ACTIVITY 11.2: Inform and engage citizens and stakeholders

GLOSSARY TERMS

By Tom Wood / Updated: 28 Nov 2019

Rationaleinfo-icon

Communication and engagementinfo-icon with the local population should not end at the planning stage. It is an essential ingredient during all stages of the SUMP process. As implementation is carried out, it is necessary to publicly communicate the progress of the implemented actions, articulating their contribution to the agreed visioninfo-icon and objectives. Citizens and stakeholders who are directly affected by certain actions should be particularly addressed in the process. That way, citizens can realise the connection between their earlier input at a strategic and detailed level and the real changes in their city or neighborhood. This requires honest, ongoing and respectful communication from the city administration to the public - but also vice versa: citizens, the ultimate experts in the actual performance of measures in real life, should be encouraged and should have convenient opportunities to share constructive views about ways to improve and fine-tune measures. Taking such views on board sincerely and responding to them fosters a sense of trust and provides opportunities for improving the implementation process and the final outcomes of measureinfo-icon implementation.

 

Aims

  • Make effective use of resources - taking advantage of both the expertise of professionals and the on-the- ground knowledge of citizens - to achieve the best results possible.

  • Increase ownershipinfo-icon of measures by involving citizens as much as possible in the monitoringinfo-icon and implementation process.

  • Ensure residents are aware of the implications of the changes that are coming to their city, describing the benefits and offering options where changes in daily travel habits will be possible or required.

 

Tasks

  • Talk to citizens or stakeholders who are directly affected (positively or negatively) by a planned measure before starting the implementation, and respond to their concerns. Bear in mind that those who fear being negatively affected will naturally make more ‘noise’ than those who benefit from a measure even if they are in a minority.

  • Mitigate negative effects that accompany imple- mentation (e.g. offer support to businesses affected by long-term construction of a new tram route).

  • Look for creative ways to engage stakeholders wherever possible (e.g. having children paint footprints on the ground marking safe routes to school).

  • Keep the wider public well informed about the progress in measure implementation. Publish evaluationinfo-icon results targeted at citizens and politicians. Present a selected set of indicators (emotional core indicators - see Activity 6.1) in the form of high-quality figures that are easy to understand for non-experts. Provide a general update on the implementation status to the local council every one or two years to keep the SUMP high on the agenda (e.g. in the form of a status report or presentation in a council meeting).

  • Highlight milestones of measure implementation and celebrate accomplishments with the community (e.g. a street festival after pedestrianisation).

 

Activities beyond essential requirements

  • Consider options to “co-implement” measures with civic actors (e.g. residents, businesses, artists, sports clubs, schools, senior citizens, trade schools, religious groups, museums etc). Depending on the context they could take over maintenance tasks, provide some light labour, grant access to their own communication channels, engage in training and mentoring activities, report problems, host events, provide datainfo-icon, know-how and ideas or even make financial contributions (crowd-funding/crowd- investment). See the SUNRISE Co-Implementation Guidelines for further inspiration and for a range of concrete examples (e.g. citizeninfo-icon-built bike lanes, place making initiatives with residents, citizen-buses, collective cleaning days and more).

 

Timing and coordination

  • Different forms of citizen and stakeholderinfo-icon engagement are required throughout the entire SUMP process as well as the implementation and monitoring phase.

 

Checklist

✔ Citizens and stakeholders who are directly affected by measure implementation involved in implementation process.
✔ Solutions for mitigation of negative effects during implementation identified and pursued.
✔ General public informed about progress of measure implementation.

 

The success of measure implementation is strongly connected to a good communication with the affected stakeholders and citizens. When it comes to electrification measures, such as charging infrastructure or Zero-Emission-Zones, residents need to be engaged and encouraged to be part of the changes. Convincing people to exchange their private cars for other options is not simple, as it cannot be directly controlled by the mobilityinfo-icon planning authorityinfo-icon, but has to be achieved with a range of communication measures and incentives. In your communication campaign, it is recommended to use a recognisable brand and different channels to targetinfo-icon different groups. The messages should focus on the direct benefits for the users (e.g. lifecycle costs, access to charging infrastructure etc.) rather than on the benefits for society. You should make all the existing benefits and incentives widely known, such as financial subsidies and practical advantages given to electric vehicle drivers (e.g. access to Zero-Emission-Zones, free parking, free charging etc.).

More guidance on how to successfully electrify transport in the framework of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Planinfo-icon can be found in the Topic Guide Electrification: Planning for electric road transport in the SUMP context.

 

For more information

SUNRISE project, 2019. Co-Implementation Guidelines, www.rupprecht-consult.eu/uploads/tx_rupprecht/SUN_D3.1_Co-implementation-Guidelines.pdf

CH4LLENGE project, 2016. Participationinfo-icon manual - Actively engaging citizens and stakeholders in the development of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans, www.eltis.org/resources/tools/sump-participation-kit

CiViTAS DYN@MO, 2016. Participation 2.0 in the Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning Process - Experiences from the CIVITAS DYN@MO Project, https://civitas.eu/sites/default/files/participation_2.0_in_the_sump_process_dynamo_web.pdf

More info: 

GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLE: Ljubljana, Slovenia

Temporary street closure leading to permanent redesign of urban space

 

The city of Ljubljana took advantage of the European Mobility Week in 2013 to start a four-month temporary closure of the central Slovenska Street for all motorised vehicles. This was a step towards transforming the urban space into a new public pedestrian street, which is only accessible by public transport, cycling and walking. It includes new urban furnishing and green space. Four months later, at the end of January 2014, the CO2 level had dropped by 70%, improving the quality of life, air quality and level of noise. Based on the positive results and feedback from the general public, Ljubljana made the closure permanent in September 2015.

 

Author: Matic Sopotnik, City of Ljubljana, collected by EUROCITIES

GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLE: Bologna, Italy

Novel and interactive engagement formats to involve citizens

 

Based on a multilevel approach, citizens’ engagement was the key asset of developing a SUMP for Bologna. In the framework of a “Sustainable Mobility Forum” various stakeholders were invited to work on objectives, strategies, policies and actions. Overall, 55 different municipalities and their citizens participated in public SUMP presentation meetings; the six neighbourhoods of Bologna got engaged in workshops and dedicated info-points. Together with the SUMP development, the “PUMS Bologna Metropolitana Project” aimed to engage all actors and citizens through participatory, informative and communicative activities (co-implementation).

 

Author: Catia Chiusaroli, Metropolitan City of Bologna, collected by Polis