The German Transport Development Plans, called VEPs, and Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) are complex and elaborate. The CIVITAS PROSPERITY ‘national events’ are workshops that are designed to enable participants to exchange experiences and to elaborate on the implementation of sustainable transport plans within a national context. The 2nd edition of this event in Germany took place on 07 November 2018 in Kassel.

The first national event workshop, entitled ‘The strategic importance of urban mobility plans’, was held in November 2017 in Berlin. The second national event workshop, entitled ‘Best practice examples for implementation of SUMPs in Germany’ took place on 07 November 2018 in the City of Kassel. The process of how a German Transport Development Plan became a SUMP in different large cities was discussed at the first workshop, at the second workshop a series of best practice examples of the VEPs in small- and medium-sized cities were discussed focusing on the cities of Kassel, Soest and Arnsberg.

The workshop was attended by more than 30 participants from various stakeholders (municipalities, planning institutions and organisations etc.) who followed the excellent presentations on successful implementation strategies of VEP s/ SUMPs. The workshop discussions focused on how to effectively implement VEPs/ SUMPs and how to achieve the intended effects. The workshop also included a short excursion to some of the first implemented measures and outstanding projects close to the city hall of Kassel.

The presentations and discussions emphasized the need for monitoring and evaluation of the process and the measures. Politicians should agree upon the indicators and their measurement prior to implementation, the indicators should be measurable and easily understood so that VEP/SUMP achievements can be highlighted.

Efficient participation processes are important criteria for success because they counteract potential resistance during the implementation of measures. The discussions showed that stakeholder involvement is essential not only in planning but also during implementation. Whether the appropriate procedures are round table talks, citizen forums or online participation, the particular format must be chosen carefully to suit the specific context. In addition, the targets of VEPs/SUMPs to be achieved should also be agreed in consensus with politicians.

The financing of certain measures, especially soft policies, causes major problems for municipalities. In most cases, certain measures can only be implemented using indirect funding from the climate protection plan. A targeted (national or regional) funding program for mobility management measures would be desirable.

During the discussions it also became clear that a ‘care taker’ is a very important role for implementation. The ‘care taker‘ keeps an eye on the overall VEP process of implementation and coordinates the measures with the administrations involved. The realization of sustainable mobility is, after all, an interdepartmental task that requires continuous development.

The third event will take place on 22 May 2019 at Difu in Berlin. Here, also the outputs of the CIVITAS PROSPERITY project will be presented and discussed.

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