GIZ ORF-EE helps create regional expert pool to support development of SUMPs

A SUMP Boot Camp was organized in Podgorica, Montenegro in late May to create a regional expert pool that will support the development of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) in cities and municipalities of five Western Balkan countries.

The training was organized by the GIZ Open Regional Fund for South-East Europe – Energy Efficiency (ORF-EE), as part of the Sustainable Urban Mobility in South-East European Countries II (SUMSEEC II) project.

The selection of participants in the training was carried out in cooperation with associations of cities and municipalities from five partner countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia), based on their interest in advancing their knowledge in the field of urban mobility and becoming part of the expert pool.

At the start of the two-day training, Milenka Knežević, an advisor at the GIZ ORF-EE, provided an overview of regional cooperation in this area and presented the training goals, announcing the future activities on the regional level, including cooperation and the exchange of experiences of cities in the region.

Participants in the training, led by urban mobility experts Cosimo Chiffi and Simone Bosetti, learned about the SUMP principles, case studies, the examples of good practice, the inclusion of the public and the selection of relevant stakeholders, and the inclusion of decision makers in the process of sustainable urban mobility planning. Gender issues in urban mobility planning were also discussed.

According to Tihomir Dakić of the Center for Environment, based in Banja Luka, who is the European Mobility Week national coordinator for Bosnia and Herzegovina, said that one of the greatest benefits of the training was the fact that it gathered representatives of local governments, universities, and non-governmental organizations who defined new avenues of cooperation and urban mobility development in local communities and beyond.

Participants in the training are to support the development of SUMPs and advocacy documents or to organize workshops for local governments in their countries in the period ahead.