European Commission announces sustainable mobility award nominees

The European Commission has revealed the finalists who are in contention for its major mobility awards: 7th Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) Award; and the 2018 EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award. The SUMP Award recognises outstanding sustainable urban mobility planning, while the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award showcases local authorities that demonstrate significant efforts in promoting sustainable urban mobility.

SUMP Award

The European Commission's SUMP Award was launched in 2012. It aims to encourage the adoption of SUMPs by local authorities across Europe and to reward outstanding achievements in a specific thematic priority area. The 7th SUMP Award focuses on multimodality – the use of different modes of transport during the same journey or for different trips, for both goods and passengers.

The finalists for the 7th SUMP Award are:

• Basel (Switzerland), which impressed with its management of cross-border issues (it is closely located to both Germany and France) and its approach to finance and investment.
• Dresden (Germany), which has delivered many of its SUMP objectives – even exceeding its targets in some cases - including a decrease in the modal share of cars.
• Greater Manchester (United Kingdom), which has an excellent spatial approach, ambitious modal share goals and has integrated new technologies.

EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award

Since 2002, the annual EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK campaign has sought to improve public health and quality of life through promoting clean mobility and sustainable urban transport. By taking part, towns and cities can showcase the benefits of cleaner transport choices and give people the chance to explore the role of city streets and to experiment with practical solutions to tackle urban challenges, such as air pollution.

In 2018, nearly 2 800 towns and cities participated in the campaign, marking 2018 out as the most successful year to date. The EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Awards recognise local authorities that are judged to have done the most to raise awareness of sustainable mobility during EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK (16-22 September 2018). Awards are given out in two categories: one for municipalities larger than 50 000 inhabitants; and one for smaller municipalities.

Finalists for the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2018 for larger municipalities are:

• Gdynia (Poland), which stood out with a strong programme of activities promoting the use of public transport.
• Lisbon (Portugal), which has a strong vision for a more sustainable mobility culture and has implemented effective communication efforts reaching both residents and visitors.
• Palma (Spain), which impressed the jury by its decision to hold two Car-Free Days to highlight how urban space could benefit without vehicles.

The finalists for the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2018 for smaller cities are:

• Karditsa (Greece), which caught the eye of the jury with its activities aimed at children and disabled people and its promotion of the health and safety benefits of sustainable transport.
• Lindau (Germany), which was praised by the jury for its strong focus on multimodality, the 2018 annual theme, and for a clever mixture of educational and entertaining activities.
• Oliveira do Bairro (Portugal), which was appreciated by the jury for its wide range of permanent measures to promote sustainable mobility and its strong partnerships with local stakeholders.

Award ceremony

An impartial panel of mobility and transport experts has selected the short-listed cities and the winners will be revealed at a ceremony in Brussels (Belgium) on 21 March 2019. Commissioner Violeta Bulc, responsible for Transport, and Jürgen Müller, Head of Cabinet for Karmenu Vella, the Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, will present the awards to the winning towns and cities.

Source: https://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/sustainable/news/2019-02-26-emw-2018-award-nominees_en

For more information on the campaign, visit http://www.mobilityweek.eu