This lessons-learned report by EUKI project Cyclurban+ highlights its pilot-cases and possible measures for local authorities. Several examples give evidence that they were successful.
Mandatory Overtaking Distance 1.5m Approved!
Back seat for cars in Bratislava
Bicycles, buses and trams are all set to play a more prominent role in the future urban landscape of the Slovak capital Bratislava. But the city’s planners have yet to factor in the differing patterns of mobility shown by men and women as journalist Sandra Kirchner experienced herself.
The Alpe-Adria Clean Transport Alliance Allied
Within 2 years, EUKI project ‘Alpe-Adria Clean Transport Alliance’ created a network of almost 300 organisations. Together they designed a toolbox enabling local governments in the 4 regions Styria, Croatian Adriatic, Slovenia and Montenegro to optimize the future locations of EV chargers. The databases of the toolbox will be expanded to 3 more regions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and North Macedonia. Their best practice booklet features 22 examples of good practices in fostering the decarbonization of the road transport in Austria, Croatia and Slovenia.
Warsaw: the next bicycle-friendly city?
It is six years since former Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski warned fellow Poles to beware of a ‘world made up of cyclists and vegetarians’ – one he claimed had little in common with traditional Polish values. Although Waszczykowski has long since left office, his interview back then left scars, as a press officer for the Department of Urban Planning in Warsaw told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
On the occasion of its 5th anniversary, the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) published an interactive e-paper. The previous achievements and future orientation of the initiative are clearly listed in words and figures.
European cities today are confronted with complex issues in urban planning and other societal issues, such as climate change or migration. Thus, municipalities, companies and residents should work together to find creative solutions to meet these challenges. As an inspiration to rethink public space in cities, the EUKI project Living Streets by Energy Cities created the guide “Living Streets – From Citizen Engagement To Citizen Ownership: A Guidebook For Municipalities”. It gives step-by-step guidance to identify and create living urban spaces together with the various stakeholders and animates with colorful success stories Download PDF [Englisch]
Guidebook Living Streets
Stakeholder dialogue in practice: Just Transition in the European car industry
From the community

On May 12, 2022, the conference “Just Transition: Where is the European car industry heading?” was held in Brussels. It was part of the EUKI project “Just Transition in the car industry” and organised by NELA. Next Economy Lab with the support of six partner organisations from Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany. The co-creative conference placed great emphasis on bringing together different stakeholders to enable and facilitate dialogue. Representatives at the conference included various different stakeholder groups: industry, environmental NGOs, academia, trade unions from Central and Eastern Europe, as well as policy makers from the European Commission and Parliament. Since change is inevitable in the European automotive industry due to environmental regulations, international competition and technological shifts, many questions arise. How can we create new pathways for the automotive industry within the context of sustainable mobility in Europe? How to foster a Just Transition in one of our most symbolic industries? How to best manage the conflicting needs, priorities, and expectations of stakeholders? How to ensure that this transition is fair for the workers and regions directly affected? How can we account for the disparities between Eastern and Western Europe? And finally: How to enable Eastern European stakeholders to actively shape the transition? Sarah Mewes (NELA) is presenting the findings of the country reports on the topic of a Just Transition in the European Car Industry. Photo: Just Transition in the Car Industry The conference opened with keynote speeches and then moved into an interactive, co-creative format. The first keynote speaker Frank Siebern-Thomas from the European Commission’s DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion stressed the need for policy to realise the potential of transition while addressing the risks through labour market policies, re-skilling, investment and mitigating regressive effects. Benjamin Denis, senior policy advisor at the European trade union IndustriALL, gave the second keynote. He particularly emphasised the importance of social dialogue in accelerating the emissions reduction in the EU. Afterwards, transformation expert Janna Aljets provided critical commentary on the keynotes, with a particular focus on climate and global justice. “What kind of economy can we not only afford but which economy can bring wellbeing without destroying our common basis of life? How do we understand an economy that is not based on the over-exploitation of resources and people, especially in the Global South?” Discussing some main issues in the field of a Just Transition in the European car industry. Photo: Just Transition in the Car Industry The new insights, controversies and open questions served as the basis for co-creative workshops on four topics: Stakeholder participation and social dialogue, Electrification, Reskilling and Just Transition in the Central and Eastern European car industry. In the workshops diverse stakeholder groups came together to identify key questions that urgently need to be answered together. Through lively, face-to-face discussions, the co-creative format of the workshops enabled an understanding of various perspectives on the transition. We used deep listening exercises to familiarise participants with conflicting positions of other stakeholders and enable the development of initial solutions. Sigrid de Vries, Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg, Balázs Bábel, Jacki Davis (left to right), Photo: Just Transition in the Car Industry At last, the conference concluded with a multi-stakeholder panel discussion. Panelists were Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (MEP Greens/EFA), Tommaso Pardi (Director GERPISA, Research Group on the Automobile Industry and its Employees), Sigrid de Vries (Secretary General CLEPA, European Association of Automotive Suppliers) and Balázs Bábel (Vice-President VASAS, Hungarian Metalworkers’ Federation). Sometimes it is not easy to engage in dialogue, especially when it is almost inevitable to be confronted with conflicting views and positions of various stakeholders. However, this conference chose to jump straight into the deep end and acknowledge opposing positions, different values and lived experiences. The numerous positive feedbacks from the participants showed once again that dialogue is worthwhile. Stakeholder participation and social dialogue is crucial for a Just Transition. When well facilitated, it creates ownership of change among all people and regions affected. Listening to views beyond our own allows us to come together and join forces for a sustainable future for all.
Asking the right questions
What problems do we need to address first, and how?
Finding solutions – co-creatively
Summary
Videos
Further information
Videos
- Interview with Károly György on the impact of a Just Transition on regions in Hungary
- Interview with Monika Benedekova on Just Transition in collective bargaining agreements
- Interview with Michal Hrubý on the opportunities and risks of electrification in the Czech Republic
- Interview with Frank Siebern-Thomas on the triple dividend of a green transition
Publications
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CLIMASUM
Advancing low-carbon transport through the promotion of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Slovenia.
Pedalling against Climate Change
15 organisations from Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia each developed 5-11 national and municipal policy recommendations for climate-friendly cycling policies as part of the Cyclurban project. All recommendations were accepted by the national authorities in the partner countries. The project has shown that despite common elements in the respective strategies, cities need to adapt existing methods and measures at the local level to make cycling a main pillar of climate-friendly mobility.