And the European Urban Mobility award goes to…Braga

Image: courtesy of Municipality of Braga

The Portugese city of Braga has won the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK award in recognition of its work on sustainable mobility, with child safety a key theme.

EU judges were impressed with Braga’s commitment to raising awareness on sustainable mobility with many stakeholders, including residents, local businesses and educational institutions.

Over the campaign’s main event week last September, the Portuguese city worked with over 100 local firms to open up the streets for pedestrian use and built interactive green spaces.  They also produced street art, put in place speed reduction programmes in and around local schools and set aside safe cycling routes for children.

A “Mobility Safari” involving 30 companies was also held to illustrate the importance of decarbonisation and the impact of sustainable mobility in advancing this goal. Active mobility activities for all ages – such as gymnastics and cycling – were organised to spread awareness on the benefits of sustainable mobility. The city also launched the first phase of implementation for its bike-share service.

The other finalists in the category were Sofia (Bulgaria) and Zagreb (Croatia). Offering her congratulations to the various winners of the EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK awards, Adina Vălean, European Commissioner for Transport, told them: “Your inspiring activities really show how cities and towns across Europe can improve people’s wellbeing by offering more sustainable mobility options for all.”

She also took time to pay tribute to the Ukrainian cities that took part in the 2022 campaign, in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine.

The Polish city of Metropolia GZM (Poland) meanwhile was the winner of the first MOBILITYACTION Award. This recognised its work to transform a local university car park into a green, pedestrian-friendly space. Engaging professionals from the public transport, cycling, social development, sustainable mobility and urban policy sectors, Metropolia GZM co-created a car-park transformation that would not only benefit the university, but would also decrease related traffic and encourage locals to use the space. Urban furniture and greenery were installed, as well as traffic calming measures.

Other finalists were Ar2gether (Rome, Italy) and UCB Pharma (Braine-L’Alleud, Belgium).

EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK runs from 16-22 September every year, providing towns and cities with an opportunity to try out innovative traffic and transport planning, promote new use of infrastructure and raise awareness on sustainable mobility within their communities. MOBILITYACTIONs provide an opportunity for a broad range of organisations to share best practice solutions in mobility management throughout the year. The campaign also encourages people to choose active and sustainable mobility such as public transport, walking and cycling. Sustainable mobility can help save fuel, lower carbon emissions, improve air quality, and make Europe’s urban areas more pleasant places to live and work in.

In 2022, almost 3000 towns and cities from 51 countries participated in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK.

Click here for more on the awards.

Author: Simon Weedy

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