Skip to main content
European Commission logo print header

European Programme for Accelerating the Take up of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - SUMPs-Up (European Programme for Accelerating the Take up of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans)

Reporting period: 2019-09-01 to 2020-02-29

CIVITAS SUMPs-Up worked to advance SUMPs take-up across Europe, particularly in countries where take-up is low and the negative effects of transport severe. The leading objective was to enable mobility planning authorities to embrace SUMP as the European-wide planning approach. Although the number of cities adopting a SUMP and their advocates are increasing, uptake levels still vary considerably depending on location and context. A comprehensive evidence base concerning barriers to SUMP preparation and implementation was created through applied research - a Users' Needs Assessment - at the early stages of SUMPs-Up. Based on these findings, the project compiled the most effective planning tools and methods and provided guidance on various mobility policy areas. The Consortium’s 7 City Partners and 8 technical organisations, including Europe’s 4 major city networks, reached out to mobility planning authorities throughout Europe with the aim to significantly increase the number of cities actively using and embedding SUMPs into their daily routines.
Based on the research and experiences, SUMPs-Up created innovative products and insightful reports and made these widely available, thereby ensuring the longevity of project impacts on increased SUMP development. A series of publications provide planners with expert guidance on crucial SUMP topics. An important update to the first edition from 2013, the second edition of the SUMP Guidelines was launched at the CIVITAS Forum 2019 as one of project's key activities. In addition, SUMPs-Up has contributed practical and replicable tools and methods to support SUMP preparation, including guidance and training materials that are applicable to a large target audience.

SUMPs-Up has speedily progressed according to its initial plan and has successfully completed all tasks that have been set out. It has delivered the expected impacts of the Horizon 2020 call, MG-5.4-2015 achieving a high leverage factor based on a strong commitment to preparing and implementing SUMPs.

Although the SUMPs-Up chapter in the EU SUMP story has closed, the project has supported in laying the basis of an enthusiastic SUMP community that is ready to spread the SUMP message and knowledge to a new generation of towns and cities that will embrace this EU mobility planning standard.
Since SUMPs-Up kicked-off in September 2016, it made significant headway towards realising the objective it set out to achieve. The Users' Needs Assessment drew responses from 328 cities from 27 European countries and provided insightful data on SUMP take-up needs, challenges, thematic priorities, areas of expertise, and knowledge gaps in cities. The information steered other SUMPs-Up activities and was continuously referred to in the development of supporting tools and services. Another key SUMPs-Up output is the CIVITAS Tool Inventory, an online database jointly developed by SUMPs-Up and CIVITAS SATELLITE that provides local authorities with a range of tools and methods to support urban mobility planning. The Inventory was continuously updated with new tools since its establishment and presently includes over 220 tools.
Throughout its lifetime, SUMPs-Up worked closely with its City Partners to implement and monitor the progress of several good practice measures and procedures. They were summarised and published as part of a package of high-quality “Fact Sheets on best practice procedures and measures”.
Among the most prised endeavors of SUMPs-Up is the SLP, which stimulated and helped to accelerate SUMP take-up by engaging planning authorities in a series of participant-driven learning activities. A total of 5 SLP courses, each spanning 6 months, were carried out. SUMPs-Up products were greatly exploited during these courses, being both key reference materials and tools for cities to use to tackle SUMP-related problems.
To convey some key lessons from the evaluation process and show how SUMPs boost local mobility planning, a “Glossy brochure on five case studies on SUMP development and impact” was composed, as a collection of SUMP profiles of 5 Leadership Group cities.
To enable a wider group of mobility experts and practitioners to benefit from project results and knowledge, a variety of learning opportunities were offered throughout the project, including face-to-face workshops, webinars, and a series of e-learning courses. The theme of some of these activities included the updated SUMP Guidelines, SUMP Self-Assessment Tool, and financing and funding options for sustainable urban mobility.
Moreover, the project worked with 4 countries in which a need for national support was identified - Bulgaria, Italy, Romania and Greece. Workshops and webinars involving high-level representatives were organised to discuss methodologies used to elaborate a national SUMP-supportive programme.
As part of the SUMP 2.0 process, 5 SUMP Topic Guides were developed or co-authored.
Extensive effort was dedicated to updating the SUMP Guidelines to improve its usability and reflect recent mobility trends. This involved an elaborate consultation process with Europe's SUMP stakeholders. A separate Annex to the SUMP Guidelines was created and includes a longer description of the 63 city examples highlighted in the main document.
The project updated and enhanced the SUMP Self-Assessment Tool with a fully-revised questionnaire. The new version of the Tool allows cities to evaluate their planning activities and places a stronger emphasis on providing recommendations for improving these activities.
While the elements above comprise the key works and results achieved by SUMPs-Up during its lifetime, the list is far larger than the space allocated here allows for.
Within SUMPs-Up, the first systematic empirical assessment of SUMP take-up in Europe was conducted. The assessment helped to shed light on the status of SUMPs across Europe and the diverse needs of cities linked to SUMP development. The findings were referred to in the development of supporting tools and services, helping to accelerate the take-up of SUMPs in cities across Europe.
The second edition of the SUMP Guidelines helps to make it easier for city planners and policy makers to integrate mobility into their visions for dynamic and liveable cities. SUMPs-Up coordinated the Editorial Board of the SUMP 2.0 process, which consisted of DG MOVE, DG REGIO and INEA, CIVITAS SUMP projects, and Eltis, leading to enormous impact for the transport planning approach in the cities. The SUMP Self-Assessment Tool, by helping cities to identify strengths and weaknesses of their planning activities, and the CIVITAS Tool Inventory will further increase the impact of SUMPs-Up and help to accelerate SUMP take-up in Europe and beyond.
In addition to allowing for the testing of SUMPs-Up tools and guidance, the SLPs equipped local planning authorities and mobility practitioners with the knowledge and skills needed to develop and implement SUMPs.
SUMPs-Up actively contributed to highlight the importance of SUMP support from the national level by making direct contacts with national level representatives and SUMP national focal points during national workshops.
It can be said that SUMPs-Up activities contributed a deeper understanding of barriers to SUMP development and cities’ SUMP needs, as well as have and will continue to improve the quality of SUMP planning processes and enhance EU level and Member State dialogue concerning SUMP.
Image: iStock / wallix