POLIS' Working Groups: what is on the agenda?

As 2022 gets underway, our Working Group activities are off to a flying start.

Creating a truly sustainable mobility landscape is perhaps one of the leading challenges for our cities and regions today. We face a range of critical questions: how can we coordinate public and private collaboration more effectively? What solutions to EV and parking integration are being found? What do new European regulations on data management mean for cities and regions?

From active travel to traffic management, air quality and freight, POLIS Working Groups traverse the length and breadth of sustainable urban mobility to find the solutions.

These events are open to POLIS members only and offer an excellent platform for peer-to-peer exchange (and rigorous debate) with other European cities and regions - as well as establishing connections with industry bodies to sustain and enhance partnerships and collaborations.

Here is what is on the agenda across February and March...

Active Travel

The Active Travel Working Group will meet to discuss the 15-minute city, from the concept to the implementation in different European contexts.

The Working Group looks at the impact that urban and regional transport has on the environment and health. Within this Working Group, Polis members regularly exchange on air and noise pollution from transport, walking and cycling, climate change, shared mobility services such as bike-sharing, and mobility management.

Adapting (and transforming) urban space has been a priority topic for the Working Group, and it has explored pioneering design projects which have been reallocating space to cycling and walking in Barcelona, Lisbon, and even Tirana.

This meeting will take a further dive into the reallocation of space and revolutionary design concepts which are transforming our cities and regions.

Regions

The Regions Working Group will meet in March 2022, the first in several events planned across this calendar year.

POLIS’ Regions Working Group, chaired by Baden-Württemberg, was established earlier this year in response to calls from members for greater attention to regions’ unique mobility patterns and needs.

This meeting will explore a range of issues surrounding public transport faced by regions, including:

• Expanding rail transport
• Coordinating regional transport with long-distance transport
• Introducing Express Busses
• Attractive Pricing

Parking

The meeting will address current hot topics on the European parking agenda and will reflect on the issues and challenges identified by members at POLIS’ AGA.

We talk, about parking and EV-charging, accessible parking/charging practices, parking to Mobility norms and more; looking at what is working… and what to avoid!

Not a POLIS member? POLIS has also teamed up with the EPA for a series of webinars examining the next generation of parking. The next instalment explores applied digital solutions that are enabling integrated management solutions.

Date: 2 March 2022

Time: 11:00-12:30 CET

Find out more here

Governance & Integration

The Governance & Integration Working Group looks at how to remap the urban mobility policy landscape. Last year, meetings traversed micromobility, public-private partnerships, data sharing and more. In 2022 the working group returns with a packed agenda.

The first (hybrid) meeting in April will be a day-long event exploring findings from the MOMENTUM project, data-driven decision making and managing disruption. Not one to miss!

And a later date to save…

SMC Platform set to meet in Groningen & Emmen

In May POLIS’ Small and Medium-Sized City Platform will be convening for the Working Group’s first face-to-face event of 2022.

This 2-day event will take place in Groningen and Emmen, where attendees will have the chance to network with their fellow POLIS members, examine the leading issues for sustainable mobility for SMCs and see the implementation of ongoing EU funded projects.

Following discussions at the AGA in December 2021, the main themes to discuss are:

• The impact of the TEN-T Urban Nodes for SMCs
• New (shared) mobility services in compact urban and urban-rural contexts: Is there a business case?
• Climate ambitions in SMCs – how to decarbonise transport? The EC Mission on Climate Neutral and Smart Cities: What’s in it for SMCs?
• How to make the most of funding opportunities for SMCs on urban mobility: Inspiring examples

Want to know more about POLIS Network membership? If you have any questions, please contact Isobel Duxfield at: iduxfield@polisnetwork.eu