• Jordi Casas Juan, City Development Manager at the Innovation Hub South, explains how EIT Urban Mobility supports cities in delivering their sustainable urban mobility strategies in an interview with Hub Cities.
• EIT Urban Mobility collaborates with more than 60 cities across Europe in developing and implementing their sustainable mobility plans
• Developed by EIT Urban Mobility, City Club is a platform for cities to collaborate, sharing best practices, upscaling ideas, and putting them to work. The club also serves as a sounding board for citizens and a means of outreach.
• Watch the full interview HERE

EIT Urban Mobility supports cities in delivering their sustainable urban mobility strategies by providing resources, expertise, funding, and collaboration opportunities. By leveraging innovation and knowledge-sharing, we help cities progress toward more sustainable, efficient, and accessible urban transportation systems.  But, how do we develop and implement our support?

• Innovation and Research: EIT Urban Mobility fosters innovation and research in urban mobility. Our collaboration with academic institutions, startups, and established companies allows us to develop and test new mobility solutions, technologies, and business models that can help cities achieve their sustainability goals.
• Education and Training: Through educational programmes and training opportunities for urban mobility professionals, decision-makers, and stakeholders. These programmes help cities build capacity and expertise in designing and implementing sustainable mobility solutions. – eiturbanmobility.eu/academy/
• Living Labs: EIT Urban Mobility creates living labs in cities across Europe. These living labs serve as test beds for innovative mobility solutions, allowing cities to pilot and evaluate modern technologies and approaches in real-world urban environments. – eiturbanmobility.eu/city-club/mobility-living-labs/
• Public-Private Partnerships: EIT Urban Mobility facilitates collaboration between public and private sector entities. Bringing together various stakeholders encourages the development of public-private partnerships that can finance and implement sustainable mobility projects.
• Knowledge Sharing: exchanging knowledge and best practices among cities.
• Funding and Grants: EIT Urban Mobility provides funding and grants to support innovative mobility projects in cities. This financial support can help cities implement sustainable mobility solutions and infrastructure improvements.
• Policy Support: EIT Urban Mobility works closely with cities to align their mobility strategies with European Union policies and sustainability objectives. It provides policy guidance and recommendations to help cities develop effective and sustainable urban mobility plans.
• Data and Analytics:  we support cities in collecting and analysing data related to urban mobility. Data-driven insights can help cities make informed decisions and optimise their transportation systems for sustainability and efficiency.
• Advocacy and Awareness: EIT Urban Mobility advocates for sustainable urban mobility at the European level and raises awareness about the importance of transitioning to cleaner, more efficient transportation systems.

• The European Innovation Council (EIC) announced the 12 cities from 10 countries that have advanced to the semi-final stage of the ninth edition of the iCapital Awards. The cities aim to become the 2023 European Capital of Innovation or the European Rising Innovative City.
  
  
• Supported by the European Innovation Council (EIC) under Horizon Europe, the prize recognises cities’ role in shaping the local innovation ecosystem and promoting game-changing innovation.

The city of Lisbon has taken another step in the race to become the European Capital of Innovation 2023 by being chosen as one of the six semi-finalists for this honour awarded by the European Commission. The Portuguese capital is now competing with two other Ukrainian cities – Kiev and Lviv -, two Turkish cities – Istanbul and Basaksehir – and one Polish city, Warsaw.

Lisbon’s application, presented under the title Lisboa Unicorn Capital, is based on the idea of the city as a “home and space for all those who believe, take risks and innovate, undertake and endeavour to make the impossible possible, while at the same time contributing to improving the community’s quality of life”, says a statement from the municipality. To this end, the city presented the jury with a dossier of the work carried out so far, particularly in the environment, culture, economy, and mobility.

For the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, this choice reflects the city’s commitment to establishing itself as a Unicorn Factory: “Innovation is fundamental to the growth, competitiveness, and development of our society. Lisbon is today a recognised stage in innovation and has had an enormous capacity to attract companies and professionals from all over the world. Being part of this selection by the European Commission is proof and recognition of the intense work done to be at the forefront and place Lisbon as a city of innovation.”

The European Capital of Innovation Awards (iCapital) was established in 2014 to reward those European cities that are courageous enough to open their governance practices to experimentation, to boost innovation, to be a role model for other cities, and to push the boundaries of technology for the benefit of their citizens.

In addition to the monetary reward, the prize brings high visibility through renewed public interest and increased media coverage.

Past winners include Barcelona (2014), Amsterdam (2016), Paris (2017), Athens (2018), Nantes (2019), Leuven (2020), Dortmund (2021), Vantaa (2021), Aix-Marseille Provence Metropole (2022) and Haarlem (2022).

(Original article published at Smart Cities Cidades Sustentaives)

(original article by CARNET)

Despite the efforts to promote sustainable transportation systems, cities still face challenges in distributing public street space to different uses. For example, double-parking caused by delivery vehicles is one of the main negative impacts of the outburst in last-mile deliveries. This impacts private vehicles and vital roads, generating conflicts with pedestrians, cyclists, public transport, and emergency vehicles. In addition, data on curbside (e.g., parking, loading zones) is unstructured and insufficient to take proper decisions. There is a need for innovative measures to help cities reduce congestion and trips, achieve sustainable mobility goals, improve delivery efficiency, and potentially increase revenues. Last year, a consortium of EIT Urban Mobility’s partners began the FlexCurb project to find new and innovative solutions. Co-funded by EIT Urban Mobility, the project aims to overcome all these challenges through a series of tools used by drivers and public administration.

Thanks to the success of 2022, the project recently kicked off its 2023 edition. Its main focus during 2023 will be to validate the solution in real-life environments further and adapt the existing technology to the particular case of the pilot city of Strasbourg, France. Also, the Connected Vehicles extension for the FlexCurb Planning platform will be designed and validated during the year. This will reveal historical patterns of curb use and inform actions to reduce occupancy rates, and illegal parking, redistribute curb spaces, and promote sustainable mobility and logistics.

In addition, the FlexCurb Driver App is being upgraded. New features will be added, and the main objective will be to help drivers inform about their operations by displaying the areas of the city with the most and least parking activity based on historical patterns at a given time. This feature will help to control the flow of vehicles, as many drivers will be able to evaluate whether it is convenient for them to drive their cars based on the parking activity mentioned.

These tests intend to keep enhancing the app and adapting it to the needs of users and councils. Looking back, during 2022 the project achieved significant results in developing innovative solutions for curbside management with the cities of Leuven, Strasbourg, Funchal, and Toulouse. One of them was creating the concept of Shared-Use Mixed Zones (SUM Zones), which integrates parking management, urban vehicle access regulations, and freight management with flexible curbside management.

Considering the needs of various stakeholders, including pedestrians, cyclists, public transportation, and freight services, the proposed curbside management solutions can potentially revolutionize urban mobility by promoting a balanced and inclusive transportation ecosystem. This approach will reduce the environmental impact of conveyance, minimize vehicle emissions, and support the shift towards greener modes of transportation.

The partners involved in the project are CTAG, Urban Radar, CARNET, Ghent University, the city of Funchal, Toulouse Métropole, Ville et Eurométropole de Strasbourg, city of Leuven, POLIS Network, and FIT Consulting.

If you want to know more about the FlexCurb project, you can visit the project website here: https://urbanradar.io/flex-curb/

Portugal has been making noteworthy progress in urban mobility in recent years. The country has set ambitious goals and objectives, driven by the motivation to reduce the environmental impact of transportation and create more sustainable cities. One of the primary objectives of Portugal’s urban mobility policies is to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable transportation. To achieve this, the country has set a target to have 40% of all urban trips made by walking, cycling, or public transport by 2030. This goal is part of Portugal’s National Energy and Climate Plan, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030.

The motivation behind Portugal’s push for sustainable urban mobility is to create more liveable and healthy cities for its residents. The country’s urban areas are among Europe’s most congested and polluted, significantly impacting public health. By promoting sustainable transportation, Portugal aims to reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality, and create more pleasant urban environments.

Portuguese cities are working towards achieving these objectives. Portugal’s capital city, Lisbon, has been working on making its transportation more sustainable for several years. The city has implemented a bike-sharing program, a car-sharing service, and an electric tram system. It has also invested in a network of bike lanes and pedestrian paths, which has helped increase cycling and walking in the city. Cities like Porto, Braga or Cascais has made significant investments in public transportation.

How is EIT Urban Mobility supporting Portugal’s objectives?

Since 2021, 39 projects have been implemented in the country to promote innovation and foster collaboration in urban mobility, two of which are particularly noteworthy: RAPTOR and #ChallengeMyCity.

Rapid Applications for Transport (RAPTOR) is a competition that swiftly creates and tests solutions to niche urban mobility challenges. Participants compete to provide the most innovative, feasible, and impactful solutions. The RAPTOR programme was implemented in 2022 in the city of Cascais with successful results, helping to solve three challenges identified by the city.  

#ChallengeMyCity is a programme enabling European cities to tackle their most pressing urban challenges by testing market-ready innovative mobility solutions.  Its objective is to test the best solutions through a six-month pilot and evaluates their social, economic, and environmental impact and estimate long-term integration into the city’s mobility strategy, to make mobility more sustainable and accessible for all.

The programme will be implemented in 2023 in Braga, which has just won the European Mobility Week 2022 prize for its remarkable activities in promoting sustainable mobility and continues to take steps towards improving its urban mobility ecosystem. Through #ChallengeMyCity programme, it is seeking innovative solutions to face four identified challenges. A total of 240.000 € will be invested in testing these solutions.  https://portocanal.sapo.pt/noticia/326280

But in addition to these two main programmes, other projects have been developed in the country thanks to our collaborative work, resulting in an investment of more than 1.5 million from EIT Urban Mobility since 2021. The city of Lisbon becomes one of the most illustrative examples, with more of 16 projects implemented. 

As Portugal continues to prioritize sustainable and innovative urban mobility solutions, programmes like RAPTOR and #ChallengeMyCity will continue to play a significant role in driving progress and promoting collaboration.

• EIT Urban Mobility’s city partner, Braga has won the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK award in recognition of its work on sustainable mobility
• The award recognises outstanding municipalities for promoting green and active transport during the previous year’s European Mobility Week, the European Commission’s flagship awareness-raising campaign.
• The Portuguese city picked up the prize at a ceremony in the Belgian city of Ghent on 23 March

The city of Braga in Portugal has won the prestigious 2022 European Mobility Week Award for its commitment to promoting sustainable mobility. The award recognises cities for their efforts to promote sustainable urban transportation and reduce the environmental impacts of cars and other motorized vehicles. The European Commission announced the award as part of its annual European Mobility Week celebrations. Braga was selected from dozens of European cities for its commitment to developing sustainable urban transport solutions. The city has implemented a range of innovative initiatives to reduce car use, including the creation of a city-wide bike-share system, the introduction of electric buses, and the promotion of public transport. Braga is also making progress in developing alternative forms of transport, such as electric scooters and e-bikes, as well as encouraging citizens to use more sustainable modes of transport like walking and cycling. The award is a testament to Braga’s dedication to creating a more sustainable and healthier urban environment. By investing in green and innovative transport solutions, Braga is demonstrating that cities can take action to reduce car use and promote healthier, greener lifestyles. 

EU judges were impressed with Braga’s commitment to raising awareness on sustainable mobility with many stakeholders, including residents, local businesses, and educational institutions. With this award, the city of Braga is paving the way for other cities to follow in its footsteps and create more sustainable and liveable urban environments.

“It’s an honour to be here today and celebrate Braga’s achievement in promoting sustainable mobility and co-creating synergies among various organisations to provide clean and appealing mobility options for our citizens and families,” Olga Pereira, Braga’s Mobility Councillor said in her acceptance speech.

The other finalists in the category were Sofia (Bulgaria) and Zagreb (Croatia). Offering her congratulations to the various winners of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK awards, Adina Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport, told them: “Your inspiring activities really show how cities and towns across Europe can improve people’s wellbeing by offering more sustainable mobility options for all.”

EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK runs from 16-22 September every year, providing towns and cities with an opportunity to try out innovative traffic and transport planning, promote new use of infrastructure and raise awareness on sustainable mobility within their communities. (1)

The Municipality of Braga and EIT Urban Mobility – a winning and strong collaboration

The Municipality of Braga and EIT Urban Mobility have partnered to collaborate on multiple projects to improve urban mobility in the region. In 2023 the Portuguese city was selected as part of our #ChallengeMyCity programme, a European self-designed programme that enables European cities to tackle their most pressing urban challenges by testing market-ready innovative mobility solutions.   Enhancing bike safety and monitoring cyclists´ flows, Understanding and promoting active mobility in the city centre, Improving monitoring and use of on-street parking spaces and encouraging alternative transportation for school commuting to decrease private car usage are the four challenges that will be solved in the city, thanks to the #ChallengeMyCity programme. More info available here.

In 2022, Braga implemented the Bicification project, which was supported by EIT Urban Mobility, an initiative to turn traditional transportation into a more sustainable form of travel by supporting a modal shift towards green, active mobility through a reward-based gamification programme.

More info available here

(1 – article from the EuropeanMobilityWeek website)