From 8-10 October, the cities in the Active Cities partnership and their knowledge and expert partners came together in Aarhus, Denmark for the fifth project partner meeting. This meeting represented a slight shift from normality for he consortium, as the meeting took the format of a joint meeting with another Interreg North Sea project; Shared North Squared.
Our host, Aarhus Kommune, is a project partner in both projects, with different yet complimentary roles in each. Within the Active Cities project, Aarhus Kommune works towards the promotion of mobility hubs with free parking outside of the city, allowing people to enter Aarhus City using sustainable modes of transport, while in Shared North Squared the focus is aimed at demonstrating the impact on the modal share in a chosen area of significant urban development.
With the Active Cities project now over halfway through, the work carried out by partners is now becoming increasingly tangible, with pilots running, changes visible in the streets, and larger numbers of local people engaged across the project locations.
Despite strong progress, city partners do face challenges. Mobility is a topic that is close to the heart of many, often invoking a feeling of freedom. Some citizens do not respond well to change, while a change in local political power can bring with it a shift in priorities and attitudes towards mobility, increasing the challenges to achieving ambitions even further.
During the visit to Aarhus, partners had the opportunity to experience the city's pilot site, Tangkrogen, a free parking area roughly 25 minutes' walk from the city centre. Through Active Cities, residents in and around Aarhus are encouraged to leave their car at the secure location. and continue their journey to and from the city by bike or on foot.
In order to stimulate the use of these facilities, bike parking has been improved, and a bike repair station installed. The city has also installed cameras and sensors to understand the demand and usage of the space, with information available for users.
Alongside this insightful visit to the Aarhus pilot location, partners spent time discussing the other pilots being run through the project, with presentations and knowledge exchange providing an opportunity to learn more and continue collaboration.
Project partners were also guided through a scenario workshop to plan the future of these mobility meeting points, in line with Aarhus’ new green mobility plan.
Overall, it was an active, engaging and fruitful visit to Aarhus as we continue our collaboration to champion active mobility across the North Sea Region!
