The European Mobility Week started improving the sustainable movement in cities transportation. The European Commission created this event to give citizens alternatives to the use of cars in cities. Today, more than 2,312 cities from 48 countries follow this annual event and carry on with at least 551 mobility actions with the aim of promoting clean mobility. In addition, the European Mobility Week awards cities which have been doing a great effort to the path of sustainable mobility.
It also offers advices on how to cheer up green mobility in cities through European cities and beyond experiences in its Best Practice Guide in the 2017 edition. On the other hand, if you are a local authority, it is a good idea checking this handbook (http://www.mobilityweek.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/materials/participation_resources/2017/2017_EMW_Handbook.pdf), whereas if you want to organize a campaign or just want to be enlighten, have a look at the Thematic guidelines. The circle is closed as local authorities are encouraged to use it to test new transport measures and give back opinions from citizens. Local stakeholders can then discuss the different aspects of mobility and air quality, discover synergies and innovate solutions to reduce car-use and emissions, hence improving citizens health. Thus, actions aim at giving opportunities to pedestrians, cyclists and public transport.
For now, let’s see a practical example. During the 2017 European Mobility Week in Valencia, the city experienced a positive impact on green mobility. A specific magazine was edited with news and pieces of information. Among the activities, there was the Mobility Fair in the city hall square in which everybody could check alternatives to the more pollutant car mobility. On the Tuesday, the Children city was an event in which children were shown the surrounding of their schools and they symbolically penalize unsupportive, antisocial actions regarding mobility. This way, children are taught to recognize the positive actions instead of the harmful ones. Next, a workshop was done in which neighbors valued the urban public space and detected changing opportunity in order to improve the neighborhoods mobility. Moreover, engineers organized a meeting to discuss issues which linked mobility to road safety. Furthermore, the new app for the public bus system was presented. Besides, a film series and concerts were played each with focus on mobility. Finally, the Bike day took place in which more than 10,000 rode together to claim for the green mobility.