Applications are open until October 31 for the 2024 edition of the European Commission’s Mobility Awards
The European Commission’s annual EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK and MOBILITYACTION awards aim to highlight the work done by local authorities and organisations towards encouraging and establishing sustainable urban mobility. This year, the theme is Shared Public Space.
With applications closing on 31 October 2024, potential entrants are urged not to miss the deadline, allowing their efforts throughout this year’s campaign period to be duly recognised. All relevant information on the award applications and eligibility criteria can be found on the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK website.
Award finalists will be announced in early 2025, and winners will be announced during an award ceremony later in the spring.
EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK is the European Commission’s flagship awareness-raising campaign on sustainable urban mobility. Towns and cities are warmly invited to register for EUROPEAN MOBILITY WEEK, in preparation for the event taking place from 16 – 22 September.
The updated registration system means that towns and cities are able to easily register the activities they plan to carry out. This will allow the event organisers to better understand and assess the impact of the campaign. Participating cities are strongly encouraged to implement all three activities.
The activities can include:
Organising activities focused on sustainable mobility during the event week
Implementing one or more permanent transport measures throughout the year
Holding a “Car-Free-Day”
It’s important to note that only the official local authority of the participating town or city may register on behalf of that city.
Can’t wait until 16 – 22 September to promote sustainable urban mobility and encourage behavioural change?
NGO’s businesses, civil society organisations, citizens initiatives, schools and local administrations are called on to register at any time throughout the year for MOBILITYACTION.
The initiative aims to promote sustainable urban mobility and encourage behavioural change towards this end. The organisers are interested in hearing about activities that have been organised to promote sustainable urban mobility at any time during the year. Examples of these activities may include, cycling to work schemes or employers encouraging employees to use public transport. EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK is interested in your organisations’ success stories.
The actions should promote behavioural shift towards sustainable mobility culture and should be of a promotional rather than technical nature.
Comments Off on EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK publishes 2023 impact report
The report contains facts and figures, as well as the long-term impact of campaign activities on sustainable mobility perception, attitudes and behaviour.
EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK has been held annually in September for more than two decades. The event is the European Commission’s flagship awareness-raising campaign on sustainable urban mobility. The concept calls for and supports thousands of towns and cities across Europe and beyond, to raise awareness on sustainable mobility and encourage behavioural change in favour of walking, cycling and public transport.
Readers of the impact report will find reflection on the efforts and outcomes of the 2023 campaign, including those organised by municipalities during the week itself, plus supporting MOBILITYACTIONs delivered throughout the year by predominantly non-municipal stakeholders. The report is structured into five chapters, consistent with European Commission guidance on campaign evaluation: Inputs, Activities, Outputs, Results, and Impacts.
The report reveals that an admirable 2,782 events took place during the 2023 campaign, with 1,182 car-free days, and 3,351 towns and cities taking part across 45 countries. There is much more detail to be found within, as well as inspiration for those looking to get involved in 2024. You can view an interactive map of activities in your city or country here.
EuropeanMobilityWeek catches up with Deputy Mayor Aleksi Jäntti of Tampere, Finland, to discuss the award’s meaning for the city and its future sustainable endeavors.
“As a rapidly growing urban area, Tampere is working to create a liveable, inclusive city for all. Its multidisciplinary approach to sustainable urban mobility planning empowers its residents to make healthier mobility choices that are active, safe, and environmentally friendly. The City’s winning sustainable urban mobility plan includes an impact assessment of the effect that mobility campaigns have on the local population. The plan also spotlights low-carbon mobility, road safety, vulnerable groups, smart mobility solutions, physical and mental well-being, accessibility, and low pollution levels to ensure a holistic approach to mobility.”
“What does winning the Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) Award mean for Tampere?
Winning the SUMP Award is a great pride and joy! Our City’s development and work to promote sustainable mobility has really been recognized. The Tampere City Strategy introduces Tampere as ‘the city of action.’ Last year, 2021, is more than excellent proof of this: Our SUMP was accepted, and both new and improved possibilities for sustainable mobility were introduced.
The award, for its part, shows that we are on the right track and encourages us to go on with the implementation of measures and sustainability.”
“How does sustainable mobility fit into Tampere’s vision for a sustainable, resilient city?
“It fits very well! The goal of carbon neutrality sets the target for the future modal split in Tampere. But sustainability goes far beyond only reducing emissions. The shift from individual motorized transport towards public and active mobility modes takes Tampere’s goals forward from the perspective of climate and environment, as well as safety, well-being, equality, and economy. Sustainable transport, both for people and freight, is also space-efficient, which is an import aspect for a growing city like Tampere.”
“EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK recently launched a new slogan: #MixandMove. How does Tampere encourage multimodal approaches to transport? Why is this important?
Integrating different forms of mobility is crucial when we want to decrease emissions, shorter individual motorized trips, and offer people more flexible access to mobility. Additionally, multimodality can also improve the cost-effectiveness of public transport, especially in sparsely populated areas.
In Tampere, multimodality can take the form of city bikes, robos or e-scooters used to reach tram stops easily; a demand-based taxi brings someone to take a local train or a network of Park&Rides by truck line routes.
In addition to infrastructure and new services, mobility management is needed to change the mindset for new possibilities. Also, digital technologies and smart traffic management can play a significant role. Therefore, improving multimodality needs cooperation between the public sector and private providers.”
Four European sustainable mobility champion locations were recently unveiled in Brussels by Matthew Baldwin, Deputy Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Transport and Mobility.
The four awards and victors were; European Mobility Week Award 2021 for larger municipalities, Kassel (Germany); European Mobility Week Award 2021 for smaller municipalities, Valongo (Portugal); the 10th annual Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP), Tampere (Finland); and the EU Road Safety Award, Rethymno (Greece).
European Mobility Week is an annual event, running from 16-22 September. Cities and towns across Europe can take this opportunity to trial new ideas, promote infrastructure and technologies, and track their own air quality. Residents become involved with and begin discussions surrounding sustainable mobility, heralding a social change towards a greener world. The event saw record-breaking levels of participation in 2021 with over 3,100 towns joining the scheme.
Adina Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport, commended the award winners’ and finalists’ achievements, sharing:
“I would like to extend my congratulations to the winners of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Awards as well as to all finalists. These cities have taken concrete actions to tackle transport emissions, noise, and congestion through innovative actions. With the new EU Urban Mobility Framework, we will support better planning of sustainable urban mobility, putting public transport, walking, and cycling at the core of local authorities’ efforts to improve people’s everyday lives.”
Comments Off on European Mobility Week Awards deadline approaches
European Mobility Week, the European Commission’s flagship awareness-raising campaign on sustainable urban mobility, takes place annually from 16-22 September and culminates in a Car Free Day. Local authorities are encouraged to organise various activities and events towards behavioural change in favour of active mobility, public transport, and other clean, intelligent transport solutions.
The European Mobility Week Awards are prizes given in support of this cause, with two categories of award, for municipalities with a population over 100,000, and those under 100,000.
The deadline for applications is fast approaching, at 31 October 2021 at 24:00 (CET)
Towns and cities are only eligible for consideration if they:
have registered their campaign online at www.mobilityweek.eu in due time
signed and submitted a copy of the Charter acknowledging their participation
are situated in the European Union, EU Candidate Countries, Potential EU Candidate
Countries that are part of Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP), European Economic Area (EEA), European Free Trade Area countries (EFTA) or the Eastern Partnership (EaP)
Last year’s winners are not allowed to apply for the present edition of the awards
The European Secretariat takes care of the eligibility check and will contact applicants if needed.
Judges will take into consideration the following points in their assessment:
The quality of activities relevant to the annual theme. In 2021, the campaign focused on ‘Safe
and Healthy with Sustainable Mobility’.
The comprehensiveness of the action plan regarding events, activities and involvement of
people.
The strategic approach in communicating towards people and the media.
The (expected) environmental and social impact of permanent measure(s), supported by
evidence (for example, number of users of new cycle lane, estimate of carbon emissions
saved, number of private car journeys avoided).
The quality and scope of the partnerships with local stakeholders.
Winners will be chosen by a jury, with the winners revealed to the public and to the participants at a ceremony in Brussels, in Spring 2022.
