Project Summary

The project brings six municipalities of the Adriatic Ionian area to work together for the promotion of the cycling as a way of active transportation. The six Municipalities decided to collaborate in order to answer together a very specific question; how can local authorities contribute to the promotion of cycling as an active way of transportation in the Adriatic Ionian area? The answers comes taking into account the main factor that the local authorities are related to transportation: with the urban places for the actions of cycling that are provided to the public by the Municipalities. The local authorities aknowledge that the cycling activity is of major importance, as it is extremely beneficial for the transportation system of a city. Cycling can reduce the use of cars, can relief the local transport system and at the same time, it is an experience of exploring and feeling the environment, that can be even easier in our times thanks to electromobility. Taking into account the benefits of the natural environment thanks to the use of bicycle (reduction of CO2 emissions and other important benefits), the role of cycling is very important for the local authorities. This is the reason that the six Municipalities agreed to work on this topic. The overal objective of the project is the support of cycling as a way of active transportation in six areas in the Adriotic Ionian region with the establishment of a concrete network of municipal authorities and the joint development and implementation of six pilot actions. The project aims to benefit the general public/citizens of all ages of the six cities along with specific groups like the visitors, the working population and people with disabilities. Additionally, the EUSAIR strategy is a core element of the project, as it taken into account in order to explore its policy further. The main outputs of the project are (a) consitution of a network of six municipalities that work jointly for a common goal, establishing a partnership that will last after the project's lifetime and (b) the joint development and implementation of six pilot actions (one per municipality) in order to test six ideas in six different cities of the Adriatic and Ionian region. The project will have a transnational approach from the very beginning, as the partners will form two groups and will work together for their pilot actions and the creation of expanded network that will be provide feedback and new approaches through Living Labs. This process is new for the Municipalities and will offer new expertise to its staff and its policy makers. Indicative Action: (a) Set in place joint actions aimed at promoting the active involvement of citizens, tourism actors and economic operators in the development of sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs) both in cities and in functional urban areas; (b) Support the shift towards sustainable and accessible urban public transport and active modes (e.g.: cycling, walking) through the implementation of joint pilot actions, by also taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the electro-mobility revolution.