Almost 50 mobility practitioners from 8 countries around the Baltic Sea took part in the SUMPs-Up workshop in Tampere on March 15th, that was organized by UBC Sustainable Cities Commission, together with the City of Tampere and MAL-network.
The workshop was arranged in the framework of the SUMPs-Up project activities for mobility practitioners in Europe to mainstream knowledge about SUMPs and their take-up in different countries.
Mobility practitioners from cities, regional authorities, ministries, universities and consultancies brought their experience and ideas about SUMP, to network and discuss with each other and to get inspired by the different approaches on SUMP that were presented by experts from the region.
Presentations from the cities of Tampere and Lahti illustrated the practical implementation of the SUMP concept and how it is integrated into the cities´ planning processes. Cities of Gdynia, Poland and Örebro from Sweden brought the transnational aspect to our workshop. Both cities are very advanced when it comes to sustainable urban mobility planning and implement variety of measures to support sustainable mobility among all user groups, especially among children.
Before heading to a site visit to explore the sustainable mobility measures implemented in Tampere, the participants were divided in smaller groups to discuss the key challenges when it comes to SUMP preparation and implementation.
Lack of cross-sectoral cooperation within the city and across departments, lack of skills, capacity, motivation and knowledge about the SUMP benefits among city staff and lack of political commitment and support were seen as the key challenges in SUMP development. Well-formulated and personalized communication about the SUMP benefits to both colleagues and politicians was seen important to increase commitment to SUMP targets. Establishment of cross-sectoral working groups or even introducing common places to have coffee were seen as ways to improve cooperation between experts from different fields. It was also stated that as SUMP is a lot about integrated and participatory planning planners need to adapt new role as a facilitator of dialogues between different stakeholders which requires new network management skills.
Good communication and cooperation platforms allowing space for discussion were seen important factors to improve also institutional and cross-border cooperation. Companies’ and organisations’ role in supporting mobility management among their employees was seen crucial to influence people’s travel behavior. Offering all kind of trials and testing periods for sustainable modes of transport were seen effective measures. Different competitions like Green Mobility Awards or competitions where users need to use sustainable modes were perceived a good way to raise media attention and thus promote sustainable mobility.
We hope to be able to continue these fruitful discussions in the future!
The presentation and the results of the discussions can be found here. More information about the SUMPs-Up project and the training activities is offers to mobility practitioners around the Europe can be found here!
NB! Deadline has been extended for applications to join next SUMPS learning programmes. Read more here: https://www.ubc-sustainable.net/news/deadline-extended-applications-join-next-sumps-learning-programmes
Meet the Project Coordinators working with the SUMPs-Up project at the UBC Sustainable Cities Comission:
Esther has experience in planning and implementing EU projects focusing on Integrated Sustainability Management, climate change, sustainable mobility and communication & stakeholder involvement. She has been UBC´s coordinator for the Covenant of Mayors initiative. Her educational background includes a Master's in Environmental Sciences with a major in environmental law and policies & sustainability communications.
Maija has a extensive experience and expertise in regional development and urban planning, as well as implementing sustainable development at the local level. She has been working in regional development at the national level and in regional representation for EU.
