Greater Manchester was lauded for its progressive vision, high ambition and exemplary cooperation with the private and non-profit sectors. Milan was praised for stakeholder involvement when designing its SUMP and for its work to introduce a Mobility as a Service platform that brings together apps across transport modes to facilitate shared mobility. Turda was commended by the jury for its clear and inspiring planning vision, including a well-structured financing strategy.

All shortlisted cities were selected by an independent panel of mobility and transport experts.The three winners will be announced at a ceremony in Brussels (Belgium) on 21 March 2018. Commissioner Violeta Bulc, responsible for Transport, and Daniel Calleja, Director-General for Environment, will present the awards to the winning towns and cities.

For more information, click here.Image copyright: sourced from Flickr more   26 February 2018 EU Covenant of Mayors celebrates 10th anniversaryLaunched by the European Commission in 2008, the EU Covenant of Mayors brings together over 9,200 local authorities committed to meeting the EU's climate and energy objectives.

On 23 February, representatives of the participant cities met in Brussels (Belgium) to celebrate the initiative's anniversary and to discuss the future of the network.

The anniversary ceremony took place in the European Parliament, in the presence of Vice-President MaroÅ¡ Å efčovič and Commissioners Miguel Arias Caà±ete and Carlos Moedas, as well as the President of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, and of the European Committee of Regions, Karl-Heinz Lambertz. The event offered an opportunity to take stock of the achievements of the last decade and showcase successful examples.

Commissioner Arias Caà±ete stressed, collectively, the cities taking part in the initiative have already cut greenhouse gas emissions by 23%, reduced average energy consumption per capita by 22%, and boosted the use of renewables up to five times more than at the launch of the Covenant of Mayors. Local authorities have also taken adaptation measures to cope with climate change impacts.

"These are impressive results, but they must encourage the entire community to confirm and step up its commitment," the Commissioner said, calling for the endorsement of the 2030 objectives, already signed by 1,000 local authorities.

The attendants also discussed the upcoming UN conference on climate change COP24, which will take place in Katowice (Poland) in December. Commissioner Arias Caà±ete announced a new initiative to select a group of Mayors that will become EU Covenant envoys, in order to make their voices heard at this global forum. "I look forward to being joined by such supportive an enthusiastic actors," he added.

Vice-President Šefčovič also highlighted the key role of local authorities in the global fight against climate change and in creating 'future proof' cities: "When Europe's Mayors and EU institutions work together, change will happen on the ground."

At the ceremony, Commissioner Moedas launched the 2018 European Capital of Innovation contest. This €1 million prize will reward cities who have built the most dynamic innovation ecosystems.

"Cities are really for me the beacon of innovation," said Moedas, inviting the attendants to take part in the competition for an award similar in size to the Nobel Prize. He recalled that cities are not afraid of experimenting, and that previous winners (Paris, France; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Barcelona, Spain) have achieved remarkable innovations.

During the event, the board of the EU Covenant of Mayors presented its vision for the future. The board is composed of mayors from Heidelberg (Germany), Seville (Spain), Ghent (Belgium), Và¤xjච(Sweden) and the director of the North-West Croatia Energy Agency.

Among other speakers, the programme included local representatives from Florence (Italy), Bologna (Italy), Eindhoven (Netherlands), Almada (Portugal) Sonderborg (Denmark) Prešov (Slovakia), the region of Murcia (Spain), and Espoo (Finland).

For more information about the ceremony, visit the EU Covenant of Mayors website.Image copyright: sourced from EU Covenant of Mayors by "EU Covenant of Mayors" more

» Publication Date: 27/02/2018

» Source: Iclei Europe

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