EU Commission: traffic, pollution, road accidents. The virtuous examples of German, Portuguese, Finnish and Greek municipalities

German, Portuguese, Finnish and Greek municipalities have been awarded by the EU for addressing the main challenges of urban mobility such as traffic, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, road accidents and urban areas. The European Commission has announced the laureates of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Awards 2021, the 10th Award for Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP Award) and the EU Urban Road Safety Award, at a hybrid ceremony in Brussels. Kassel (Germany) won the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK Award 2021 for large municipalities for its activities involving local and regional transport partners. The city organised a treasure hunt with accessible walking and cycling tours to promote sustainability. Valongo (Portugal) won the award for smaller municipalities by involving local people and organisations, including schools. “The actions taken by the municipality aimed at improving road safety and transport accessibility with cleaner vehicles”. Tampere (Finland) won the 10th SUMP Award for its urban sustainability initiatives. While Rethymno (Greece) won the EU Urban Road Safety Award by focusing on three objectives: upgrading the public transport system, increasing and encouraging behavioural change, and cooperation with local stakeholders. In 2021, 19,800 people are estimated to have died in road accidents. “With the new EU Urban Mobility Framework, we will support better planning of sustainable urban mobility, putting public transport, walking and cycling at the core of local authorities’ efforts to improve people’s everyday lives”, said European Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vãlean.
Valentina Bombelli