ORF-EE discusses Sustainable Urban Mobility in SEE at the 5th European Conference on SUMPs

The GIZ ORF-EE and representatives of partner cities from South-East Europe (SEE) took part in the 5th European Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), which was held from May 14-15 in Nicosia, Cyprus, to discuss sustainable mobility in SEE.

In line with the European Commission’s decision to make 2018 the year of multimodality, the conference focused on various transport modes, their integration, combined mobility solutions for people and freight, while planning for multimodal cities that would secure a better quality of life for people in urban areas, organizers of the conference stated.

The event addressed various aspects of mobility, with a special focus on development and implementation of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans.

ORF-EE partner cities, Sarajevo, Skopje, Tirana, Podgorica, and Belgrade took part in the panel discussion on mobility and SUMPs, zooming in on the situation in South-East European cities. Representatives of SEE partner cities made use of the invitation to present and take part in a panel discussion at the conference, addressing pertinent mobility issues in their cities and looking into innovative solutions to urban mobility issues in SEE.

The session “Zooming in on EE” was dedicated to cities in EE and SEE, considering the relatively low level of activities implemented in the sector of urban mobility. The session received much attention by participants of the conference and presented a great opportunity for new knowledge, networking and meeting of potential new donors.

“Our goal is to change habits of citizens for the sake of higher quality of life,” Milan Trivić, Deputy Mayor of the City of Sarajevo, stated on the occasion.

“We want to green the transportation system of Belgrade and create livable cities,” Maja Jovanović from the City of Belgrade stated.

Regional SUMSEEC Meeting

The conference was followed by the Regional Sustainable Urban Mobility in SEE Countries Project Meeting, held on May 16, where results and conclusion of the SUMSEEC SEE Mission, including the Roadmap – Guidelines on SUMP implementation in SEE, were presented and discussed with partners.

Dubravka Bošnjak, ORF-EE Project Manager stated on the occasion that effective SUMP development and implementation requires involvement of various administrative and governmental levels, and various stakeholders. She added “apart from regionally commonly agreed activities, the SUMSEEC project implementation will consider the different needs of the partner cities and tailor-made activities will be developed for each of the cities.”

“The ORF-EE SUMSEEC project is a great opportunity for South-East European cities to tackle issues they may face in their work on SUMPs and urban mobility transformation in SEE,” Markus Delfs, from MobiliseYourCity Partnership, added.