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:

• Planning for Autonomous Vehicles – Delving deep into how to plant or autonomous vehicles
• Mobility and Digitalisation – It’s key to understand the role new technologies play in an urban environment
• Virtual Reality – How does virtual reality fit into the world of urban mobility?
• And much, much more!

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.

Portugal is becoming a leader in the field of urban mobility, and thanks to their collaboration with EIT Urban Mobility is leading the way. Together, the city and the entity have launched several projects in the country aimed at improving the quality of life for citizens and reducing environmental impact.

And if we think about Portuguese cities, Braga is one of the most dynamic and forward-thinking cities in Europe regarding urban mobility. In consortium with EIT Urban Mobility, the city has developed ambitious projects to improve the mobility of people and goods, reduce emissions and promote the shift towards low-carbon mobility systems and smart cities. To tackle air pollution and traffic congestion, the city has created a bicycle-sharing system and a network of bike lanes. In 2022 the city decide to implement the project “Bicification – O Futuro em Duas Rodas”, funded by EIT Urban Mobility. 

Bicification – O Futuro em Duas Rodas”, (“Bicification – The Future on Two Wheels”) is a European project of sustainable mobility with which 500 citizens from Braga are helping the planet, improving their quality of life and being financially rewarded for their regular use of the bicycle.

Bicification, one of the main projects of the city co-founded by EIT Urban Mobility, is a unique initiative that seeks to turn traditional transportation into a more sustainable form of travel. It aims at supporting a modal shift towards green, active mobility through a reward-based gamification programme. Proposing an advanced solution (TRL9) consisting of patented hardware and software for monitoring and rewarding bike trips reliably.

This pilot project is taking place in three European cities and aims to encourage the use of soft mobility and study citizens’ behaviour to help political decision-makers implement measures. Through a GPS system and the associated App it is possible to monitor the bicycle journeys made, giving rise to financial incentives. This monitoring is done on a centralised data platform.

Each participant can consult the value of the cash prizes they have collected since day 1 on the App. They will also see the local businesses involved in the project where these monetary values can be used to purchase products/services.

Registered users receive monetary rewards from the local authorities, while cities benefit from valuable and reliable trajectory data. Local shops are also supporters of the scheme, as they provide discounts based on the collected points. Thus, an additional benefit for the local communities is the promotion of purchases from local shops.
Bicification also works to promote the health and environmental benefits of cycling, so it is a win-win situation for everyone. Another key aspect of Bicification is that it seeks to bridge the gap between city planning and cycling culture. It works to increase awareness of the infrastructure and services available for cyclists, and also works to encourage civic engagement and participation.

In the city of Braga, the project covered more than 77 thousand kilometres representing an estimated saving of 8 tonnes of CO2.  More than 5,500 euros in vouchers were already delivered.

EIT Urban Mobility is making a huge impact in Braga and beyond. The city is an inspiring example of how through smart innovations and initiatives, mobility can be revolutionised for the better. Furthermore, this is proving to be an invaluable opportunity for Braga to become a world leader in urban mobility and serve as an inspiration for other cities.
Regarding citizen involvement, the project has 1.500 users between Braga, Istanbul and Tallinn, 3 different cities that are making great efforts to promote active mobility. Aiming at reaching 100,000 users in 90 cities in the next 5 years.

EIT Urban Mobility Programme has also improved existing infrastructure and developed new projects around Portugal. For instance, helping the city of Cascais reduce parent commuter’s car dependency by suppressing their need to drive their children to school. Another main initiative is the Flexcurb in Funchal which has also revolutionised the mobility industry. The project provides a solution to control and balance the use of public space digitally, enabling the transition towards flexible use and management of the curb.
Through its various initiatives, EIT Urban Mobility is working to improve the mobility of Portugal and create more sustainable, integrated and efficient transport systems in order to make cities in the country more liveable.

The European project ‘Bicification’ is funded by EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union. Istanbul, in Turkey, and Talín, in Estonia, are the other two cities that joined the project.

Discover more: https://bicification-project.eu/