In Slovenia, there is no legal obligation for local authorities to implement a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP). However several SUMPs were developed in the last decade, the majority of them within EU projects, one as a pilot in a national project and one as an initiative of a local authority. In the past few years Slovenian experts tested the SUMP process on three different scales: EU-recommended city size (100 000+), small municipality and region. Experience showed that a SUMP works well on all three levels. The SUMP for the urban region of Nova Gorica is the only SUMP prepared on the regional level; all others were developed for municipalities.
The Ministry of infrastructure responsible for urban transport recognised the importance of SUMPs several years ago and started to support SUMP actions on different levels. The main activity was the development of a national platform for sustainable mobility. The platform is a service for cities, municipalities and regions providing assistance for developing SUMPs with inputs such as national guidelines for SUMPs, regular lectures, training and workshops; newsletters, site visits, integration and coordination with the European Mobility Week.
The Ministry of infrastructure assigned part of its cohesion funds for the development of SUMPs in cities and for the implementation of sustainable mobility measures based on SUMPs. This programme started in 2015 and is co-financed by an operational programme for the implementation of the European cohesion policy over 2014-2020. Between 2014 and 2017, more than 60 consultants and experts have been trained to develop SUMPs according to the National SUMP guidelines. The development new SUMPs and the revision of 3 existing SUMPs begain in 2016 and by June 2017, 62 municipalities completed their SUMPs, which were approved by municipal councils. The Ministry of infrastructure will also participate in the H2020 project PROSPERITY (2016-2019), which will allow the further development of a national framework for SUMPs in Slovenia. All these activities ensure that SUMPs become a regular planning practice in Slovenia.
Cities and regions in Slovenia with SUMPs are:
- Nova Gorica (2006, 2014) – first limited version of a SUMP on the municipal level developed already in 2006, regional SUMP prepared in the EU PUMAS project is in the procedure in municipal councils in the region (status March 2015)
- Ljubljana (2012) – draft version prepared within the CIVITAS Elan project, revised version accepted by the city council in 2012 (in Slovene)
- Ljutomer (2012) – SUMP developed as a pilot for small cities within national project, shortlisted among three best SUMPs in EU in 2013, (in Slovene)
- Maribor (2014) – prepared within EU project TRAMOB, in the procedure in city council (status March 2015 – in Slovene)
- Piran (2014) – SUMP developed in EU project Adria.Move IT) (was not submitted to council for approval)
- Murska Sobota (2008) – not available online
Member state contact:
Ministry of Infrastructure, Directorate for Transport
References:
Author: Dr. Aljaž Plevnik
Last updated: 2 October 2019