The CIVITAS Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) held its 8th official meeting online and in ICLEI Member Brussels (Belgium) last week, alongside representatives from the European Commission (DG MOVE).

The PAC is a group of leading elected politicians that act as an advisory board to the CIVITAS Initiative, which convenes regularly to share experiences on sustainable urban mobility policy, to advise and interact with DG MOVE, and to explore current priorities for sustainable urban mobility in Europe. The current CIVITAS PAC includes elected officials from ICLEI Members Antwerp and Schaerbeek (Belgium), Graz (Austria), Stockholm (Sweden), Ljublijana (Slovenia), and Vitoria-Gasteiz (Basque Country). In fact, the PAC Member from Vitoria-Gasteiz, Ana Oregi Bastarrik, is also a longtime member of ICLEI’s Regional Executive Committee.

Discussions were prompted by interventions from Adelheid Byttebier, PAC member and Schaerbeek Vice-Mayor for Mobility, and from Bart Dhondt, Deputy Mayor of Mobility and Public Works for the City of Brussels. PAC members discussed Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), as well as challenges currently faced by sustainable urban mobility projects in their cities and innovative ways of facing these.

Furthermore, the PAC met with the European Directorate-General for Mobility & Transport (DG MOVE) to discuss the new Sustainable Urban Mobility Indicator (SUMI) approach, and to discuss which new topic to explore in the upcoming 2023 PAC Statement. These annual statements include policy recommendations, and help to identify European mobility priorities by providing an indication of the priorities of the cities that make up the CIVITAS Community.

SUMPs and SUMIs are central to EU urban mobility policy; CIVITAS and ICLEI Europe provide invaluable resources to support cities and regions in the roll-out of effective SUMPs. This spans guidelines for developing and implementing a SUMP; and SUMP Topic Guides, including one on gender equity and inclusivity in SUMPs authored by Ana Drăguțescu, Sustainable Mobility and Transport Coordinator at ICLEI Europe.

To learn more about ICLEI’s work in the field of mobility and transport, read here.