The latest Breakfast at Sustainability's gathered over 50 people from Europe's SUMP community to discuss the forthcoming update of the EU SUMP Guidelines.

Organised as part of CIVITAS SUMPs-Up, the event took place in Brussels (Belgium) on Wednesday 12 December 2018 and was opened by Matthew Baldwin, Deputy Director-General, DG MOVE.

He emphasised that “solutions to address urban mobility challenges exist in cities. When combined with their innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, much of what is necessary to create the next generation of SUMPs is already there."

Following this, three cities with experience of using the Guidelines - Maia (Portugal), Oradea (Romania), and ICLEI Member Tampere (Finland) - presented their SUMP stories.

In the ensuing panel discussion, the cities and Matthew Baldwin all said that the new Guidelines should explain how to move from pilots, to projects, to policy.

An interactive workshop formed the second half of the morning. Participants, whose backgrounds ranged from cities, industry, academia and civil society to EU and international institutions, expressed their wishes for the updated Guidelines.

Funding was a recurring topic, with information on possible funding sources and comparisons of measure costs desired content. Such figures help overcome a common barrier - political reluctance.

In addition, the importance of local knowledge and understanding the impact measures might have on individual lives, particularly if negative, was repeated. To achieve this, dialogue must be embedded in the SUMP process. Advice for ensuring buy-in from and the involvement of various stakeholders will sit at the heart of the Guidelines.

Contributions in Brussels will inform and inspire the new document. A version will be presented at the next EU SUMP Conference in Groningen (the Netherlands), 17-18 June 2019.

For more information and to download the city's presentations, click here.