MedCities organised as a side-event of its General Assembly this 1st and 2nd December a thematic seminar on sustainable mobility planning and innovation.

The event was held in hybrid format and was hosted by the city council of Montpellier. It counted on the participation of 25 representatives of Southern and Northern cities (member cities of MedCities) and around 25 more connected online, including members of the Union of Mediterranean Universities (UNIMED).

Ms Clare Hart, vice-mayor of the city of Montpellier, and Mr Josep Canals, Secretary General of MedCities, opened the seminar with powerful words about the importance of acting for sustainability in a key transformative sector, mobility, in a vulnerable region, the Mediterranean.

The first discussion table presented the principles and lessons learnt of sustainable mobility planning with a strong Southern perspective through Jean Jaques Helluin, CODATU, while enriching experiences were presented by Andreas Karakatsanis from the cities of Larnaca, Dr. Riadh Haj Taieb from the city of Sfax and Ms Selimović from Sarajevo city council. The second table showcased innovative solutions coming from the City of Valencia presented by Mr Grezzi, from Greater Irbid Municipality by Ms Leila Youssef and an introduction to the jordanian context of transport innovation (Prof. Naser from The University of Jordan), with a final word on the case of Durres in Albania

The experiences of Montpellier city council and Mersin Metropole Municipality closed up the session after the lunch break for a final round of discussion in what was deemed an interesting seminar and a promising space for further cooperation of MedCities member cities. A brief report of the seminar will soon be published, together with the presentations, on the MedCities and Urban Transports websites. Follow the news for more!