Energy Efficiency

SEE capital cities agree to join forces for sustainable urban mobility

Photo: GIZ ORF-EE

Published

April 28, 2017

Country

Comments

comments icon

0

Share

Published:

April 28, 2017

Country:

Comments:

comments icon

0

Share

The GIZ Open Regional Fund for South-East Europe – Energy Efficiency organized the Meeting on sustainable urban mobility in Berlin, Germany from April 25 to 26. It featured an official signing of the Letter of intent on sustainable urban mobility by representatives of SEE capital cities.

The meeting brought together mayors and city representatives from South-East Europe SEE and the EU, including representatives of the GIZ, the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development and Housing, the Berlin Transport Company (BVG) and many more.

The focus of the meeting was on transfer of knowledge and best practices from EU to SEE. The highlight of the gathering was the agreement of SEE capital cities of Sarajevo, Podgorica, Skopje, Tirana, Pristina to join forces for effective implementation of the regional initiative on sustainable urban mobility.

“The intention is to develop and launch a regional project on sustainable urban mobility, in collaboration with capital cities and other large SEE cities as partners”, Joachim Gaube, the ORF-EE Sector Fund Manager said. He further noted that the German cities Berlin and Freiburg i.Br., including the Croatian city of Zagreb, would act as model cities within this project.

EU Clean Transport Best Practices Transfer to SEE Cities

The meeting served as an opportunity for presentation of successful models of sustainable urban mobility of EU cities, which could potentially be transferred to cities in SEE or on which these cities could build on.

Dubravka Bošnjak, ORF-EE Project Manager stressed the need for the development of energy efficient, sustainable and green transport solutions in the region by building on successful practices from the EU. She further added “such practices include the Peer to Peer approach, city-to-city collaboration, mentoring, etc., all in line with the EU 2030 Energy Strategy, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals – in particular Goal 11 referring to Sustainable Cities and Communities.”

Deputy Mayor of the City of Podgorica, Časlav Vešović used the opportunity to highlight that “the aim to implement sustainable transport solutions in SEE should become imperative, not only in influencing the reduction of traffic jams, but also in inspiring a mindset change in citizens leading to less polluted and less noisy cities, and healthier lives.”

Knowing that cities are places of high concentration of economic activity and very complex spatial structures, that are supported by transport systems, the Berlin event also demonstrated GIZ ORF-EE´s dedication to provide crucial support to SEE cities in their efforts to orient themselves towards energy efficient, sustainable and clean transport solutions. Mayor Koce Trajanovski of the City of Skopje added on the occasion that he was very pleased about this new regional initiative and valuable exchange.

Urban productivity is highly dependent on the efficiency of the public transport system for movement of labor, freight and consumers between different locations. The larger the city the greater the challenge. Therefore, the regional project intends to build on previous ORF-EE projects and relevant experiences in the attempt to conquer the SEE region´s urban mobility issues through knowledge and best practice exchange, including through capacity building activities which would help the cities create and implemented own successful sustainable urban mobility models.

Comments (0)

Be the first one to comment on this article.

Enter Your Comment
Please wait... Please fill in the required fields. There seems to be an error, please refresh the page and try again. Your comment has been sent.

Related Articles

croatia vireas agency north AI energy

Meet VIREAS: new AI-powered virtual assistant for energy

22 July 2025 - The VIREAS app is an interactive platform that enables users to engage with an AI assistant on various topics related to energy

Slovenia grants renewables district heating cooling

Slovenia kicks off grants program for renewables-based district heating, cooling

22 July 2025 - Slovenia is cofunding the construction or restructuring of district heating and cooling systems using renewable energy sources

GGF grows direct lending energy transition energy security

Impact Report 2024: GGF grows direct lending, committed to energy transition, energy security

11 July 2025 - In its Impact Report 2024, Green for Growth Fund outlined powering the green transition across Southeast Europe, the Caucasus and beyond

projects euros modernisation fund celan energy

EU’s Modernisation Fund disburses EUR 3.66 billion for clean energy projects in nine countries

04 July 2025 - Focusing on renewables, grids, storage, and energy efficiency, the funds will support projects in Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, and Romania.