On March 24, 2014 two awards were given out to honor sustainable mobility in cities – the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) award and the European Mobility Week (EMW) award. The City of Ljubljana won the EMW award, with Rivas-VaciaMadrid taking home the SUMP award.

The European Mobility Week Award scheme aims to reward local authorities that have done the most to raise public awareness of sustainable mobility issues and implement measures to achieve a shift towards sustainable urban transport. ECF, as an associate partner of European Mobility Week, was part of the independent panel of transport experts who chose from a list of eligible applicants – shortlisting 10 local authorities. This year, the top three finalists were Budapest (Hungary), Östersund (Sweden), and Ljubljana (Slovenia).

Ljubljana has participated in the European Mobility Week for 12 years running, and won the EMW Award in 2003. For EMW 2013, Ljubljana increased their efforts by encouraging safe urban transportation through education in schools, measuring air quality and noise levels, and promoting the co-existence of pedestrians and cyclists. Some highlights included the B-Track-B conference – the closing ceremony of the "Cycle the Path - Follow the Bicycle - Catch the Prize" campaign – as well as Air Quality Improvement Round Table. During EMW there was an increase of 10 % of bikes rented through the public bicycle share scheme, says City officials, "and the bikes were also used for promotion activities: education trips around the city, city officials promotion trips and the promotion of coexistence of pedestrians and cyclists in the pedestrian zones."

As ECF Policy Officer Fabian Kuester notes, “Ljubljana is very advanced in bicycle promotion and has taken serious measures to reduce inner-city car traffic”. The most prominent of these measures is the closure of Slovenska Street. "The comprehensive permanent revamp of the Slovenska Street will start in April, according to plans. The two traffic lanes will be transformed into expanded sidewalks and cycling paths."

At the same event ceremony, the SUMP award went to Rivas-VaciaMadrid. The winner of the SUMP award receives 10,000 Euros to support local awareness-raising activities on sustainable urban mobility. This year’s award focused on the theme ‘integration of economic, social, and environmental policy criteria’. The jury of the award uses the Eltis SUMP guidelines to identify outstanding Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. And this year Rivas-VaciaMadrid’s takes the cake!

What does all of this mean? According to the City of Ljubljana, "the key objective is to ensure the quality of life, and we believe the renovated space - the cultural and social centre - will enable better social interactions, connecting with individuals in the community and living in harmony with cleaner environment." Congratulations to both these award winners for their efforts and success.

 About the Author

Zoé Kruchten is a Communications Assistant at the European Cyclists’ Federation. She has a BA in International Relations and has worked in the past as a bike mechanic.