Multiple funds in Italy are supporting the development of sustainable mobility

While the pandemic has had its costs, in terms of lives and its impact on the economy, the crisis has also presented major opportunities for innovation. In Italy, European and national funds are available to develop sustainable mobility at different levels.

Thanks to the EIT Urban Mobility call, new loans up to €100,000 per company are available for start-ups, scale-ups and SMEs, and their projects for innovative solutions in the urban mobility sector.

EIT Urban Mobility is a European knowledge and innovation community consisting of over 150 leading companies, cities, universities and research centres. The community, supported by the EU's European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), aims to transform urban mobility by investing in the European entrepreneurial ecosystem, to promote smart, green and integrated urban transport.

The EIT urban mobility investment will not only provide winners with money, but also position them in the venturing ecosystem and include them in its partner network. In order to apply, participants need to be currently fundraising or preferably be already in an ongoing funding round of projects related to active mobility, sustainable urban logistics, future mobility or energy and mobility concepts.

At the national and regional level in Italy, different funds are available to support local investment in green urban mobility. Valle d'Aosta, for example, offers the possibility to citizens and local authorities to ask for non-repayable grants for the purchase of new and cleaner personal mobility vehicles, including low emission cars, pedal-assisted and electric bicycles and micro-mobility vehicles.

Lombardy is aiming to speed up the development of electric mobility by providing €5 million for public administrations that are aiming to encourage electric mobility through the construction of electric car charging stations. The call will make available a non-repayable loan up of to 100% of the costs and for a maximum of €200,000.

Moreover, the Ministry of Ecological Transition (the former Ministry of the Environment) is aiming to improve the efficiency of local school transport. This is done through the “School Bus new Decree” (December 2020) that provides €20 million to allow municipalities with a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants to convert their local school transport into hybrid and electric vehicles. Municipalities willing to participate need to have ongoing EU infringement procedures for the violation of the parameters on air quality.