New CIVITAS publication out now!<br>SIMILAR CHALLENGES - SHARING EXPERIENCE AND SOLUTIONS
Although there are some individual variations in the “landscape of problems”, we find a lot of similarities when looking at transport problems in European cities – from air quality and noise levels to congestion and road safety issues and parking problems.
In all of our cities, transport is a very politically sensitive issue. But at the end of the day, the main point is quality of life for our citizens and the framework for business activities.European cities face a lot of challenges. It is already difficult for many cities to meet European environmental standards such as those for air quality and noise. But facing climate change and limited mineral oil, it is even harder to prepare for lowcarbon and post-fossil mobility. Financing the necessary changes is another challenge – where European support is very welcome. And last but not least, political backing in a democratic society is crucial.The exchange between cities is an important instrument for inspiring decisionmakers. On the technical level the direct exchange may help to avoid reinventing the wheel. As transport is a very sensitive political issue in all cities, the aspects of political decision-making, of citizen participation and of involving the media are extremely important. As important as good examples is the direct and frank exchange about “lessons learned” when things did not develop as planned. Such exchanges require an atmosphere of trust – which we found in many examples within the CIVITAS Initiative!This publication contains a number of examples how such exchange worked. It represents a range of themes and procedures. Download the publication „CITY TO CITY: SIMILAR CHALLENGES - SHARING EXPERIENCE AND SOLUTIONS“ here. This publication is an outcome of the CIVITAS CATALIST project, the dissemination and best practice transfer action of the CIVITAS Initiative, which ran from 2007 – 2012 and was composed by cities, networks in the field of sustainable urban transport and the environment, as well as research and consulting organisations in the field of sustainable urban transport.Contact
