The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has published its Urban Mobility Strategic Agenda 2021-2027 on April 16. The Strategic Agenda aims to create livable urban spaces, enhance the cumulative European knowledge on sustainable urban mobility, provide green, safe, and inclusive solutions for mobility issues, increase opportunities in the mobility market, and promote effective policies and behavioural change. Transforming urban mobility has the potential to transform people’s lives. Not only because urban mobility is something many people use to manage and shape their daily lives. Far more is at stake. The current over-reliance on cars to get around cities has many negative effects on urban populations. These include noise and air pollution, the risk of accidents and the privatisation of public space, to name but a few. Mentioned circumstances require changing systems of urban mobility to allow people and goods to move affordable, fast, comfortably, safely and cleanly, but at the same time enable cities to reclaim public space from cars to make cities better places for people to live, work and play.
Therefore, at EIT Urban Mobility, the mission is to accelerate change towards a sustainable model of urban mobility for liveable urban spaces, and eventually achieving three societal impact goals:
Improved quality of life in cities;
Mitigation of and adaptation to climate change;
Job creation and strengthening of the European urban mobility sector.
As the leading European Innovation Community for urban mobility, EIT Urban Mobility fosters integration by bringing together the key players across the whole value chain of mobility. It facilitates collaboration between cities, industry, academia, research and innovation and puts the challenges facing cities at the centre of all its activities. By breaking down the silos between the different players in urban mobility and ensuring a central role for cities and citizens, EIT Urban Mobility aims to have a significant impact on the ground. New innovative ways of moving around the city will greatly improve people’s quality of life, free up public space and give a significant boost to the competitiveness of Europe’s mobility industry. Creating forefront knowledge and breakthrough concepts for sustainable urban mobility and attracting the best European talent to this critical and strategic area will make Europe a leader in urban mobility.
EIT Urban Mobility’s Strategic Agenda 2021-2027 defines the objectives, goals and strategic priorities, and outlines how EIT Urban Mobility works towards their realization within all its programme areas. Furthermore, the document gives an overview of the scope of the key actions and activities, mode of operation, how EIT Urban Mobility engages with stakeholders on a local, national, European and global level and how it delivers on impact as well as financial sustainability within the Horizon Europe programming period.
ECOPNET (European Cooperation and Partnership Network) believes that transportation is a key sector in promoting a greener future for the EU and the world. Therefore, the Urban Mobility Strategic Agenda 2021-2027 by the EIT presents an important opportunity for the EU and its Member States to transform their means of mobility in line with the European Green Deal, develop further knowledge and more efficient transportation methods, and ensure sustainable economic growth for all the actors involved in the transportation sector. We support our partners in this effort and will continue to inform them about the funding and expertise opportunities provided by the EU.
Source: European Institute of Innovation and Technology Press Corner