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City of Koprivnica (Croatia) wins European Mobility Week award
14.02.2008, 16:25
European Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas today presented the European Mobility Week award 2008 to the Croatian city of Koprivnica. Frankfurt am Main (Germany) and Arad (Romania) were the runners-up. European Mobility Week (EMW), supported by the European Commission and held annually, promotes sustainable mobility in towns and cities by encouraging use of low- or non-polluting alternatives to private cars, such as walking, cycling, public transport and car-sharing. The introduction of permanent measures to facilitate these alternatives is a condition of participation. The award was given for the best contribution to last year's EMW, held from 16 to 22 September under the slogan of 'Streets for People,' which encouraged local authorities to give more road space to non-motorised forms of mobility. Commissioner Dimas announced the award at a ceremony held at the Résidence Palace in Brussels.
"European Mobility Week is improving public health and the quality of life in urban areas by promoting permanent measures to encourage sustainable mobility," Commissioner Dimas said. "I want to congratulate Koprivnica on its outstanding achievements in this area. I also want to thank Frankfurt, Arad and the more than 2,000 other cities that took part in Mobility Week, and to express my hope that the steady growth in participation will continue this year."
Selection process
European Mobility Week 2007 was celebrated by 2,016 participating cities with an estimated population of 215 million people in 35 countries. The EMW award is given for the quality and comprehensiveness of the actions undertaken by a local authority, its strategic approach to communicating and promoting EMW to citizens and the media, and the innovativeness of the permanent measures implemented.
Forty-two municipalities put themselves forward for the award. The entries were judged by an independent panel of six experts in sustainable mobility issues. Besides selecting Koprivnica, Frankfurt and Arad as finalists, the jury also shortlisted Almeirim (Portugal), Bjelovar (Croatia), Ponferrada (Spain), Budapest (Hungary), Sheffield (UK), Ostersunds (Sweden) and Kromeriz (Czech Republic).
Achievements of the three finalists
During Mobility Week Koprivnica launched a three-year "Streets for People" programme which aims to make all public buildings, pavements and road crossings accessible to the disabled, reallocate 1-1/2 kilometres of roads in the centre to non-motorised traffic and promote walking and public transport running on bio-diesel. The jury was impressed by the city's comprehensive action plan for the week including activities on all key transport themes. Having participated in Mobility Week for six successive years, Koprivnica has now achieved a number of its sustainable transport objectives and become an example which neighbouring cities are following.
Frankfurt organised a well-run information campaign whose various activities enabled people to learn about key transportation and environmental challenges and try out alternative means of transport such as bike taxis and solar powered vehicles. During the week Frankfurt closed a main artery road into the centre for two days to prepare the public for the permanent closure of the road planned for this year. It also presented a customer guarantee within the public transport system which will be introduced on a permanent basis this spring.
Mobility Week in Arad was organised around educational activities on air quality, sustainable transport and protecting the environment. Study visits were organised and air quality measurements carried out on roads to show local people the impacts of traffic emissions on air quality. The city worked in close collaboration with local stakeholders to ensure the Week's success. Arad also launched major projects to achieve lasting improvements in the local transport infrastructure and reallocated road space to pedestrians.
Background
European Mobility Week is coordinated by the three European networks of cities, EUROCITIES, Climate Alliance and Energie-Cités, and supported by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Environment.
Further information:
European Mobility Week
http://www.mobilityweek-europe.org/index.php?lang=en
Source: www.europa.eu