Events

Workshop

19th Breakfast at Sustainability's

Sustainable urban mobility planning in small and medium-sized communities

16 March 2016, 9:30 - 12:30
Brussels, Belgium

The conclusions drawn from the EU-funded BUMP project were presented at a workshop in Brussels (Belgium) on 16 March, with speakers and panellists outlining the key elements in developing a successful sustainable urban mobility plan (SUMP). The event was the 19th edition of the ongoing Breakfast at Sustainability’s series. Panelists and speakers affirmed that to be effective a SUMP must be realistic and implementable within budgetary constraints, that citizen participation should be guided by experts, and that cities should take advantage of the various means to collect available data, including sharing information between different departments.

Isabelle Maës of the European Commission’s DG MOVE opened the proceedings, providing an overview of the European Commission’s role in setting the European transport agenda. BUMP project coordinator Fabio Tomasi stressed the importance of adapting SUMP planning to the local context and making information available in the national language of each country. Through the project 36 SUMPs were developed, with 177 participants taking part in the various BUMP trainings.

Leonardo Naldini of Perugia spoke of the importance of truly parsing citizens’ needs, giving the example of a citizen consultation that showed an overwhelming desire for a well-serviced bus route to the local hospital which in practice was poorly used. Claudio Mantero of Funchal, Portugal, and Abel Ortego of CIRCE, Spain, agreed on the need to use data already being collected rather than spending money trying to find new solutions, while Luca Mercatelli of AREA Science Park Trieste spoke about the necessity of defining what is relevant and cost effective in the local context.

Lucia Ilieva of CSDCS Bulgaria praised the experience exchange and training provided by the project. Christof Marx of EASME closed the event, congratulating BUMP on identifying and pursuing capacity building as a crucial area for the take up of SUMPs.

For more information, see the presentations below.