The QUEST method – here to stay!

The QUEST project concluded its work with a final conference held on 05 September in Budapest, Hungary. QUEST Final conference gathered around 80 participants to discuss the results of QUEST and the future of the Action Plans developed together with the cities. The conference addressed themes such as how to turn the plans and policies into action and how to take the leap to the next level and become a more sustainable city. The QUEST tool was seen useful especially for smaller cities with fewer resources to achieve improvements in sustainable mobility. Within the QUEST process cities appreciated in particular the stakeholder meetings where decision-makers could meet with experts and discuss solutions together.

Cities that completed the process successfully and are committed to implement their tailor-made Action Plan received a QUEST certificate in a festive ceremony. The certificate recognizes their efforts in sustainable urban mobility planning.

To safeguard the quality of the methodology and ensure training, a QUEST Academy has been established. The overall goal of the Academy is to continue to train auditors throughout Europe, so that the method can be expanded to further countries and applied in further cities. It also provides a platform for discussion and exchange of experiences between QUEST auditors and cities.

Following the final conference 6 new auditors were trained and joined the team of auditors. Currently, the QUEST auditor team consists of 16 auditors making the QUEST methodology available in 19 countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

Presentations from the conference and the final agenda can be downloaded on the QUEST website.

QUEST final brochure in 14 languages can also be found here.