Eurocities members are among the finalists of the European Commission’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Awards.
Florence, Madrid, Tampere, Warsaw and Valongo made it to the 12-names list and are now hoping to scoop one of the top prizes next month.
The winners of the four awards – two EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Awards, one Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning Award and one EU Urban Road Safety Award – will be announced in an online ceremony on 28 March 2022 at 15.00 CET.
European Mobility Week Awards
A panel of mobility and transport experts selected Valongo among the runners-up for the European Mobility Week Award in the category of smaller municipalities – with less than 100,000 inhabitants.
Valongo stood out from the crowd for its “permanent measures and activities that integrate public opinion” and its “multi-modal approach”, including the construction of “attractive pedestrian areas and new and improved wheelchair ramps throughout the city.”
The Portuguese municipality will now compete against the group’s two other nominees, Alimos and Miajadas.
In the larger cities category, with over 100,000 inhabitants, panellists chose nominees Amadora, Kassel, and Lüleburgaz.
Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning Award
Madrid and Tampere earned praise for their efforts to link health and mobility. The cities will face Mitrovica South for the Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning Award.
Madrid impressed jurors for its “cross-cutting cooperation with the health sector to develop plans for active travel modes”, for launching multi-modality initiatives and for its role “as a pilot ‘30km per hour city.’”
Tampere owes the nomination to its projects in support of vulnerable groups and for “interlinking health, equality, the environment and poverty by highlighting the role of mobility within quality urban spaces.”
EU Urban Road Safety Award
Judges singled out Florence and Warsaw as nominees for the EU Urban Road Safety Award, together with Rethymno.
Warsaw was praised for its work to place “pedestrians front and centre with an ambitious Road Safety Audit,” a study to identify strategies and solutions to bring “urgent and long-term improvements.”
Florence’s “accident monitoring and analysis system” proved popular with the jury, as did the city’s work to showcase “the importance of real-time data in reducing dangerous circumstances on urban roads.”
Panellists judging the entries in each category are comprised of mobility and transport experts from NGOs and associations such as the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), the European Federation of Road Traffic Victims (FEVR), and academics from Edinburgh’s Napier University.
Setting a new record
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, last year’s EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK was a record edition, with more than 3,100 participating towns and cities across 53 countries. The event has been running since 2002 and takes place every year the week of 16-22 September.
European Mobility Week promotes sustainable transport modes such as cycling and walking; it prompts municipalities to create innovative sustainable mobility plans, promote new infrastructure, and raise awareness among local communities.
Click here to follow the award ceremony on 28 March 2022 at 15.00 CET. Via the same link, you can also register to join an online sustainable urban mobility planning workshop organised by the European Mobility Week Secretariat on 28 March from 10.00 to 13.00 CET.
