The CIVITAS Forum Conference 2019 will be held in Graz, Austria, from 2-4 October 2019. The 17th edition of Europe's top sustainable urban mobility event will gather the leading figures in the field from across the continent and beyond.

Fact sheets reveal innovative mobility measures in five European cities

Fact sheets have just been released showcasing innovative mobility measures currently being implemented in ICLEI Member cities Stockholm (Sweden) and Turku (Finland), as well as Madrid (Spain), Munich (Germany), and Ruse (Bulgaria).

Breakfast at Sustainability's gathers Europe's SUMP community to reshape key guidelines

The latest Breakfast at Sustainability's gathered over 50 people from Europe's SUMP (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans) community to discuss the forthcoming update of the EU SUMP Guidelines.

Organised as part of CIVITAS (City VITAlity and Sustainability) SUMPs-Up, the event took place in Brussels (Belgium) on Wednesday 12 December 2018.

Cities invited to join peer-exchange activities on sustainable urban mobility

City representatives are invited to apply to participate in peer-exchange activities on sustainable urban mobility, organised by the CIVITAS (City VITAlity and Sustainability) Initiative in 2019.

Hosted in seven locations across Europe and beyond, these practice-oriented learning activities enable participants to learn from cities engaging in pioneering transport initiatives, whilst also gaining direct insight into how they are managing the transition towards sustainable urban mobility.

For more information and to find the application forms, click here and here

CIVITAS Awards 2018

The call has been launched for applications for this year's CIVITAS Awards! Towns and cities who are a CIVITAS Forum member can now submit their entries to win Europe's most prestigious prizes for clean urban transport. The submission deadline is 13 July 2018.

Applicants can win awards in four different categories:

• The "Bold Measure" Award for a daring and innovative approach that has yet to be widely implemented and positions the city as a pioneer in its respective thematic area;
• The “Take Up” Award for cities a city that has successfully have been successfully transferred from one city to another;
• The “CIVITAS Legacy” Award for a city that has successfully translated their inspiring and committed involvement in CIVITAS into long-term implementation of innovative measures with a high impact;
• The “Transformations” Award for significant transformation and progress towards a liveable and smarter city through an integrated set of mobility measures.

Award-winning activities are showcased to a European audience as examples of sustainable urban mobility excellence and promoted to the press. The Awards are presented each year during a ceremony at the CIVITAS Forum. The 2018 event is taking place in Umea, Sweden, from 19-21 September.

For more information click here

CIVITAS Annual Conference 2018

The CIVITAS Forum Conference for 2018, which will bring all the CIVITAS community together, will take place from 19-21 September in Umea, Sweden.

CIVITAS SUMP Registry

Are you searching for guidance on what elements to include in your own Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP)? Visit the CIVITAS SUMP Registry for help.

CIVITAS Awards 2017 winners revealed

The CIVITAS Awards 2017 were given out in front of a large audience during the second day of the CIVITAS Forum 2017, which took place from 27-29 September in Torres Vedras, Portugal.

Municipality of Kifissia member of CIVITAS network

The Municipality of Kifissia is now officially a member of the CIVITAS European Cities Network, after the relevant approval. The Civitas Destinations (Civitas Destinations) is of special interest to the Municipality of Kifissia. The project develops an integrated approach to tackling mobility and tourism by looking at balanced strategies to address the growing challenges of these two developing sectors, and to achieve sustainable growth and better quality of life in Funchal, Limassol, Rethymno, Elba, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Valletta.

Successful school mobility management practices – CIVITAS study visits

The city of Reggio Emilia (Italy) has developed a comprehensive approach to school mobility management. Since 2003, mobility education for students has been regarded as one of the main driving lines of mobility policies and in 2009, Reggio Emilia developed and promoted a manifesto for safe, sustainable and independent mobility on home-to-school routes. This was done with the support of city districts, school boards and managers and a broad range of stakeholder organisations.

The city organizes a CIVITAS study visit on 11-12 October and all interested parties can get involved. Over two days, the visiting cities will learn about Reggio Emilia’s approach to school mobility management; interesting projects like the Bicibus and Pedibus initiatives; and the EU project SCHOOL CHANCE. They will also gain first-hand experience of some of the initiatives being implemented through dedicated site visits.

For more information click here

Funds for CIVITAS National Networks (CIVINETs)

CIVINET is a group of city networks that promote the CIVITAS approach at a local level, overcoming language and contextual barriers for local authorities and organisations interested in urban sustainable mobility. Members exchange information in their own language working together to engage with the European Union and national governments, about transport policy issues, legislation, regulations, and funding.

CIVITAS Awards 2017: applications are now open!

The CIVITAS Awards are an opportunity to highlight the most ambitious, innovative and successful efforts in the field of sustainable urban mobility. Winners are showcased as examples of excellence before the press with the hope that they can guide and stimulate cities throughout Europe in the pursuit of sustainable mobility.

• This year, outstanding CIVITAS Forum member cities can apply to be considered for the following four prestigious titles:
• The "Bold Measure" Award for a daring and innovative approach that has not been widely implemented yet and positions the city as pioneer in certain thematic categories;
• The “Take Up” Award for innovative sustainable urban mobility measures that have been successfully transferred from one city to another;
• The “CIVITAS Legacy” Award for a city that has successfully translated their inspiring and committed involvement in CIVITAS into long-term implementation of innovative measures with a high impact;
• The “Transformations” Award for significant transformation and progress towards a liveable and smarter city through an integrated set of mobility measures.

This call closes on 14th July 2017, while the results will be published in September 2017.

​For more information: click here.

Take the SUMP survey and win a trip to SUMP conference in Dubrovnik

Three new CIVITAS mobility projects, PROSPERITY, SUITS and SUMPs-Up,  have launched a survey to help them understand cities’ needs and barriers when trying to develop Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs).

‘This survey will gather crucial details on what’s holding back or driving forward urban mobility planning in cities across Europe. It will enable our experts to create high-quality products and services that local authorities can use to develop SUMPs,’ said Cristina Garzillo, the SUMPs-Up project co-ordinator.

City representatives that complete the survey before Tuesday 28 February 2017 will get priority for the projects’ training and support activities, and receive up to €600 towards travel and accommodation costs for the 4th European Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans in Dubrovnik (Croatia).

For more information: click here.

The first electric bus in Sofia

The city of Sofia is introducing an electric bus in order to test its suitability for a larger-scale roll out. The Chinese-made Yutong bus started on January 15 and will be operating on the city’s No. 84 bus line until May.
The bus will travel between the city and Sofia Airport, one of the most polluted routes in the city. The bus can travel up to 300 km on a single charge, which is enough for its needs when operating in Sofia’s urban areas.
The new bus comes with the installation of a charging point which can fully charge the batteries of the bus in four to five hours.
Following the test, the municipality will come to a final decision on what kind of electric bus to introduce into its public transport fleet.
For more information: click here.

CIVITAS Policy Note: Clean buses for your city

Buses are the backbone of many European public transport systems and an important part of the municipal public transport fleet in the majority of the EU Member States.

The policy note produced by the CIVITAS Wiki project, provides policy-makers and public transport operators with an overview of available bus technologies and guides them in the initial strategic choice of a clean and more efficient energy bus concept.

The main conclusions of the policy are the following:

• Diesel buses are still the most economical buses with the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO).
• Natural gas buses are readily available from the major manufacturers, but costs are higher and emission advantages over diesel have diminished with the introduction of new diesel technologies.
• Buses running on biofuels are more and more widespread. Their TCO is comparable to the TCO of diesel buses.
• Diesel hybrid and gas hybrid buses can reduce GHG and pollutant emissions by around 20%. Hybrid buses will have somewhat higher TCO as regular buses but this may diminish over time.
• Full electric buses are starting to become commercially available.
• Hydrogen fuel cell buses are considered a promising option, but are currently still in an experimental stage.
• For both electric and hydrogen fuel cell buses high investment costs in infrastructure are necessary.

For more information: click here.

CIVITAS INSIGHT 15: Linking intermodal services better

Intermodal transport has the potential to contribute to a cleaner, smarter and more sustainable transport, shifting the mobility of passengers and goods from the road, making the optimal use of infrastructure and reducing costs. This requires developing integrated solutions, linking vehicles and infrastructure, and creating an interface between users and multimodal services. Moreover, it requires promoting strategies for people and organisations to embrace the concept. This CIVITAS Insight focuses on intermodal passenger transport and emphasizes the need to make the interchange as seamless as possible, because switching transport modes can very often be a nuisance for travellers.

Intermodal passenger transport is often used to combine the strengths (and offset the weaknesses) of various transport options. A major goal of modern intermodal passenger transport is to reduce people’s dependence on cars as the major mode of ground transport and increase use of public transport. In CIVITAS insight 15 the reader can examine tools and support mechanisms for multimodal solutions.

Download the CIVITAS Insight 15 here: http://civitas.eu/sites/default/files/civitas_insight_15_linking_intermodal_services_better.pdf.

Sustainable Mobility for a Better Life: CIVITAS Summer course

The CIVITAS Initiative is running a three-day summer course from 7 - 10 June in the Spanish city of Málaga.

The course will look at sustainable urban mobility in the context of quality of life in cities. There is great potential for sustainable urban mobility to contribute to making cities more pleasant places in which to live and spend time, with positive impacts on the environment, local economy, and even the physical and mental health of residents.