CIVINET meets the European Parliament
A recent event at the European Parliament hosted by Brian Simpson MEP, Chair of the EP Transport and Tourism Committee, was organised by CIVINET to raise awareness of its work.
The event was attended by more than 50 people including MEPs, local politicians and technicians from the six CIVITAS National Networks, representatives of the CIVITAS Political Advisory Committee (PAC) and the European Commission. The welcome address from Brian Simpson MEP set the context for the evening, outlining the importance of sustainable mobility as a cornerstone of the CIVITAS initiative. He added that CIVINET has shown that the national network approach is an effective way of capacity building that encourages take-up amongst much larger groups of cities than those directly involved in CIVITAS demonstration projects. The work of CIVINET was described by project partners EPC, TTR and APEBU (City of Burgos) and illustrated by a short film. Denis Leroy, Vice-President of the Urban Community of La Rochelle, highlighted that CIVINET has grown since its inception at the end of 2009 to become six national networks representing nearly 80 local transport authorities with around 60 associate members. He spoke about the benefits of membership including the transfer of innovation and breaking down linguistic and cultural barriers. He emphasised that local action must not ignore the global dimension and that funding is not only necessary for demonstration projects, but also for networking through initiatives like CIVINET. He said such activity enables participants to reach out to much larger groups of cities to spread good practice and encourage widespread take-up of sustainable mobility measures and policies. Mr. Leroy noted that the current European funding for CIVINET will finish at the end of 2012, and expressed his opinion that “It is crucial that the CIVINET network activities continue so that their energy and their life don’t stop”. Bruno Pereira, Deputy Mayor of Funchal and Chair of the CIVITAS PAC, said that the CIVITAS experiences have given such positive results that it is clearly necessary to extend the number of cities that can take advantage of these policies, in other words increase the number of CIVITAS Demonstration Cities. He said that the growing number of cities that have expressed an interest in the CIVITAS initiative shows cities are clearly motivated and recognise the importance and relevance of sustainable mobility in Europe. However, this increase has not been accompanied by a reinforcement of the financial resources available to the CIVITAS initiative, and that’s why the allocation of more funds is absolutely necessary. Mr Pereira added that we should not underestimate the power of demonstration when CIVITAS cities are promoting their projects to other cities, which is the precise goal of CIVINET. He said that CIVINET is not only a network of demonstration cities, but also an open network to all European Cities that are committed to sustainable mobility. The evening concluded with an opportunity for participants to network, discuss and debate the content of the speeches and much more. For more information and to find out what your National Network is doing visit the CIVINET pages or contact civinet [at] civitas [dot] eu to be put in contact with your CIVINET Local Dissemination Manager.
Author: CIVINET
