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EEA staff walking the walk during European Mobility Week

News Published 18 Sep 2007 Last modified 21 Jun 2016

2 min read

Topics: Transport Climate change mitigation

This week is the European Mobility Week and the staff of the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen is looking at ways to reduce the number of missions, and to do the daily commuting in an environmentally friendly way. A recent survey among staff showed that 53 % of them walk or cycle to get to work and many others walk or cycle in combination with public transport. None of the staff members responding to the survey use only their car for daily commuting, and merely 10 % use their car in combination with public transport.

A survey among staff of the Danish Environment Protection Agency in 1999 showed that 52 % of them walked or rode a bicycle to get to work, while 10 % used a car. Figures from 2003 from Eurostat showed that 31 % of Copenhagen citizens walked or cycled to work. A survey made by Copenhagen municipality in 2005 showed this figure to be 59 %, but included journeys to school.

During the European Mobility Week, events dedicated to sustainable mobility will be organised in more than 1 300 cities. Among the activities will be debates on the necessity for changes in behaviour in relation to mobility. These will focus in particular on the use of private cars in urban areas and the need to give up road space to other means of transport in order to improve mobility in cities and towns.

Mobility Week 2007: reclaiming the streets

The overall theme of the European Mobility Week this year is 'Streets for people'. The aim is to convey the message that increasing road space for cars is not the answer to existing transport challenges. On the contrary, the organisers insist, reducing road space for cars can be both a sustainable and efficient solution that does not sacrifice individual mobility — and that also allows for a healthier lifestyle for all citizens.

Under the 'Streets for people' theme, local authorities are encouraged to give up road space to non-motorised traffic such as bicycles and pedestrians. The theme also highlights the need to improve air quality at local level, something which is a major concern for the European Union and its Member States.

The European Mobility Week is an annual event organised by a consortium of three city-networks (Eurocities, Energie-Cités, Climate Alliance) in partnership with national ministries and agencies, European and international associations and organisations as well as the European Commission. This is the sixth anniversary of European Mobility Week.

The EEA's Mobility Week engagement is part of the Agency's improvement activities under the EMAS environment certification scheme. This is an EU-initiated scheme for environment certification of companies and organisations. The Agency was awarded an EMAS certificate three years ago. In order to keep the certificate, the organisation in question has to undergo an annual auditing and keep working continuously to maintain and improve its environmental performance.