Urban Policy Group

International Policy Fellowship 2002

 

Final Activity Report

 

 

 

I PHASE (March 2002 – September 2002)

 

First phase is to sum up the first six months of the research project, covering the period from March till September 2002. As by the initial plan, the first phase has lasted for seven months, till the end of September. The reason the first phase is relatively long is the fact that the term ‘sustainable urban mobility’ is pretty new in Serbia. It took time to collect relevant information about it.

 

The work on the project during the first part of fellowship year has had three major aspects, each of them being outlined below.

 

1.       The first level has considered collecting information about developed EU countries, gathering data from literature and other sources to become familiar with the most effective transport policies and practices in EU countries. The next research phase will be on applying these practices and learnings into transport policy in Serbia, taking into consideration actual local environment.

The “literature” part (getting hold of it and sourcing relevant information and data) took a significantly large portion of the first phase of research, but in my personal view, it has been of great importance, as in Serbia there is very few literature or papers on this subject. List of literature is attached in draft research paper.

In this phase I managed to visit some European institutions working on sustainable mobility.

In June I was in Berlin, in organization and with great assistance of the European Academy of the Urban Environment. It was an excellent opportunity to see in practice all the actions and measures taken in Europe and in Berlin specifically in promoting sustainable urban mobility. Of special importance were the discussions with Mr. Christoph Rau and his assistance that enabled me to see the whole literature they have.

 

During my stay in Berlin I had following meetings:

·         Ministry for Urban Development, Mr. Dr Friedemann Kunst, responsible for all traffic related questions;

·         German Institute for Urban Studies, Mr. Tilman Bracher;

·         Ministry for Urban Development, Mr. Heribert Guggenthaler, responsible for road planning (sp. cycling);

 

·         Berliner Verkehrsbeitribe BVG (Berlin public transport company), Mr. Dipl.-Ing. Hartmund Schmidt;

·         Federal Environmental Agency, Ms. Gertrude Penn-Bressel;

·         Gruene Liga, ecological NGO, Ms. Gudrun Vinzing.

 

2.       Another aspect of this phase was to contact municipalities in Serbia. A questionnaire was made and sent out to bigger towns in Serbia related to the measures that local authorities have made to contribute to modal transfer from private cars to sustain mobility in general (bus lines, cycle paths, measures for walking etc.). The process of data gathering has still not been finalized, and thus it will be submitted in the final report.

Also, I made contacts with Institute for health protection " Dr. Milan Jovanovic Batut" and Center for environmental protection that are tracking air pollution on the territory of Serbia.

3.       Activities

During the whole year, being the member of NGO "Yugo cycling campaign", involved in the promotion of cycling, I was involved in different projects which, as the final goal, have growing of the  awareness of environmental impact of the mode of transport chosen and supporting usage of alternative and environmentally sound modes of transport.

 

The main activities during the year are "Bike Fest", which takes place every year in Belgrade, and organization of “Car free day" in Serbia.

·         "Bike Fest" in Belgrade

At the beginning of so called "bicycle season" in Belgrade, every April we organize a bicycle festival. Several thousands, mostly young people joined us in the ride, led by the Mayor of Belgrade and other members of the city government. This event is a good opportunity to promote new projects connected with better conditions for bicycling in Belgrade.

·         "Car free day" in Serbia

"Car free day" is an action organized in the whole Europe and takes place on 22nd of September each year. As of 2001 "Yugo cycling campaign” is the national coordinator of this event. Last year this manifestation was held in circa 1000 European cities and, for the first time, 18 cities and towns from Serbia.

At the moment there are preparations for this year manifestation, but this year the action should be prolonged to "Mobility week". "Mobility week" will represent a platform for local authorities to promote their on-going policies and initiatives, which are to contribute to growing citizens' awareness about the damage that current urban mobility trends generate on the environment and the quality of life, etc.

·         In March 2002 I took part in workshops of Annual meeting of German cycling Federation in Oberwesel, Germany.

·         In April 2002 I took part at the international meeting "Regulation and conducting of traffic in towns and settlements" in Sombor, Yugoslavia, with the paper "How to improve cyclist's

 

safety-development of infrastructure for cyclists in Belgrade". Paper was printed in papers’ repertory and contains results of research on bicycle traffic on the streets of Belgrade, analysis of traffic accidents with cyclist involved, and also several projects that YUGINUS did in last 4-5 years with intuition to improve safety of cyclist.

 

 

II PHASE (September 2002 – March 2003)

 

·      In the second phase of the project I had the next two visits – Brussels and Barcelona. In Brussels I was during European Mobility Week, 16-22 September 2002. with invitation from European Cycling federation (ECF) and their general secretary where I was present at all organized actions. Also, I had important meetings with representatives of bicycle associations.

 

From 26-27. November 2002. I took part at the ACCESS Conference in Barcelona “POLICY INTO ACTION - Creating the link between local actions and European mobility policy”.

 

Main topics were:

1.       Mobility and Governance,

2.       ACCESS to European Initiatives, Changing Perspectives – The Contribution of Soft Engineering in Achieving Modal Change,

3.       Developing User Friendly Mobility and Accessibility Policies,

4.       Maintaining Economic Growth and Ensuring the Development of Our Communities by Allowing Citizens Access to Goods and Services,

5.       Developing Environmentally Friendly and Energy Saving Mobility Solutions,

6.       The Role of Local Authorities in European Transport Policy.

 

·      During last six months of this project I made important contacts with members of local authorities in Belgrade, Subotica, Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac. In mutual discussions we came to the main problems in town traffic. For me the biggest problem was gathering information because statistic is not up to date and it is impossible to obtain adequate and correct data.

 

·      In February 2002. there was conducted a poll of citisens in Belgrade, Subotica, Novi Sad, Niš and Kragujevac. Choice of the towns was based on the need to cover (geographically) the whole territory of Serbia and to include towns of different size and structure which are typical for Serbia. The goal was double and we got: remarks and observation of the people and data about everyday trips of citizens.

 

 

 

 

·      In final phase I concentrated on writing the reports – Final Research Paper and Final Policy Paper. Results of these researches are issued and sent to the relevant institutions in the field such as Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunication, Ministry for Environment Faculty for Traffic and Transport Engineering in Belgrade, Town Planning Institute in Belgrade and local authorities of different municipalities in Serbia.

 

There are plans to organize discussions and debate where will be presented results of the research and new transport policies to inform public besides institutions.