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Description
The project promoter determined the poor state of sustainable mobility and its development in Slovakia, as reported, among others, by several national studies. The infrastructure has been built and developed as a car-oriented system with a strong environmental and climate-changing impact. This project aims to contribute to a sustainable mobility infrastructure mostly by designing a legal framework, especially by advocating for national and local policies favorable for the development of sustainable mobility, active participation in the landscape and transportation strategies on the local and national level, cooperation with other civic space organisations, and raising public awareness on the importance of developing the sustainable mobility concept. As the project actions are focused on benefiting the broad public, the project promoter expects to satisfy the mobility needs of people and businesses in cities and their surroundings for a better quality of life in a sustainable way. The project will be realized in alliance with the project partner, The Environment and Planning Department of Reykjavík with the aim of knowledge integration and the project outcomes quality advanced.
Summary of project results
Sustainable mobility greatly enhances quality of life by creating healthier, safer, and more inclusive urban spaces. Sustainable transport systems contribute to improved well-being by enhanced public health and reduced pollution, improved commute times, greater safety and reduced road accidents, environmental reasons and climate resilience and others. While many cities worldwide are prioritizing sustainable transport systems to create urban spaces that are livable, resilient, and conducive to well-being, Slovakia lags behind this trends in many aspects, starting with supporting legislation and financial instruments to deficiencies in spatial planning.
This project was focused to improve the legislation and awareness of sustainable mobility in Slovakia in order to improve the quality of environment and life as a whole. With its long track-record, the project promoter managed to become a relevant partner to public authorities in the field of development of sustainable mobility. This led to better cooperation with national and local level governments.
The project promoter participated in numerous expert debates, was present, and contributed to developing national-level documents like The recovery and resilience plan, The partnership agreement, The Programme Slovakia, and The National Strategy for road traffic safety 2021 – 2030. The project promoter is incredibly proud of its contribution to the amendment of The Road Traffic Act, where a significant shift in favor of cyclists and pedestrians was made and adopted. The project promoter also acted at the local level. The project promoter contributed to land-use plans of the Capital of Slovakia and numerous construction permits with insights for the development of sustainable mobility. The project promoter also considers it essential to focus not only on the Capital and its surroundings. The project promoter established a cooperating network with eight local organizations in 8 different cities across the country and has promoted collaboration in developing sustainable mobility. One of the major milestones was the launch of the international conference, as the awareness of sustainable mobility and its overall importance is very low in Slovakia, organized in cooperation with the project partner and attended by national-level politicians, among others, The Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure.
This project activities and its outputs led to unprecedented advancements in establishing a legal framework of sustainable mobility and awareness of its importance in Slovakia, and the project promoter will surely continue in their work and efforts and build further on the success gained in this project.
The project belongs to most successful ones in the Programme, from the point of view of influencing the public policies. In totals, the comments and legal proposals of the project promoter were reflected in 6 local and regional public policies and regulations (such as urban plans) and 11 national policies we focusing on the improvements in the area of sustainable mobility. The most important results include the amendment of the Road Traffic Act, bringing many changes in favor of pedestrians and cyclists. The progress in creating new financial instruments were also important - Recovery and Resilience Plan, Partnership Agreement, Program Slovakia) include bicycle transport support in a reasonable volumes. Among the affected strategies is also the Slovak National Strategy for Road Traffic Safety 2021 - 2030, influenced by a collective comment with the involvement of the public.
Summary of bilateral results
The project promoter implemented this project in cooperation with a project partner from Iceland, the city of Reykjavík. The project promoter found the role of the project partner extensive and significant, even though the covid pandemic influenced it. The project partner advanced the overall quality by bringing up examples of best practices, capacity-building training and online consultations, and last but not least, the increased prestige of the project for a broad public. The project partner contributed to the conference organized and, during their visit to Slovakia, gained new knowledge from a different point of view, spent time in discussions with local and national authorities, experts, and activists, and gained contacts for the future. The project partners are still in touch and sharing information, and if the funding is available, they will continue in cooperation.