European Mobility Week Highlight: Cycle4Climate
This week marks the celebration of European Mobility Week, an initiative that encourages people to rethink their daily transportation choices and their impact on the environment, society, and personal health. Aligned with this theme is the Cycle4Climate project, a 3.5-year initiative funded by the Central Baltic programme under Programme Objective 5. The project aims to reduce traffic-related carbon emissions in cities across the Central Baltic region by encouraging residents to choose two wheels over four.
International Collaboration for Greener Cities
Cycle4Climate unites eight partners from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Sweden, including four cities and four universities of applied sciences. In an interview with the Finnish project partners, they emphasized the crucial role of EU funding in making these changes a reality.
“Without the support of the Interreg Central Baltic programme, a project of this scale wouldn’t be possible. Participating in a Central Baltic project allows us to collaborate with partners across borders, bringing in expertise and resources from different regions. Cross-border cooperation is crucial in tackling shared environmental challenges, especially given the similar weather conditions in each country, they explained.
Bringing EU Benefits to Local Communities
One of the standout benefits of Cycle4Climate is its ability to connect local communities with broader European climate objectives. Finnish cities, such as Espoo, are already seeing the benefits, particularly in improved cycling infrastructure. However, despite the progress, there is still work to be done to meet targets related to the number of cyclists.
“The project offers both immediate and long-term benefits for Finnish communities. It’s not just about building better infrastructure today; it’s about shifting habits and making cycling an integral part of urban life, commented a project representative. Cycle4Climate aims to achieve these goals by focusing on social initiatives rather than just traditional infrastructure improvements. These include community campaigns, electronic measurement points, and display boards to promote year-round cycling and encourage public engagement.
Looking to the Future
The impact of Cycle4Climate will extend beyond the initial pilot cities, benefiting other municipalities and urban areas in the Central Baltic region. As the project progresses, it will evaluate the effectiveness of its social interventions and aims to create tools and models that can be easily adopted by other cities across the region.
Residents and stakeholders can follow the project’s progress on the project webspace and LinkedIn. As it evolves, Cycle4Climate is expected to deliver significant results in reducing carbon emissions, enhancing cycling infrastructure, and making cities more sustainable and resident-friendly.
Text: Viola Mickos, National Contact Point in Finland
