European policies have set ambitious sustainability targets for all levels of governance for 2020 and the coming decades, expecting important reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, a significant increase in energy efficiency and in production from renewable sources, and a dramatic reduction of Europe’s dependence on imported oil. The role of local authorities through their local strategic energy, transport and mobility plans is pivotal to meeting these targets.

However, individual sectoral plans dealing with energy, transport and mobility separately have often proved inefficient for providing effective, long-term solutions. These guidelines are the outcome of a preparatory process that involved extensive consultations in the territories of the SIMPLA partnership. The SIMPLA guidelines offer local authorities an innovative, comprehensive approach for harmonising energy, transport and mobility planning in the frame of wider urban development and land-use planning. A step-by-step methodology is described in the chapters of this document.