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‘Implementing urban mobility with less‘ says theCIVITAS Forum 2013 which will unveil brave new solutions to sustainable transport.
Imagine a future with clean, modern European cities that adopt cutting-edge sustainable mobility initiatives and offer superlative green transport options. Based on its powerful concept of City-Vitality-Sustainability, the CIVITAS Initiative has been bringing numerous European cities together since 2002 to launch several research and demonstration projects in different urban environments.
More than 10 years after its inception, the CIVITAS Initiative has made spectacular progress in extending cleaner and better transport across the continent, from Cork in Ireland and Tallinn in Estonia to Coimbra in Portugal and Nicosia in Cyprus. It has established over 60 demonstration cities where it introduced new technologies and helped adopt new eco-friendly transport initiatives. This involved testing over 800 measures and building a larger network of over 200 cities to further green transport, representing a drive that has been supported by an EU-funded budget of EUR 120 million.
With road transport being behind 40% of CO2 emissions and 70% of other pollutants from urban traffic in Europe, CIVITAS couldn’t have come any sooner. Currently, under the 2MOVE2 project which boasts a budget of EUR 9 million, CIVITAS promotes sustainable urban mobility in four more cities. These are Brno in the Czech Republic, Malaga in Spain, Stuttgart in Germany and Tel Aviv-Yafo in Israel. On-going initiatives under 2MOVE2 include introducing electric minibuses in Brno, streamlining the use of heavy goods vehicles in Malaga, improving traffic management in Stuttgart, and increasing the use of bicycles in Tel Aviv-Yafo.
The second and concurrent project within the fourth phase of CIVITAS, known as DYN@MO, has spread its wings to Aachen in Germany, Gdynia in Poland, Koprivnica in Croatia, and Palma in Spain. This new project holds several exciting surprises up its sleeve, from strengthening the use of hybrid and electric vehicles in Aachen and Palma to installing intelligent transport systems in Gdynia and introducing public transport in the small town of Koprivnica. Altogether, more than 60 demonstration cities have benefitted from EU funding of EUR 200 million, leveraging a total investment estimated at EUR 370 million to facilitate the implementation of cleaner urban transport projects.
Against this backdrop the CIVITAS network is launching the 11th edition of the annual CIVITAS Forum Conference which will take place in the bustling French port city of Brest, the main metropolitan hub of Western Brittany. The event will be held from 30 September to 2 October 2013 in this enterprising destination which has successfully marketed itself as a dynamic metropolis by the ocean, known in French as Brest métropole océane.
As one of the 200 CIVITAS Forum cities, Brest is keen on showcasing its momentous progress in making its transport greener and cleaner. Among the city’s proud achievements in this area are the light rail line, dedicated bus lanes, cycling-friendly features and an upcoming cable-car system to cross the river and port near the city centre.
This year’s Forum theme is focussing on ‘Implementing sustainable urban mobility with less’, unveiling dynamic ways to advance greener transport with less resources and making such a vision more attainable. It will also focus on ways to identify barriers and failure factors in adopting a more sustainable transport model, proposing novel approaches to overcome them.
The event has already attracted the attention of technical experts, politicians, representatives of CIVITAS cities and key stakeholders in the transport sector who will introduce ambitious transport measures and policies. A wealth of other interesting conference themes will be discussed, including hybrid busses, new parking scenarios, cycle highways, fare integration and smartphone applications.
This is an unparalleled chance for policymakers, community leaders, transport experts, environmentalists, city planners, academics and active citizens to embrace new solutions that could redefine urban environments. The event has gathered prestigious speakers not only from across Europe, but also from the Middle East, and North Africa. If you want to be part of this new vision register here. The CIVITAS Forum Conference will be held in English and is open to all interested parties upon registration.
If you are interested in joining the CIVITAS Initiative, or if you have questions, please contact the CIVITAS Secretariat at secretariat@civitas.eu
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