URBACT II Analytical case study

Green Light for Pedestrians & Cyclists, Sebeş, Romania Active Travel Network

December 2011

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Overview

At the end of 2011, the increasing support of the local stakeholders for the sustainable mobility in Sebeş materialized in the creation of a Network of Walking and Cycling Friendly Shops. The latest has been officially inaugurated through the campaign “Verde pentru pietoni şi biciclişti” (Green Light for Pedestrians & Cyclists) organized by Sebeş municipality between 16th and 18th of November 2011. Despite the cold windy weather the initiative was very well received by the inhabitants so that the 7 commercial units involved showed their interest to take part in similar future activities. Both, the network and the campaign were meant to educate people in favour of active travel so that to enable the implementation of the central pedestrian area, planned since 2010 and possible to be developed after the conclusion of the traffic belt (end of 2012).

Basic description of the background and setting

Summary To prepare the closure of the city centre to motorized traffic, Sebes municipality transformed the shopkeepers into its partners promoting the Network of Cycling and Walking Friendly Shops.

Challenges that the practice addresses

The main problem addressed was the car dependency of the inhabitants of Sebeş, a relatively small Romanian city, with easy walk-able distances and a sustainable mobility tradition. In order to limit the important transit and local heavy traffic particularly detrimental for people lives, the city centre would need to be rendered pedestrian area. However this option was initially opposed by most of the local stakeholders erroneously fearing that such a change would negatively affect their businesses.

The Context Lasting the past decade, the prosperous industrial development substantially increased the transit heavy traffic in Sebes, triggering at its turn people’s fear to walk or cycle. As a consequence, they started to adopt motorized modes of travel even for short everyday distances. This conduced to an additional augmentation of the roads’ congestion while discouraging even more inhabitants to practice any form of active travel. A lot of them gave up walking into the city centre, preferring to do their shopping in the supermarkets outside the city or get the car even if they wanted to buy some small things easy to be transported into a bike basket for instance from a place close to their house.

Aims and objectives The campaign “Green Light for Pedestrians & Cyclists” was meant to prepare the transformation of Sebes city centre into a pedestrian area. It was part of the series of initiatives developed in 2011 through the Active Travel Network project in order to favour the recognition and promotion of the walk-able and cycle-able dimensions of the city.

Social Innovation The shops network and its associated campaign represented an ingenious way of negotiating a necessary urban mobility measure by co-interesting the main opponents. For the shopkeepers’ involvement, more important than the actual campaign were its preparation and subsequent evaluation. Those two phases enabled the presentation of various international experiences

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related to the implementation of pedestrian areas and active travel friendly initiatives as well as a lot of discussions on those issues between the shopkeepers and between them and the representatives of the local authorities.

Case: Concise description and explanation of the practice

Main components or parts of the practice

The first key element of this initiative resided in the preparatory discussions that explained the purpose and advantages of such an action while giving to the participants the opportunity to express their opinions, doubts and proposals. An important role for the overall success of this campaign played the subsequent evaluation and the permanent contact maintenance that increased people determination to support active travel and thus the initiative’s reloading chances.

Timing - Start and duration

First discussions regarding the shops association and the campaign took place on the occasion of the LSG meeting from February 17th, 2011. The actual shops network was established at the beginning of November 2011 and inaugurated through the campaign “Green Light for Pedestrians & Cyclists” organized between 16th and 18th of November 2011. The Shops Network is still in force, open to new members as well as to the diversification of activities.

Process - Development over time

In February 2011, Sebes municipality and the Association for Urban Transition (ATU) organised the first preliminary discussions with the shopkeepers invited to join the Urban Mobility Local Support Group (LSG) meeting. These were followed by a couple of presentations with examples of good practices and European studies proofing the benefits of the involvement in a network of shops. 7 commercial units showed their interest to associate and started to communicate more intensively with the Active Travel Network (ATN) team for negotiating the definition of the network and its promotion. ATU prepared and presented the campaign plan and design. The actual establishment of the network took place at the beginning of November, being followed by its inauguration campaign organized between 16th and 18th of November 2011. Lasting the latter, besides the discussions initiated on urban mobility issues, the commercial units involved offered various discounts and free services to the ones coming on foot or by bike. The representatives of the participant shops were requested to evaluate the activity immediately afterwards, expressing their attitudes and expectations from a future similar initiative and suggesting ways of improvement.

Overcoming challenges

The main challenges were represented by the initial reticence of the shopkeepers, the inhabitants’ scepticism and the cold weather. The shopkeepers were encouraged to get involved by stimulating communication between them, while offering them the opportunity to express themselves and proposing them new advertising solutions, an attractive design and a clear expressive campaign. As people like to be asked the opinion and see that this one is taken into consideration, communication played an important role.

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Besides the various arguments and presentations favouring sustainable mobility, this campaign focused on exchanging ideas with the public, trying to make the inhabitants feel a part of it not just simple guests. On the other hand, the posters and flyers very visible in the city correlated with radio and newspaper news caught people’s attention making them ask for more information and finally get involved.

Transnationality The experience and knowledge acquired through the trans-national exchange helped defining the appropriate action to implement as well as communicating with the actors involved into it and getting the good practice examples used to obtain public support.

Key actors

Main actors involved

The network and the campaign were designed by the Association for Urban Transition (ATU) that built its general strategic plan, prepared the promotional materials and supported the actions from the technical point of view. Sebes municipality contacted the potential participants negotiating their involvement, coordinating all the meetings and thus enabling the actual network establishment. The commercial units included in the network got actively implicated being asked to provide ideas for the development of the network and requested a final evaluation and comments on this first campaign.

Coordination mechanisms

The general coordination was assured by Sebes municipality with the technical support of ATU team that also prepared the promotional materials, presentations, evaluation questionnaires and communications to be made to the participants. The inhabitants have been also treated as active participants being not just presented and offered various advantages, but also questioned about their opinion and attitudes regarding sustainable mobility.

Participation

This campaign addressed general public and local shopkeepers inviting the inhabitants to rediscover their own town and its facilities from a different perspective. It has been largely promoted by the means of local press (Unirea newspaper and radios Atlas, Reintregirea and Ardeleanul), as well as through posters and website news.

Supporting programmes and funding sources

Total cost and Sources of funding

The personal costs were covered through the Active Travel Network project, while the discounts and products offered during the campaign were paid by the private funding of the commercial units included in the shops network. The latest have also contributed for printing the necessary promotion materials (network maps, campaign poster, flyers and vouchers).

EU financial contribution Personal costs reimbursed through the Active Travel Network project

Annual budget in Euro

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Immediate and lasting results

Overall impact All of the network members proved to be satisfied with the results of the campaign and offered to contribute to the future development of other similar initiatives. Inspired by the attractive presentation of the sustainable mobility measures, the owner of “Leul de aur” Hotel decided to diversify his services by offering bikes and adapted advice to the guests willing to visit the city and its surroundings. For developing this, an inspiring example has been already offered by the municipality of Riccione, partner in the Active Travel Network.

Besides, a group of residents showed its interest in creating a bike repair shop and asked for advice and support for doing this.

Beneficiaries The main beneficiaries of the rising awareness campaign and ultimately of the shops network were the people living or working in Sebes who have learned how could they act in order to improve the quality of their lives and got the administration support in order to do so.

Concrete results This rising awareness campaign is hard to be evaluated in exact numbers, but there are more elements proving its success.

All of the 7 shopkeepers involved into the campaign declared available to reload the action in improved conditions (using this experience also as a learning possibility) and support the motorized traffic limitation in the city centre.

“Leul de aur” Hotel decided to diversify his services by offering bikes and adapted advice to the guests willing to visit the city and its surroundings.

Excited about the idea of the campaign and by the ATN project in general, some residents showed their interest in creating a bike repair shop.

The Pupils Club offered to do a survey concerning the mountain bike area planned to be realized in Arini Parc.

Impact on governance There was not necessarily a change in the governance – more a demonstration of a good small scale public private partnership facilitating the acceptance and even support of the sustainable mobility measures initiated by the municipality. In addition, this rising awareness campaign seems to have stimulated the sustainable business entrepreneurship (for instance the proposal made by the owner of Leul de aur Hotel or the initiative regarding the opening of a bike repair shop)

Lessons to be learnt

Success factors The network and the campaign focused on communication considered in a broader understanding. The key factors that brought the success of this measure were the choice of the partners and the good media relations. The core tactic consisted in working with the main opponents (to the pedestrian area) and transforming them into partners.

Barriers, bottlenecks and challenges The main obstacles were the reticence of the shopkeepers, the scepticism of the population in general and the bad weather. The first 2 cannot be simply avoided nor ignored, but one has to work on them in order to change. The bad weather could be easier

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avoided through a better scheduling of the activities, but the fact that the action was successful despite it proved once more its structural qualities.

Future issues The shops network is however still at the beginning so, for assuring its long lasting and effectiveness, some more efforts are needed. It has to be reinforced through an intensive communication, thus transforming it into a real community, engine stimulating active travel as well as social life. For obtaining the best results in terms of sustainable mobility support, the shops network has to include progressively more and more members and intensify its actions. For the actual rendering of the central part into a pedestrian area not only the physical conditions are need, but also the political and social acceptance. The good management of the shops network could play a lot in enabling and accelerating this process.

Transnationality The trans-national exchanges inspired and in the mean time gave more importance to the implementation at the local level, facilitating as well the broader dissemination of its results. Moreover, besides the actual ideas and models suggested, commenting the various urban mobility experiences from different countries provided a sense of confidence, significantly supporting the partners from the moral point of view. It is always comforting and invigorating to learn that one is not alone, in this case that cities with very diverse backgrounds have actually similar if not quite identical problems and that there are so many ways to overcome them. On the other hand the confrontation with the other partners was positive, stimulating and motivating each one of them to improve, to drive for better results.

Duration The rising awareness campaign lasted for 3 days while its preparation has taken one month. This experiment is planned to be reloaded in a diversified and extended form. The shops network is still in force and remains opened to new members and ideas.

Transferability This practice can be easily transferred and adapted to other situations. It has been done with a minimal budget, but counted a lot on mass media promotion. More important that the actual event was the occasion offered to inform and exchange ideas on urban mobility in general and on its particular issues significant at local level.

Expert opinion The most valuable aspect of this practice resides in its primary idea of playing on people’s implication and motivation. Instead of offending, deepening the conflicts, it was chosen to involve as partners all the possible opponents. Thus, the influence of preconceived ideas has been limited and it has been created an optimal space for free discussions and exchanges on urban mobility theme.

Stakeholder opinion Learning to consider cycling and walking as real modes of locomotion and adopt more environmentally friendly means of transports, the local population has done a step forward a better quality of life. Besides, the inhabitants had the satisfaction of being listened, freely expressing their concerns, proposals and

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wishes regarding Sebes’s urban mobility system.

The shopkeepers were intensively advertised through various posters and flyers as well as through the written, spoken and online media, being associated with a positive action and fashionable concepts like sustainability and European projects.

The municipality got the chance to communicate more intensively with the shopkeepers improving its relation with them and getting their support for transforming the city centre in a pedestrian zone.

Information sources Name of the initiative Active Travel Network

Country/region/city etc. Romania, Alba district, Sebeş

Administering organisation(s) Sebeş municipality

Contact details of administering organisation(s)

Project coordinator: Mrs. Simona EKART simonaekart@yahoo.com

Interviewed persons Intreprindere familiala Isabelle, Mrs. Mariana Susan, phone: +4 0749/283332, email: isabelleeaf_2006@yahoo.com SC Giovani Moco SRL, Mr. Ioan Pienariu, phone: +4 0733/697464, email: ioan_pienariu@yahoo.it SC Technostar Consulting SRL and SC Alpin 57 LUX SRL, Mrs. Alice Colhon, phone: +4 0745/072606, email: alis.colhon@alpin57lux.com

Other documentation sources Data about the network and the rising awareness campaign can be found on the website of Sebes municipality http://www.slideshare.net/fullscreen/PrimariaSebes/reteaua-de-magazine-prietenoase-cu-mediul-in-cadrul-proiectului-active-travel-network-13131154/1 http://www.slideshare.net/fullscreen/PrimariaSebes/harta-retea-magazine-sebes/1 as well as in the report of the Active Travel Network project submitted in January 2012 and corresponding to the period July-December 2011 News concerning this measure have been published as well on the project site and in the local printed and online media (see attached the scan of the article published in Unirea newspaper)

Website URL http://urbact.eu/en/projects/low-carbon-urban-environments/active-travel-network/homepage/

Main author of the case external expert: Mrs. Irina ROTARU - Association for Urban Transition, ynarina@yahoo.co.uk

Illustrations

image 1_map shops network.jpg

image 2_poster campaign.jpg

image 3_voucher.jpg – voucher distributed during the campaign

image 4_free donuts for pedestrians and cyclists.jpg

image 5_vouchers distribution 1.JPG

image 6_article Unirea newspaper_28.05.11.JPG – scan of the article by Adriana Duriga published in Unirea newspaper on the 16th of December 2011

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image 1_map shops network.jpg

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image 2_poster campaign.jpg

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image 3_voucher.jpg – voucher distributed during the campaign

image 4_free donuts for pedestrians and cyclists.jpg

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image 5_vouchers distribution 1.JPG

image 6_article Unirea newspaper_28.05.11.JPG – scan of the article by Adriana Duriga published in Unirea newspaper on the 16th of December 2011

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