SuM4All Spearheads Much-Needed Vision for Mobility in Bilbao, Spain
WATCH VIDEO - Highlights Day 1
WATCH VIDEO - Highlights Day 2
Opening the inaugural edition of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Congress in his city, the Mayor of Bilbao Juan Mari Aburto, called on attendees to consider the “widest possible vision” of sustainable mobility in their discussions. Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All) responded to this call. The audience of mayors, high-level business executives, national government officials, leaders of international organizations and civil society were briefed on how SuM4All had already achieved agreement among over 55 leading transport actors on a comprehensive vision for sustainable mobility. The goal-centric, system-wide approach, based on the pursuit of four concurrent policy goals: universal access, efficiency, safety and green mobility, was a significant departure from the traditional view on transport, which was based on the pursuit of one policy goal at a time.
This vision provided a much-needed framework for the conversation at the congress. Over 1400 delegates and 71 official speakers participated in this conversation on sustainable urban mobility systems, focusing on three thematic areas: public policies, technology and innovation, and opportunities for development. The various speakers, national and local government officials in particular, reinforced the case for investing in sustainable mobility, given its importance to improving the quality of life of their constituents (reducing greenhouse gas emissions, noise pollution, road crash fatalities etc.). The city of Bilbao was a leading voice among them. Bilbao is regarded in Spain as one of the most forward-looking cities on sustainable mobility thanks to their leadership and vision on the issue.
SuM4All used this opportunity to engage with city leaders on the latest product the initiative is developing - the Global Roadmap of Action Toward Sustainable Mobility (GRA). The GRA identifies policy measures and private sector actions that are most appropriate to achieve sustainable mobility. It was recognized that the work that SuM4All has done thus far and was doing currently was consistent with what was being demanded by city-leaders, in terms of understanding the challenges in the mobility space, measuring objectively the scope of required changes and looking at applicable policy measures that have been successful in resolving these challenges in the past.
