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Description
The key challenge is to change the travel habits of employees of the Industrial Zone (IZ) Trata . By preparing the mobility plans and implementing the measures, we will encourage employees to switch to sustainable mobility. We will perform a state-of-the-art analysis and identify employees who have the opportunity to change their travel habits. This is also the goal of various strategies and policies at local and national level. We will prepare a set of measures and select the ones that have the greatest potential impacts on travel habits and are thus the most feasible. A significant part of the measures will be primarily aimed at providing better conditions for cycling. As part of the project, the Municipality of Škofja Loka will build the missing part of the two-way bicycle path in the eastern part of the business zone and connect the Trata industrial zone with Godešič. Participating companies will receive individual mobility plans with concrete measures to encourage employees to adopt a sustainable way of arriving at work. Each company will acquire a bicycle store, buy electric bicycles for employees and install an electric charging station for electric bicycles. The target groups are employees and management in companies, other employees in IZ Trata, the local community, decision-makers, and policymakers.
The municipality will benefit from the project include less pressure on road infrastructure, reduced emissions, lower air pollution. At the level of companies, there will be an effective recovery in parking spaces, the health of employees will improve and fluctuations will be reduced. The air quality in the IZ Trata area will improve and the traffic congestions will decrease. The sense of belonging to the company will be strengthened among the employees of the participating companies and expenses for mobility will be lowered.
Summary of project results
Industrial zone (IZ) Trata is located in the NE part of Škofja Loka and extends along the Ljubljana - Jesenice railway line. There are approximately 3.000 employees in the IZ Trata. According to the estimates of the 3 participating companies (LTH Castings, Knauf Insulation, SIBO G), up to 94% of their employees in September 2021 commute by car, which causes traffic jams, reduces traffic safety, reduces the quality of life and is an important source of GHG emissions.
The main objective of the project was to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation in the field of sustainable mobility. With the project, we wanted to achieve a change in travel habits at the level of participating companies'' employees and increase the use of sustainable mobility modes by 4%.
The project has achieved its goal of creating and implementing mobility plans for the three companies partnering in the project. The companies gained a coherent mobility plan specifically tailored to their situation and needs, as well as a trained mobility coordinator, empowered to implement the planned activities and measures during and after the end of the project, thus ensuring the sustainability of the project results. In total, the measures reached approximately 3,000 employees (or daily commuters) of IZ Trata and the management of at least 7 of IZ Trata''s largest companies. The employees and management of the companies were informed about mobility management best practices at company level through a study visit abroad and the training of a mobility manager. Many of the aforementioned best practices were discovered during a study visit to Liechtenstein and Voralberg. They are compiled in the Compendium of good practices for implementing sustainable mobility in companies and institutions.
Mobility coordinators (MC) were appointed to implement the measures. Partners set up a publicly accessible online classroom to train MCs and also executed a live workshop.
As part of the project, 3 monthly campaigns, 2 one-day campaigns and promotion of sustainable mobility at local municipality events were carried out in order to stimulate a change in mobility behaviour of project partner company’s approximately 1200 employees and inhabitants of the Škofja Loka municipality in general.
The community benefits from the project through, among other things, less pressure on the road infrastructure, fewer emissions and less air pollution. At company level, the number of parking spaces was visibly left unoccupied, which shows the increase in sustainable mobility modes of transportation. That has an impact on the health of employees and their job satisfaction. The measures helped to improve air quality in the IZ Trata area and reduce traffic congestion. Several results were disseminated to the general public and will remain active after the end of the project to ensure the transferability of the lessons learned (compendium of good practices, learning platform for mobility coordinators, analyses of mobility in the IZ).
During the project period, the consortium implemented the four planned measures to promote sustainable mobility within IZ Trata Each of the companies set up a designated bike storage with a charging station for electric bicycles and purchased e-bikes for its employees. The companies also implemented various organizational measures to promote and stimulate sustainable mobility (like promoting carpooling with the first ever parking space designated for carpoolers in Slovenia and designating shower lockers for cycling commuters).
Along with measure implemented by the companies the municipality of Škofja Loka carried out an infrastructural intervention – IZ Trata received a missing part of the bicycle connection to IZ Trata, ensuring safe accessibility to workplaces, and extended its bike sharing stations to IZ as well.
A special focus was also placed on educational activities. As part of the project, an educational website for mobility coordinators was set up and a compendium of best practices was created. In addition, careful studies and analyses of the site and its mobility problems were carried out, which were incorporated into the mobility plans and measures and also served as a basis for evaluating the impact of the measures.
Summary of bilateral results
The donor project partner for the project was CIPRA International from Liechtenstein. CIPRA has its origins in nature conservation and is firmly rooted in the Alps. The organization also focuses on social, economic and socio-political issues that are key to a sustainable future. Examples include resource management, energy and mobility, participation, gender issues and sustainable lifestyles. The project consortium benefited greatly from the organization''s involvement. Firstly, all project partners had the opportunity to participate in the study visit at the beginning of the project. CIPRA international co-organized an excellent study visit program with key stakeholders and good practice examples. This experience has significantly influenced the project management and activities of the project. CIPRA International also provided the consortium with ongoing advice on the project activities and their implementation, providing an invaluable objective and broader view of the project''s development. Another advantage is that CIPRA International is the umbrella body of all national CIPRA representations, including CIPRA Slovenia, which was also a project partner. This enabled even closer collaboration and cooperation in all of the project''s educational and good practice activities.Having a donor project partner is crucial to gain a broader and more objective perspective on certain issues (which can be country-specific) and provide valuable insights into project activities and, in particular, potential solutions to identified challenges.Bilateral cooperation between CIPRA International and CIPRA Slovenia will continue. The municipality of Škofja Loka is also very interested in learning from best practices in the field of sustainable mobility management at municipal (local) level.