ELABORATOR publishes its Inclusion Plan!

In pursuit of sustainable and inclusive urban mobility solutions, the ELABORATOR project has finally published its Inclusion Plan. The comprehensive document outlines clear strategies for cities to promote inclusivity in their transition to climate neutrality. Find out more below!

ELABORATOR aims to include the voices, experiences, perspectives, needs, and aspirations of a greater diversity of users in their planned activities from the outset. The first consolidated step to achieve this is their Inclusion Plan. The objective? To support the cities and partners to ensure their understanding of inclusion for urban planning and mobility and provide the basis for all the following steps.

Guiding principles for inclusive mobility

Indeed, the Inclusion Plan will guide all phases of the project, emphasising the importance of inclusive practices in fostering sustainable, safe, and affordable mobility. Key aspects of the methodology outlined in the report include using inclusive language in all communications, understanding diverse patterns of urban mobility, and redefining the concept of Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) to encompass all groups that are disadvantaged by current mobility planning practices. 

The Plan aims to be a reference document for consortium partners in developing activities with their local stakeholders and is a way to ensure that inclusion, representation, and good cooperation are promoted across all levels and phases of the project. Since it is intended to be used as a practical guide by cities and partners, at the end of each chapter there is a small checklist related to the content of that chapter. In this way, the cities and partners can use it as an evaluation tool to ensure that their workshops and urban interventions are inclusive.

While the Inclusion Plan was mainly ideated to be used by ELABORATOR partners, the document is also meant to be useful for other projects and interested professionals seeking guidance on how to implement inclusive urban mobility practices.

City-level challenges and solutions

To ensure a uniform understanding of inclusivity and gender perspective in urban planning in various local contexts, project training sessions were organised by urbana, a consortium member of ELABORATOR. A total of five workshops, each two hours in duration, were organised and together involved 45 participants from 25 partner organisations.

Building on the findings from these workshops, the plan calls for a nuanced understanding of the interconnected social and environmental challenges, highlighting the disproportionate impact on vulnerable communities. It stresses the importance of identifying local stakeholders and power dynamics to address these challenges effectively.

In the evaluation and dissemination phase, the document advocates for a qualitative approach that considers human experiences and social contexts, providing a holistic framework for improvement. The Inclusion Plan aims to lay a solid foundation for future efforts aimed at achieving inclusive urban mobility across Europe and beyond by emphasising a transition from car-centred to people-centred mobility.

The development of this document marks a significant milestone in ELABORATOR's mission to promote inclusive, sustainable, and safe mobility solutions, fostering a perspective that prioritises the needs of marginalised communities in the transition towards climate neutrality.

Read the ELABORATOR Inclusion Plan here.