CIVITAS Awards 2020

Awards 2020

Sustainable mobility trailblazers took centre stage at the CIVITAS Awards 2020. The prizes were given out by Matthew Baldwin, Deputy Director-General, DG MOVE, as part of a special session at Urban Mobility Days 2020,

Awards were handed out for remarkable resilience and boldness in response to COVID-19, and for using the CIVITAS Initiative as a springboard to reach new sustainable mobility heights

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain) took home the new "CIVITAS Resilience" Award, whilst Funchal (Portugal) took home the "CIVITAS Legacy" Award for 2020.

Porto (Portugal), and Rome (Italy) were the runners-up in the resilience category, with Aachen (Germany) and Larissa (Greece) also receiving plaudits in the legacy category.

Watch a video showing the sustainable mobility work of the "CIVITAS Resilience" award finalists here and the "CIVITAS Legacy" award finalists here.

CIVITAS Legacy Award

Winner City: Funchal

A CIVITAS member since 2008, Funchal scooped the “CIVITAS Legacy” award with its decision to address traffic head-on by imposing multiple traffic access restrictions and closing city centre streets to vehicles.

This change was driven by involvement in the CIVITAS Initiative, which has also helped Funchal become a testbed for innovative solutions, such as automatic traffic counters. Politicians from the Portuguese city have also served as members of the CIVITAS Political Advisory Committee.

Runner-up: Aachen

Involved since 2011, Aachen has a rich CIVITAS legacy and remains active in the CIVITAS community. Its pedelec-sharing system, sustainable business trip policy, ongoing SUMP process, and the electrification of the city’s bus fleet have their roots in CIVITAS project participation.

Runner-up: Larissa

A founding member of the CIVITAS local network for Cyprus and Greece, Larissa packs an admirable sustainable mobility punch: its extensive pedestrianisation scheme and its new low-density city centre streets represent only two of its extensive array of mobility solutions.

Finalist videos

See a compilation of all finalists' videos here.

Resilience Award

Winner City: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Combining a rapid reaction with a long-term vision, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria was the deserving winner of the “CIVITAS Resilience” award for its extensive ad-hoc initiatives.

These include increased space for pedestrians and cyclists, and car-free access to key roads on weekends – in the context of its “Mobility Plan for the New Normal”, which heralds the scaling up and replication of short-term solutions. Las Palmas de Gran Canaria set itself apart from other cities by adapting its crisis response as the basis of a new mobility reality.

Runner-up: Porto

By opening temporary pedestrian zones, replacing parking spaces with ‘parklets’ for various uses, introducing an e-scooter sharing programme, and closing streets at weekends, Porto kept its residents safe, its neighbourhoods alive, and its businesses afloat.

Runner-up: Rome

The Italian capital’s support of physical distancing included promotion of walking and cycling, enabling safe public transport, and developing a plan for 150km of temporary cycle routes. Of these, 20km are already in place. Many of the aforementioned measures drew on ones already in the city's SUMP, whilst its participation in CIVITAS Handshake informed its cycle lanes plan.

Finalists videos

See a compilation of all finalists' videos here.

Photos

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Past Awards

Discover more about past Awards!