The Future is Now: Applied Courses to Help Urban Mobility Professionals Upskill and Succeed

In this article, you will understand:
– how we have the ability to address urban mobility professionals’ upskill needs
and to guide them every step of the way, from discovering specific mobility challenges to overcoming them with industry experts and peers.
– how the pandemic taught us to tailor our online and on-site learning to fully benefit urban mobility professionals
how we developed an extensive and diverse portfolio of courses and methodologies suitable for a variety of audiences.
how we developed courses on a wide array of other urban mobility-related subjects, with perspectives ranging from social and tech to environmental. View our full catalogue here.


A high percentage of the urban mobility jobs we’ll do in 2030 haven’t been invented yet – does that fact excite and inspire you? Do you want to be a trailblazer, leading the way towards a better future in a career you love? Do you have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge?  We can help.

Now more than ever, we are changing the way our cities and transport are planned: think breakthroughs in new technologies, digitalisation of the industry and championing zero-emission cities. Mobility professionals know the importance of delivering thriving and attractive living environments to citizens of the cities they work in. They also know that their line of work demands learning and implementing new skills and gaining a better understanding of the swift and sometimes abrupt changes this sector faces.

Here at EIT Urban Mobility, we want to be at the forefront of knowledge sharing for urban mobility professionals every step of the way. We are constantly developing state-of-the-art applied training courses that empower sector professionals, decision makers and businesses at every level across Europe to upskill in a way that suits them.

We offer courses perfect for a variety of different people, from local authorities and transport providers to those in the mobility industry, academia and beyond – so if you are looking to upskill, chances are we can help.

As Jim Moran once said, “The future belongs to those who prepare for it” – are you ready to own the future?

From Micro-Mobility and Electric Vehicles to Last Mile Logistics: What Will Become Your Specialisation?

We believe learning should happen in three steps:

  1. Discovering – Your introduction to urban mobility, helping you to uncover the different aspects of this field and discover what you find most interesting
  2. Understanding – Delving deeper into the topics you enjoy the most and developing an in-depth understanding
  3. Overcoming – This final step takes your learning to the next level, bringing you together with experts and other industry peers to overcome specific mobility challenges

We have the ability to guide urban mobility professionals every step of the way, from discovery to implementation. Our Urban Mobility Explained initiative and our online courses facilitate keen students to learn at their own pace, allowing them to properly solidify their knowledge of urban mobility – they are the ideal for the discovery and understanding steps.

The overcoming step is where our applied courses come into play. They are a fantastic way to empower urban mobility professionals to overcome mobility challenges together with industry experts and peers. These courses bring people together, both online and on-site, allowing learners to take the knowledge they’ve gleaned and put it into action.

Our applied courses can take place on location (ideal for experiencing local infrastructure, workshops, networking), online (good for theory or to get together without having to travel) or a mixture of the two. They are the final step in truly and deeply understanding urban mobility while addressing your challenges at work.

The impact of the pandemic

We took away three key lessons from the pandemic:

  1. The understanding part of learning can be done at home, at your own pace
  2. Some of the overcoming step will always need to be done on-site, especially when we are looking at infrastructure and transportation – for example, each specific city will have its own unique features to discover
  3. Parts of on-site courses can also be moved online, but they have to be completely re-thought to achieve the benefits and impact our students deserve – a ‘copy and paste’ approach just won’t work

All this means that we have been able to tailor our online and on-site learning to fully benefit urban mobility professionals like you. No matter where you are in the learning process, we understand exactly what you need – and how to give it to you.

Bridging an Educational Gap with Our Cycling Courses

One great example of how we’ve taken a learning opportunity from discovery to implementation is our cycling courses.

We know that there has been a rapid increase in cycling as of late, as individuals move towards more active mobility post-pandemic. Now is the time for cities to update their infrastructure to make it more inclusive and accessible for all types of travellers.

Cycling is of the utmost importance in urban mobility for a variety of economic, social and environmental reasons, and is changing cities and lives. By collaborating with leading European experts and organisations to develop impact-oriented courses, we are empowering a new generation of ambitious professionals to find the solutions we need to make our mobility greener and our cities more sustainable.

By researching what is important in the world of urban mobility today and discovering and bridging an educational gap, we’ve been able to give learners what they want and need: a proper understanding of cycling in relation to urban mobility.

The lifecycle of our cycling courses

We identified a need for cycling-friendly cities, which was exacerbated during the COVID pandemic. We wanted to empower urban mobility professionals of all levels, as well as spark a change in society, so we developed an extensive and diverse portfolio of courses and methodologies suitable for a variety of audiences.

Our goal? Easy – to make cycling a bigger part of city mobility.

Some of our cycling courses include:

  • An online MOOC on cycling, disseminating the unique cycling experience and expertises of The Netherlands and Denmark; good for beginners
  • A custom blended course for Transport Malta, taking the local infrastructure, mindset and current capabilities into careful consideration to ensure it was as beneficial for this city as possible; ideal for local professionals
  • An open course on designing the cycling city in Rotterdam, based on the content from the original MOOC; excellent for design professionals and mobility students
  • Two courses developed by other providers on the topic of cyclologistics: one in Belgium (next held in April 2023) and one in Italy (2023 date to be confirmed); great for urban mobility professionals
  • A course based on the Danish experience/school of cycling, designed and run by the provider Copenhagenize: held in Copenhagen in English and Paris in French; generally for design and engineering professionals, graduate students and those with a personal or professional interest in bicycles
  • The original MOOC on the cycling city offered to a Slovakian audience with online workshops, held over the summer; good for local professionals

And cycling is just the beginning! We’ve also developed courses on a wide array of other urban mobility-related subjects, with perspectives ranging from social and tech to environmental, such as:

View our full catalogue here.


Take Learning to the Next Level with EIT Urban Mobility

Are you ready to take on the future and carve out the perfect role for yourself in the world of urban mobility? Take the first step today with EIT Urban Mobility.

If you are an individual looking to upskill, why not view our full selection of educational opportunities here? If you are looking for tailored training for your corporation or city, please get in touch with us to discuss how we can create the ideal course for you.

Our training “The Digital Revolution at the Service of Territorial Mobility” designed with Citec is open for registration!

Urban Mobility is in a constant state of evolution, forever changed by the technology of its time. Technological innovations, Big Data, MaaS or social upheavals, the future of mobility will be multi-form and very different from what we know. The challenge of our time is to understand and prepare ourselves to face these changes, integrating the strategies of planning the mobility of the territories in order to make them increasingly interconnected. The main question is how to reconcile the timing of public decision-making processes – such as infrastructure construction – with the speed of changes and new technological mobility solutions.

To help mobility professionals addressing the challenges of tomorrow’s mobility, EIT Urban Mobility Academy developed the training: “The Digital Revolution at the Service of Territorial Mobility” in partnership with Citec.

Click here to enrol now: https://bit.ly/3pFudb0  

Our training

Our training “The Digital Revolution at the Service of Territorial Mobility” will take place on 3 (remotely), 6 and 7 December 2021 (in Turin, Italy). Citec’s expert consultants and external speakers will give participants all the necessary notions and essential tools to face these challenges.

It is possible to enroll in some modules or in all the training. The training will be articulated according to the following programme:

  • Module 1: Introduction to the topic on international benchmarks, European SUMP, and national case studies. 4 hours remotely – 4 CFPs (Crediti Formativi Professionali) – €100 (excluding VAT)
  • Module 2: How to become an expert about how to deploy a SUMP (monitoring, digital tools to use, KPIs to be analysed, etc.). 8 hours in Turin (Italy) – 8 CFPs – €400 (excluding VAT)
  • Module 3: Build your digital mobility roadmap related to your SUMP. 8 hours in Turin (Italy) – 8 CFPs – 400 € (excluding VAT)
  • ENTIRE TRAINING (3 modules) – 20 hours – €700 (excluding VAT)

During the training, coffee breaks will be offered, and a networking aperitif will be held at the end of the first day in Turin (Italy).

Click here to enrol now: https://bit.ly/3pFudb0  

General information

When: 3, 6 and 7 December 2021

Who: All mobility professionals belonging to public bodies or private companies

What: 4 hours remotely + 2 days in Turin (Italy)

Registration opening date: October 2021

For more information: contact us at roberta.delfino@citec.ch or +39 011 580 53 05 or visit Citec’s website: https://www.citec.ch/it/events/formazione-citec-a-torino/

Click here to enroll now: https://bit.ly/3pFudb0  

(*The provision of CFPs (Crediti Formativi Professionali) for participating in the training is being validated by the CNI)

Our training “Mobility Digitalisation” in Barcelona designed by Factual is open for registration!

The public transportation ecosystem of each European city is a highly complex environment in which end-user’s travelling needs are put in its core. This ecosystem is exceedingly depended on the development of new technologies that constantly transform and shape user’s needs, infrastructure as well as public transport itself. To understand the digitalisation dynamic and speed of penetration of new technology into urban transportation system is a key priority for efficient planning of the infrastructure, sustainable use of public transport and appropriate addressing of users need. All this has a strong reverberation on business, economics and, foremost, environment.

As quickly as digitalisation permeates the transport environment, a prompt response has to be developed to grasp the opportunities and address the challenges that cutting-edge technologies bring into public transport sector. These are of diverse nature and intricacy.

New training “Mobility Digitalisation” very soon in Barcelona

The training “La Digitalització de la Mobilitat”, designed by Factual with the EIT Urban Mobility funding and the support of the Metropolitan Transport Authority (ATM) of Barcelona, is blueprinted to tackle various aspects of new technologies and digital transformation that have a significant impact on modern society, businesses and unambiguously on the urban mobility sector.

More specifically, this training will equip the participant with a comprehensive knowledge on relevant aspects of digital transformation in the urban environment. It will also help to understand a smart-user behaviour to meet his transportation demand, predict changes in the end-user travel patterns and model the impact of these changes on all urban transportation landscape, long distance travel, logistics, economy, and businesses. This training will also provide tools that will assist the participant to face and solve the future challenges that new technologies bring into modern city environment.

The main objectives of the training are:

  • Acquire thorough knowledge on digital technologies and getting confidence in incorporating them into mobility planning measures;
  • Understand their potential to change the way that mobility is planned and managed;
  • Facilitate the interaction and cooperation with their IT peers in their organisation;
  • Understand how to transform the organisation and internal procedures to properly leverage digitalisation;
  • Be ready to manage projects incorporating digital technologies: assess their implications in terms of cost, benefits, resources, timings.

The first edition of this training will be held in Barcelona from October 6 to December 1, 2021, aiming to develop this training in other EU cities in further editions.

More information

Visit the training website: www.factual-academy.com/course/la-digitalizacio-de-la-mobilitat

Contact Víctor Moyano, Senior Consultant Mobility, Factual: victor@factual-consulting.com

Launch of Academy Call for Proposals

Urban mobility faces a number of challenges. We need solutions accelerating the transformation towards a sustainable mobility ecosystem and with a focus on liveable spaces. This requires a systemic approach involving all key stakeholder groups and calls for change regarding what we do and how it is done. A key element to manage this transformation is to close the knowledge gap within the area. We need to secure that the required capabilities and capacity are available to plan for and handle the transformation and to be relevant in a new context, a new urban mobility paradigm. This education or training need can be summarised as ability to implement and leverage on new technology, innovation and entrepreneurship, and system transformation and change. This is an ongoing process and during 2020 the COVID-pandemic resulted in an increased awareness regarding the need for the urban mobility transformation and change in general.  

Since the start of 2019, the EIT Urban Mobility has built up a portfolio of education and training offerings with a focus on master and doctoral level students, as well as professionals working within urban mobility. We now need to take the Academy to the next level. We have identified a number of well-defined problems or needs to address. We look for proposals to support us creating a relevant and widely applied education and training portfolio in line with our strategic ambitions and targeted impact. 

We look forward to receiving your applications for inclusion in the Business Plan 2022 – 2024. 

Main features of the call (aim and segments) 

The overall purpose of the Academy area is to close the knowledge gap within urban mobility, enabling the development of mobility for liveable urban spaces. The Academy Call focuses on improving our Master School and Competence Hub activities.

For the Master School, we look for new more efficient teaching concepts, summer schools, marketing and raising awareness initiatives as well as specific activities improving teaching and training in the RIS (Regional Innovation Scheme) regions. 

The Competence Hub, our professional school targeting lifelong learning, welcomes proposals regarding urban mobility courses (online, blended, or face-to-face) with significant potential in impact and revenue. In addition, proposals concerning meeting city staff education and training needs, multi-stakeholder courses, hackathons, as well as proposals targeting RIS regions are most welcome. 

Partners 

The Academy Call is open to any type of organisation. The proposal should be submitted by a consortium comprising of minimum 2 sub-grantees from 2 different countries – EU Member State or associated country. 

Call summary

First Call for Proposals for Academy for BP 2022 – 2024: Main Features 

Dates  
Call opening: 19 March 2021 
Call closing: 18 May 2021 
Eligibility and admissibility check: End of May 2021 
Evaluation of proposals: June 2021 
Communication of results: beginning of July 2021 

Budget allocation 
Up to about 2.4 million EUR 

Link to submission portal 
PLAZA platform – OPEN NOW!

List of documents to be submitted 
Application form available on the Plaza platform

List of documents to take into consideration 
Business Plan 2022 – 2024 first call for proposals for Academy
EIT Urban Mobility Strategic Agenda 2021-2027 (link below) 
Call Guidelines for applicants (link below) 
Appeal Procedure (link below)
Eligibility of expenditures (link below)
List of KPIs (link below)
Monitoring and reporting (link below)
Frequently Asked Questions – First Calls for BP2022-2024 (link below)
Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement

Short summary of the topics to be addressed 
Master School: 
A number of specified activity areas to meet the EIT Urban Mobility Master School targets, including summer schools, marketing and awareness raising activities, increased geographical scope, efficiency improvements and the curricula. 

Competence Hub: 
A number of specified activity areas to meet the EIT Urban Mobility Competence Hub targets, including meeting unmet market needs, improved marketing and sales and financial sustainability, efficiency improvements and increased geographical scope and market. 

Evaluation criteria 
For the strategic fit evaluation
Alignment with the scope of one of the stated call activities, see 3.4.2. Scope of the activities. Activities are thereby aligned with the EIT Urban Mobility SA.  
KPIs in line with or exceeding the minimum level requirement, as stated for the respective call type of activity, see 3.4.2. Scope of the activities.  
Potential of impact in line with or exceeding the minimum level requirement as stated for the respective call type of activity, see 3.4.2. Scope of the activities.  

For the full proposal evaluation (if passing the strategic fit evaluation)
Excellence and novelty 
Impact and financial sustainability 
Quality and efficiency of the implementation 

Find all the information about this call below!

Supporting documents:

NEW! Additional document:

Contact details 

General aspects of the call call2022@eiturbanmobility.eu 
Specific aspects for Academy academycall@eiturbanmobility.eu 

Events-Webinars 

You can find the calendar on the main events here.