EUROCLIMA+ beneficiary cities carried out activities to promote emission-free mobility.
Latin America, October 5, 2020.- Under the slogan “For mobility without emissions”, EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK took place September 16 to 22, with the participation of cities benefiting from the EUROCLIMA+ programme on behalf of Latin America.
Since 2002, this European Commission campaign has invited cities around the world to generate initiatives to promote sustainable transport measures and invite people to use alternatives to the private car.
Over the years, participation in EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK has increased worldwide. In 2020, 2,994 actions were documented. This edition reflected the European Commission's goal of achieving a climate-neutral continent by 2050. This can be achieved through reduced carbon emissions and zero or low carbon solutions for private and public transport, as well as cycling and walking.
This is why EUROPEANMOBILITYWEEK encouraged the activation of measures to meet the long-term goal of a climate-neutral world. Through the Urban Mobility sector, EUROCLIMA+ promoted the participation of its beneficiary cities.
In 2020, the governments of the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (Mexico), Puebla (Mexico), Ambato (Ecuador) and Antofagasta (Chile) took action. Due to the health contingency that still exists in Latin America, the initiatives were carried out either virtually or taking into account the respective health measures.
Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara
During this week, the Institute for Development Planning and Management of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (IMEPLAN) promoted a communication campaign on social networks to encourage actions for mobility from a sustainable, resilient and equitable perspective.
In these materials, the updating of the Integral Plan for Sustainable Urban Mobility, which is being carried out with support from EUROCLIMA+, was highlighted. At the same time, the Integral System of Metropolitan Development (SIDMetro) was disseminated.
On September 22, World No Car Day, IMEPLAN generated a dialogue with government, citizens and academia through the forum "Proponent Agents: Building Policies for Improving Road Safety". This space convened a special session with the most relevant members of civil society, academia, institutions, and private initiatives for the creation of policies for the improvement of the city’s roads that encourage more sustainable mobility.
Puebla
Puebla carried out a series of measures and permanent adaptations in the public space that benefit pedestrians and cyclists, as well as the regularisation for the reduction of vehicle traffic and cargo transport.
From September 16 to 22, the Mexican city worked on improving its current cycling infrastructure: maintenance and renovation of existing cycle paths, bicycle parking, and signposting. Puebla is currently working on the implementation of 34 kilometres of permanent cycle paths.
Regarding pedestrian infrastructure, the city began the pedestrianisation of two streets in the Historical Centre, a process that is done with the participatory work of the area’s merchants and residents. At the same time, it continued the work of improving dangerous intersections. There have now been 16 improvements completed of the 25 planned for this year. These are low-cost actions with a high impact.
Puebla also announced its new traffic rules for circulation and parking, and new traffic regulations for freight and merchandise. The reduction of traffic was also promoted by controlling the traffic light systems in high-impact urban corridors, an action that has been promoted since 2019.
Finally, on World No Car Day there was a film in which the flag was flown at the start of the segregation scheme for the construction of emerging bicycle lanes.
Ambato
The Ecuadorian city held a series of forums and virtual seminars on sustainable mobility. From September 7 to 20, it held the Ambato Citizen Datathon for Sustainable Mobility. This consisted of gathering information on citizens' mobility habits that will help Ambato identify, monitor and manage mobility problems affecting society.
The data collection was done virtually through an information and awareness campaign disseminated by the canton of Ambato through the Directorate of Traffic, Transport and Mobility, as well as by other partner institutions such as GIZ Ecuador and Grupo FARO. The initiative promoted the direct participation of citizens in the generation of information for better decision-making and public policy design.
On the other hand, on September 18, the closing event of the Laboratory of Ideas took place, in which proposals were presented to contribute to the economic reactivation and sustainable mobility
As far as virtual forums are concerned, the web seminar "Mobility, gender and rurality" was held on September 16, with support from Women on the Move. On September 18, the seminar "Sustainable mobility: air quality and data" was held. To close and conclude the activities carried out, on September 22 the virtual event "Gathering for mobility: Datathon and citizen action agenda" was held.
Antofagasta
The city of Antofagasta held a virtual forum on September 25 for National No Car Day, since in Chile this date is commemorated on the last Friday of September. At the same time, an awareness campaign was carried out through social networks.
In the seminar "National No Car Day: Active mobility in times of pandemic" was organised by the newspapers El Mercurio de Antofagasta and La Estrella de Antofagasta by invitation of the Illustrious Municipality of Antofagasta, Creo Antofagasta, and the Regional Government of Antofagasta.
Institutions from civil society, government and the private sector participated, such as the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications of Chile, the Centre for Sustainable Urban Development Lab for Social Change, and the organisation Bicivilizadas, among others.
About EUROCLIMA+
EUROCLIMA+ is a programme financed by the European Union to promote environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient development in 18 Latin American countries, particularly for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. The Programme is implemented under the synergistic work of seven agencies: Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AECID), Agence Française de Desarrollo (AFD), Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), Expertise France (EF), Fundación Internacional y para Iberoamérica de Administración y Políticas Públicas (FIIAPP), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and UN Environment.
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