Sharing opinions and connecting with others is important, as it helps to offer support to local and national authorities to improve the quality and uptake of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. CIVITAS PROSPERITY’s approach is to focus its support on connecting, rather than collecting. Hence, the project has introduced SUMP Ambassadors, who are enthusiastic personalities willing to share their interesting stories, findings and lessons learnt from their personal experience with SUMPs.

Our SUMP Ambassadors engage with the people, because they have something interesting to tell. They do not only share their personal view on what they like most in their own city, but helping to understand the starting point of their respective SUMP, how it works and what’s the main focus of it. Because you can have a great SUMP, but if people don’t know about it then it does no good.

Our SUMP Ambassadors have a reason to talk, and they are able to equip others with insights and interesting stories, such as the work with oppositions and how they were able to overcome barriers. But also on how they organised the public participation process.

Our SUMP Ambassadors help to empower other cities that are willing to improve the quality and uptake of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. They offer a clear message on why SUMPs are so important, hence they motivate others to take the next step as well. These personalities provide insights on the driving forces and barriers to develop such an SUMP, or what was and is their role in the development of it, may it be as a politician or SUMP cooordinator.

The first interviews are now online on the CIVITAS PROSPERITY website, and more are to come!

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