Image by Ana Aleixo
The CIVITAS Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) held its 8th Official Meeting on Tuesday, 7 March 2023 in Brussels (BE). The meeting was organised in a hybrid format to allow for both physical and online participation of PAC members and representatives from the European Commission’s DG MOVE.
The day started early in the morning, with PAC member Adelheid Byttebier, Vice-Mayor for Mobility for Schaerbeek (BE), welcoming the PAC to Schaerbeek’s town hall. Ms. Byttebier presented the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) designed for the district of Josaphat-Colignon, sharing insights from its methodology, the activities implemented, best practices and lessons learnt. Later, PAC members visited the Brucity Administrative Centre to meet Bart Dhondt, Deputy Mayor of Mobility and Public Works for the City of Brussels, who kindly welcomed the PAC members and presented four sustainable urban mobility projects in Brussels. Both of these exchanges resulted in fruitful discussions among PAC members, who shared local mobility challenges and how they are tackling them in their respective cities.
In the afternoon, the PAC convened with DG MOVE to receive updates and clarifications on the new Sustainable Urban Mobility Indicators (SUMI) approach, and to discuss which new topic to explore in the upcoming 2023 PAC Statement. These annual statements include policy recommendations, and help to identify European mobility priorities by providing an indication of the priorities of the cities that make up the CIVITAS Community. As such, the discussion on this occasion thoroughly examined the CIVITAS thematic areas and contemporary urban mobility topics. The meeting ended by addressing some practical internal questions regarding the PAC work for the months ahead, as well as the handover process for the next PAC mandate, which will begin in autumn 2023.
