45th International Cities Forum 2022

„Viable and sustainable mobility“

What contribution can cities make to a viable and mobility-oriented world in order to manage the challenge of urban mobility?

Saturday, June 18

Every year, delegations from the partner and befriended cities are invited to Kiel Week to discuss a particular municipal topic at the International Cities Forum. The event therefore has high potential for the international work of the state capital Kiel.

 

What it's all about in 2022

Mobility in urban areas is a topic that moves Kiel as well as its partner cities. Both transport planning and the availability of local public transport are central tasks for cities and municipalities around the world. Especially against the backdrop of the climate crisis, the development of sustainable mobility concepts is more important than ever.

Throughout Germany, and also in Kiel, the transport sector is the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases. For a climate-friendly life, a lot must therefore happen in the field of mobility in cities - a global challenge that can only be mastered together.

The topic of mobility thus connects to the 2021 Cities Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals. The mobility transition is an essential component of sustainable urban development, not only in Kiel. Already in the pre-talks with the partner cities for this year's Cities Forum, it became apparent that the topic has very high priority everywhere and thus represents a logical continuation of the discourse started last year. 

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Whose city is this and how do we want to be mobile in future? The concept of a car-friendly city which was created and propagated in the 1970s has long since turned out to be a mista-ke. What was at the time the progressive idea of separating life according to functionalities of accommodation, work and leisure and then, only as a secondary stage, planning to connect these areas via mobility proved to be a pipe dream. In just a few decades, a century-old prin-ciple, that of building settlements along existing transport routes, was thrown to the wind. The car was seen as the miracle cure and opened up a new sense of freedom and flexibility, at least for a small section of the population.

For many, however, it also meant a new form of dependency and the negative aspects of automobilisation have since become impossible to ignore: congested streets, noise and heavy air pollution are just some of the negative consequences that the whole of society has to bear. Alongside the damage caused to the environment and people’ s health, the social conse-quences cannot be ignored either, including the lack of space for exercise and changes to the urban climate. For a long time, the principle of the car-friendly city has sidelined the needs of many people regarding alternative ways of using public space in the sense of an attractive, sustainable and social city. This increasingly leads to conflicts, and demands for a redistributi-on of public space and alternative mobility concepts become louder.

The International City Forum 2022 is dedicated to viable and sustainable mobility. Discus-sions among participants at last year’ s International City Forum demonstrated that this sub-ject is of great international significance. Logically, therefore, this ties in with the International City Forum 2021 on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The essential goals of Agenda 2030 cannot be achieved without a transformation of transportation. SDG 11 explicit-ly refers to the aim of providing all people with access to safe, affordable and sustainable transport systems. A lot needs to happen in the area of mobility in cities, therefore, to make living in cities more climate-friendly, more sustainable and healthier.

There are only very few subjects that impact so many areas of life and affect so many groups of people like mobility. We all use transport, we all want to get to different places and, therefore, we are all mobile in different ways. The development of viable, sustainable mobility strategies is of equal concern to local authorities and their citizens, city planners and transport planners as well as interest groups from industry and civil society. In this respect, the mobility transition can only succeed if all these groups are involved. Decisions for the future can only be made or not made by weighing up the various interests.

Within the framework of the International City Forum, therefore, as many aspects of the sub-ject as possible are to be highlighted and different groups of people are to have their say. A-longside representatives from science, politics and administration, representatives of civil society will also be involved in the International City Forum for the first time this year. The core of the event comprises four subject-related workshops in which participating cities use a practical example to discuss advantages and disadvantages, opportunities and challenges, as well as lessons learnt from tried and tested approaches to sustainable mobility. Individually, the workshops tackle four aspects of mobility.

 

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Mehr Informationen über unsere Partnerstädte und befreundeten Städte sowie die internationale Arbeit der Stadt unter

Kiel bereitet seine Verkehrswende vor. Das Öffentliche Nahverkehrsystem wird eine deutliche Aufwertung erfahren.

Für die Landeshauptstadt Kiel ist das Thema Mobilität 2022 von besonderem Interesse. Bereits 2017 hatte Kiel gemeinsam mit den umliegenden Kreisen Rendsburg-Eckernförde und Plön einen „Masterplan Mobilität“ verabschiedet. Einer der zentralen Punkte in diesem Handlungskonzept ist neben dem Ausbau des Fahrradnetzes auch die Entwicklung eines tragfähigen innerstädtischen ÖPNV-Netzes. Im kommenden Jahr soll die Entscheidung darüber fallen, wie der Stadtverkehr Kiels in Zukunft aussehen soll. Aktuell erarbeiten die Verkehrsplaner*innen eine Trassenstudie, die die beiden Alternativen – Schnellbusse (BRT) oder Stadtbahn (Tram) – in ihren Vor- und Nachteilen gegenüberstellt. Die Studie soll Ende 2022 abgeschlossen sein und eine Entscheidungsgrundlage für die Kieler Ratsversammlung bilden. Eine Diskussion mit unseren internationalen Partnerstädten über deren Mobilitätskonzepte für die Zukunft ist somit für Kiel im kommenden Jahr besonders wertvoll.

Ziel des Städteforums 2022 soll es daher sein, mit den Partnerstädten über die unterschiedlichen Aspekte von urbaner Mobilität und die Herausforderungen der Mobilitätswende in einen Austausch zu kommen. Nach einem einführenden Impulsvortrag der Mobilitätsexpertin Katja Diehl sowie einem Dialoggespräch zwischen Oberbürgermeister Dr. Ulf Kämpfer und Jana Kühl, Professorin für Radmanagement an der Ostfalia Universität, wird es Workshops zu vier verschiedenen Aspekten von Mobilität geben: 

  • Stärkung des emissionsarmen Öffentlichen Personennahverkehrs (ÖPNV)
  • Ausbau von Fuß- und Radverkehr
  • Digitalisierung und Mobilitätswende
  • Mobilität rund ums Wasser

Abgerundet wird die Veranstaltung durch eine kurze Podiumsdiskussion, die auch Vertreter*innen der Zivilgesellschaft mit einbeziehen soll. Als Querschnittsthema soll dabei immer mitgedacht und diskutiert werden, wie die städtische Bevölkerung mitgenommen und für die Mobilitätswende begeistert werden kann. Der Austausch und die internationale Kooperation mit Kiels Partnerstädten kann bei der Entwicklung von Lösungsansätzen für die Herausforderungen der Mobilitätswende wichtige Impulse geben.

 

Mobility master plan

The topic of mobility 2022 is of particular interest to the state capital Kiel. Kiel had already adopted a "Mobility Master Plan" together with the surrounding districts of Rendsburg-Eckernförde and Plön in 2017. One of the central points in this action plan, in addition to the expansion of the bicycle network, is the development of a viable inner-city public transport network. This year, a decision will be made on what Kiel's urban transport system should look like in the future.

Transport planners are currently working on a route study that compares the advantages and disadvantages of the two options - bus rapid transit (BRT) or tram. The study is to be completed by the end of 2022 and will form the basis for a decision by the Kiel City Council. A discussion with our international partner cities about their mobility concepts for the future is thus particularly valuable for Kiel in this year’s Cities Forum.

 
Symbolbild für den Masterplan Mobilität

 


Challenges of the mobility transition

The aim of the 2022 Cities Forum is therefore to exchange views with the partner cities on the various aspects of urban mobility and the challenges of the mobility transition. The conference will be introduced by keynote speaker Katja Diehl, mobility expert from Hamburg, and a discussion between Lord Mayor Dr. Ulf Kämpfer and Jana Kühl, professor of bicycle management at Ostfalia University. The introductory part in the plenary will be followed by two workshop sessions on four different aspects of mobility:

  • Strengthening the low-emission local public transport network.
  • Expansion of pedestrian and bicycle traffic
  • Digitalisation and the mobility transition
  • Mobility and the water

 

The event will be rounded off by a short podium discussion that will also include representatives of civil society. The questions of how to involve the inhabitants of cities and municipalities and how to inspire them for the mobility of the future, will be considered as a cross-cutting them during the whole conference. The international exchange with Kiel's partner and befriended cities can provide useful impulses for the development of solutions to the challenges of the mobility transition.

Katja Diehl Portrait
Katja Diehl is a mobility expert, podcaster and author. She has just published her book "Autokorrektur - Mobilität für eine lebenswerte Welt".
Jana Kühl Portrait
Jana Kühl is Professor of Cycling Management at the Institute for Traffic Management, Ostfalia - University of Applied Sciences.

 

 


Agenda & Workshops

The four workshops form part of a framework programme that consists of expert input (keynote speeches and dialogue talks) and a concluding panel discussion.

All participants have the opportunity to select two of the four workshops. All workshops will be conducted in German and English, with simultaneous interpreting into French and Turkish being provided for two of these workshops. Other languages will be supported by a consecutive translation.

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From 9 a.m.
Arrival of Participants

9.30 a.m. – 9.45 a.m.
Welcoming and Opening remarks
Peter Moll, Deputy CEO Förde Sparkasse
Hans-Werner Tovar, President of the City Council Kiel
Miriam Gyamfi, Introduction to the Conference

9.45 a.m. – 10.05 a.m.
Introduction to the topic on Mobility transition
Key note speach on the challenges and opportunities for a sustainable, future-oriented mobility
Katja Diehl (She drives Mobility)

10.05 a.m. – 10.30 a.m.
Talk on Mobility
Dr. Ulf Kämpfer, Mayor of Kiel and
Prof. Dr. Jana Kühl, Germany's first professor for cycling management

10.30 a.m. – 11 a.m. Short Break

11 a.m. – 12.15 p.m.
Workshop session I (Presentation of best practice, exchange & discussion in workshop plenum)
Workshop 1 „Strengthening low-emission public transport“
Workshop 2 „Expansion of walking and cycling“

12.15 p.m. – 1.15 p.m. Lunch

1.15 p.m. – 2.30 p.m.
Workshop session II (Presentation of best practice, exchange & discussion in workshop plenum)
Workshop 3 „Digitalization and Mobility Transition“
Workshop 4 „Mobility on the Water“

2.30 p.m. – 2.45 p.m. Short Break

2.45 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Final Presentation & Panel Discussion

4 p.m. – 4.10 p.m.
Closing remarks
Hans-Werner Tovar, President of the City Council Kiel

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There is hardly a city that does not complain about how little its local public transport services are used. At the same time, more and more citizens are demanding improvements in precise-ly these services. In fact, boosting the number of local public transport users is regarded as a key factor in achieving the goal of climate neutrality. In Germany, the transport sector is still the third biggest producer of greenhouse gas emissions. It is against this backdrop that the Federal Government established its current initiative of introducing a €9 ticket for local public transport, initially for a period of three months. Triggered by rising inflation and the associated financial strain on the population, this ticket can be seen as an attempt to encourage more people to use local public transport.

The practical example used in this workshop comes from the host city. This year, a far-reaching decision is to be made on the expansion and upgrading of the local public transport network in Kiel. In the future, should Kiel have a busway on its own lane (BRT) or reinstate its tram network? Kiel’s transport planners are currently working on a route study that compares the advantages and disadvantages of the two options. It is a major city project that many of Kiel’s residents feel strongly about and so it has been widely discussed. The final decision in favour of one of the two systems is to be made by the end of 2022.

Various key questions will be discussed at the workshop, including:

  • How can a balance be achieved between local authority investments, state funding and costs to be incurred by citizens?
  • How can the use of the local public transport network be guaranteed for the whole population?
  • How can the local public transport network be made as accessible as possible?
  • How can the various local public transport services in a city be linked together, includ-ing transitions to private transport (creation of transitions, synchronisation, etc.)?
  • What solutions are there to ward off the risk of skilled staff shortages in the local public transport network?
  • What drive systems are sustainable and viable?

 
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Failures in transport policy to date are probably most apparent when it comes to pedestrians and cyclists. By prioritising private motorised transport, the space required for this alone was enough to severely restrict pedestrian and bicycle traffic. Even the remaining spaces desig-nated for other road users are accessible to cars: footpaths and bike lanes are parked on, market places and undeveloped sites in city centres are used as parking spaces for so-called “stationary traffic”.

Many local authorities are now pursuing the strategy of more heavily regulating and reducing car traffic and thereby making other forms of mobility more attractive. The costs involved in using a private car are to be cranked up through instruments like the city toll, the rededication of car parks and consistent parking management. At the same time, cities and communities are promoting the expansion of footpaths and bike lanes and encouraging their citizens to use these low-emission forms of mobility. Nevertheless, there are still many challenges involved in the expansion of pedestrian and bicycle traffic in cities. 

These are discussed in the work-shop using a practical example from Vaasa (Finland) and with reference to the following questions:

  • How can accessibility to these forms of transport be guaranteed for as many people as possible?
  • With regard to accident statistics: how can road safety be guaranteed for pedestrians and cyclists?
  • Promoting pedestrian and bicycle traffic changes traffic management and traffic flows in cities. How can cars, pedestrians and cyclists exist alongside one another on an equal footing?
  • How can conflicts over the distribution of public space that are triggered by the expan-sion of pedestrian and bicycle traffic be solved?
  • How can people be encouraged to walk or cycle more? How should we educate our children about transport?

 
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Along with the energy transition and transformation of transportation, digitalisation is probably one of the biggest transformation processes of our time affecting the whole of society. While the first two transitions can be clearly defined, digitalisation covers so many areas of life and has countless different facets, often with as yet unknown consequences. Digitalisation is the great testing ground of our time: innovations come and go, as users we are involved in decid-ing which new products and services make it through and which ones disappear from the market. “Black box digitalisation” has enormous potential in this regard. It can act as a catalyst for the transformation of transportation and open up vast economic potential.

In this regard, too, many cities and local authorities around the world face a series of chal-lenges. Many new forms of transport, types of vehicles and forms of use have developed with the creation of new technologies. Sharing models, new electric vehicles (e-scooters, e-mopeds) and even autonomous vehicles – they all need space, a new (charging) infrastruc-ture needs to be created, without yet knowing with absolute certainty what will be used and how it will be used in the future. Digitalisation is also associated with increasing availability of – sometimes sensitive – data. The use of this data provides opportunities, for example, for im-proving traffic flows, but there are many as yet unanswered questions in this area too.

On the basis of a practical example from Vilnius (Latvia), the following key questions are dis-cussed in this workshop:

  • How do the public sector and private industry work together in designing new forms of digital transport?
  • How can the new services be organised (and regulated) and what opportunities and challenges result from this?
  • How can the best possible access to new forms of transport and strategies for their use be guaranteed for the broadest sections of the population through the use of digital applications?
  • In view of the wide range of new developments: what forms of state regulation may be useful and are necessary? Where and how are incentives to be offered?

 
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Kiel and many of its partner cities are in waterside locations. Many of these cities are port cities and face the challenge of (better) integrating their areas of water into urban transport planning. Aspects of sustainability and climate neutrality play an ever greater role in the de-sign of future mobility on the water. Many ports that are stop-off points for cargo and cruise ships are working towards a sustainable transformation and stronger integration of green technologies. 

Whether it is in the use of shore-side power supply plants, the conversion of the ports’ forklift trucks to electric or hybrid drives or switching to a wind or solar power-generated energy supply: sustainability and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are guiding prin-ciples for the mobility strategies of modern ports. Just like roads, the water will become a test-ing ground for new forms of mobility: autonomous water vehicles, vessels powered by an alternative energy supply, but also new types of water vehicles. Several cities are also work-ing on new concepts and forms of locomotion.

The practical example used in this workshop comes from the French port city of Brest. Dur-ing the workshop, the following key questions will be discussed, among others:

  • How can mobility on the water be integrated into the city’s transport plan? How can transitions to other forms of transport be designed? How can these services be made more attractive as a whole?
  • There is often a clash of different official responsibilities on the water. How can con-flicts of responsibility and use be solved or overcome?
  • Ports are reloading sites for goods and, at the same time, a gathering point for people arriving and departing. How should the various demands placed on ports be taken into account in the city’s transport planning? What challenges result from this?

 


Results of the workshops

The core of the event comprised four thematic workshops in which the participants, i.e., representatives from different partner cities used a practical example to discuss advantages and disadvantages, opportunities, and challenges, as well as lessons learnt from tried and tested approaches to sustainable mobility.

Individually, during the four workshops the following aspects were tackled, discussed and can be summarized as follows.

You can read the complete documentation here.

 

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In Germany the transport sector is still the third biggest producer of greenhouse gas emissions. Making local public transport more attractive, so that citizens decide against private cars, is therefore considered key to achieving climate neutrality.

 
Therefore, the guiding questions for this workshop were: 

  • How to balance local authority investments, state funding and costs to be incurred by citizens?
  • How to provide a local public transport network accessible for the whole population?
  • How to interlink various local public transport services within a city?
  • How to deal with staff shortages in local public transport networks?

The event’s host city of Kiel provided the practical example for this workshop, presenting its ongoing process of establishing an expanded and improved local public transport network, either based on a bus rapid transit or tram system. This example was presented by Christoph Karius, with a focus on practical experiences gained during the ongoing planning phase, by highlighting important challenges and lessons learnt of this project.
One key insight of the workshop was that introducing a new public transport system is nothing short of a major change process, as it is visible throughout many areas of the city. It has direct impacts on the daily life of a large number of people, both, on citizens and stakeholders like local businesses, shop owners etc. Therefore, it is essential from the very beginning to acknowledge that such a process is deeply interwoven with the public and to accommodate that respectively in the planning of a public campaign. At the very minimum this will help to avoid resistance and possibly legal action against the project. Beyond that, a well-planned public campaign also has the potential to create a sense of ownership among future users of the system. Key elements here are a transparent communication, awareness raising campaigns as well as strong involvement of the public and all relevant stakeholder, such as affected businesses, in the process.

During the workshop, several participants emphasized that many citizens and stakeholders are difficult to reach, e.g., an invitation to a public event is no longer sufficient. Experience has shown the necessity to be physically present at places and communities that are likely to experience a strong impact from the project and may have very specific issues or questions to it. In this context it was mentioned that a vision of how a future transport system may look and feel like is close to impossible to convey. However, if local authorities have the opportunity to establish a pilot, i.e. something that can be visited, experienced and reported about by multipliers, this makes a big difference with regards to the overall perception of a project now (during planning) and in future (during implementation and construction). Allowing for a positive experience of change among citizens and stakeholders helps to reduce reservations.

As another aspect to public communication, participants also agreed that social media is very difficult to handle in this respect. Digital communication tools tailored for public communication campaigns, such as dialogue platforms, however, were considered very helpful, especially among younger target groups.

The greatest challenge remains in mobilizing sufficient funds for developing and establishing improved and extended local public transport systems, including well thought-through accompanying support measures for participatory and transparent communication from the very beginning.

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An increasing number of cities and communities are promoting the expansion of footpaths and bike lanes and encouraging their citizens to use these low-emission forms of mobility. However, to make these forms of mobility more attractive, this must go hand in hand with a reduction of car traffic. This and many other challenges remain in the expansion of pedestrian and bicycle traffic in cities.

 
Accordingly, the guiding questions for this workshop were: 

  • How to ensure accessibility to these forms of transport for as many people as possible?
  • How to improve and increase road safety for pedestrians and cyclists?
  • How can cars, pedestrians and cyclists exist alongside one another on an equal footing, based on a holistic traffic management?
  • How to solve conflicts over public space, triggered by the expansion of pedestrian and bicycle traffic?
  • How to encourage people to walk or cycle more? How to educate our children about transport?

During this workshop a practical example from the city of Vaasa, Finland was presented by Jukka Talvi. Based on this example on the so-called alliance model, various questions about different cycling infrastructures were discussed among participants, identifying similarities and differences between the different participating cities. While there are quite some differences in managing and maintaining urban cycling infrastructures, e.g. when looking at winter services for clearing cycle paths, on the level of sustainable urban traffic planning all cities share the same problem of competition for space among different users. However, the city of Kiel for example partly solved this issue by converting old railway tracks into bicycle routes that do not compete with car traffic.

Also, the need for strong citizen participation was underlined several times, e.g. to ensure and encourage widespread support already during the planning phase. Here, surveys can be key for identifying and better understanding the specific needs of different user groups and to transfer these learnings into master plans accordingly.

To make cycling and bike paths safer, different elements like proper lighting, bike lanes marked in red, a spacial separation of cyclists and pedestrians, but also adaptations of traffic rules, were listed as possible solutions. Also, safe parking for bicycles, for example in bicycle parking garages, was discussed among participants.

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Along with the energy transition and transformation of transportation, digitalization is probably one of the biggest transformation processes of our time. It can act as a catalyst for the transformation of transportation and create vast economic potentials, e.g., regarding new sharing models, new electric vehicles (e-scooters, e-mopeds) and even autonomous vehicles, including the respective (digital) infrastructure. Also, digitalization leads to an increasing availability of data. The use of these data provides opportunities, e.g., for improving traffic flows.

However, there are many yet unanswered questions in this area too. Some of them were touched during this workshop, as follows: 

  • How do public and private sector work together in designing and applying new digital solutions for the transport sector?
  • How to organize (and regulate) the new services, what opportunities and challenges result from this?
  • How to improve access to (new forms of) transport by using digital applications?
  • What forms of state regulation may be necessary and where to create incentives instead?

The discussions during this workshop strongly built on the best practice provided by Grigori Parfjonov from the city of Tallinn. Here, a key success factor for improvements was the introduction of a unified ticketing system, which not only includes free public transport for Tallinn’s citizens, but also significantly contributed to saving costs of operation. Since then, digital applications play an important role for managing customers flows as well as for real-time route planning. Therefore, Tallinn is currently establishing a data management center that helps to further improve collection, but more important in making use of data for better evaluation and planning of the urban transport system(s).

Also, there was a strong agreement among participants that digital applications offer new opportunities for the integration of private service providers (e.g. for bike rental, e-scooter, or car sharing) into the existing public transport systems. Like this the complementarity of different forms of mobility can be significantly improved, e.g. regarding availability, but also for payment/ ticketing.

However, there was also a consensus that availability and appropriate management of data are key to fostering digital innovations in urban transport. Also, a change of mindset within local administration and among citizens, as users of (public) transport is needed, especially as there are no one-fits-all solutions in this regard.

A joint conclusion was that in the end, when thinking of digitalization as a tool for mobility transition it should always be regarded from the perspective of the end users. Digitalization should lead to a simplification of using and mixing different forms of transport. Only then the use of more sustainable (public) transport systems will increase and at the same time become more cost efficient for the providers of these systems.

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Kiel and many of its partner cities are in waterside locations. Many of these cities are port cities and face the challenge of (better) integrating their areas of water into urban transport planning. Aspects of sustainability and climate neutrality play an even greater role in the design of future mobility on the water. Sustainability and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are guiding principles for the mobility strategies of modern ports and just like roads, the water will become a testing ground for new forms of mobility.

 
The guiding questions for this workshop were: 

  • How to integrate mobility on the water into a city’s transport plan? How to design the transitions to other forms of transport as well as attractive services?
  • How can conflicts of interest and responsibility on water be solved or overcome?
  • How to take account of the various demands placed on ports in the city’s transport planning? What challenges result from this?

The discussions in this workshop strongly focused on the examples presented by Victor Antonio from the City of Brest. He presented the best practice of the cable car in Brest that connects two city districts with each other over water. Not only two districts were connected with each other, but also important historical urban areas were taken into consideration for the planning, attracting not only local commuters but also tourists. Beyond, also other cities are increasingly interested in the establishment of a cable car system. However, very often uncertainties about the exact budgetary planning remain a key challenge. During the discussions the necessity of a participatory approach during planning and implementation, i.e., to involve the public and other stakeholders in the decision-making process and to ensure a high level of acceptance is key to such a project. Even more, as it is a rather new form of public transport. Nevertheless, a cable car system in the context of water areas and ports has plenty of advantages: it’s safe, it’s cheaper than a bridge and it’s efficient regarding its transportation capacities.

Overall, the discussions during this workshop showed that also integrating areas of water into urban transport planning can not only benefit residents but also attracts tourists that can be beneficial for the local economy while reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

International Cities Forum in pictures
Eine Gruppe von Menschen steht auf einer Treppe und präsentiert ein großes Schild
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Frau an einem Rednerpult stehend auf einer Bühne mit Leinwand und Stehtischen
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Plenum der Teilnehmenden
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Panel

Victor Antonio

Portrait

Victor Antonio, an engineer, has been in the transport field since 2006. He participated in the construction of several tramway lines: the first two in Montpellier and then Brest line A from 2010. Project manager of the first urban cable car, which in 5 years transported 3 million passengers, he has participated in numerous working groups and training courses to promote the emergence of cable transportation in cities.

Since 2018, he has been Director of Mobility for Brest Metropolis and has launched the "My network is growing" project, which includes a tramway line B, a high service level bus and 10 multimodal exchange hubs.

Peter Bender

Portrait

Peter Bender has been Head of the Civil Engineering Office of the City of Kiel for eight years and in this function is responsible, among other things, for transport planning in Kiel. 

He studied civil engineering and worked for the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania before coming to Kiel for transport policy in the Ministry of Economics and Transport. Peter Bender gained his first experience in project management as a young professional at two federal waterways and shipping offices.

Miriam Gyamfi

Portrait

Miriam Gyamfi is a certified organisational developer with a propensity for social entrepreneurship. She regularly advises teams and organisations on meaningful paths towards sustainable change. She has a keen eye for the requirements of effective communication and collaboration.

During the city forum she is in charge of the overall conference moderation as well as the workshop on the economic dimension of the SDG.

 

Teresa Inclán

Portrait

Teresa Inclán is a certified facilitator and organisational developer. She has a specific focus on suitable development and social entrepreneurship. She During the city forum she will moderate the workshop on pedestrian and bicycle traffic.

Jan Johannsmeier

Portrait

Jan Johannsmeier is a Geographer, organisational developer and mediator. Besides his diverse thematic work in development cooperation, he has another passion in fostering good cooperation within teams, organisations and their cooperation system respectively. Thus, facilitating dialogue and exchange among different stakeholders is key to all of his assignments.

Christoph Karius

Portrait

Since 2019 Christoph Karius is Head of the Mobility Unit in the Office of the Mayor. The Mobility Unit was established for the development and implementation of a high-quality public transport system in Kiel. 

Christoph Karius studied urban and regional development at Kiel University. In the following years he worked in various planning offices until he joined the KielRegion GmbH in 2018 in order to strengthen regional cooperation in the mobility transition.

 

Jana Marie Mehrtens

Portrait

Jana Marie Mehrtens is a certified consultant for systemic organisational development, working with organisations, networks and teams as well as complex multi-stakeholder systems for 20 years, primarily in bi- and multilateral development cooperation. Together with Matthias Wein Jana facilitates the city forum’s workshop on the social dimension of the SDG.

Grigori Parfjonov

Portrait

Grigori Parfjonov is an Urban Mobility Expert. Since 2020, he works in the Department of Transport in Tallinn City.

He is Master of Sciences in Engineering - Transport Planning and Engineering and Bachelor of Engineering - Civil and Structural Engineering. Since 2021, he is member of the Supervisory Board - Tallinna Linnatranspordi AS (Tallinn City owned public transport operator). His key Interests are Traffic Management, Public Transport, Autonomous Vehicles, Transport Modeling, Transport Planning.

Jukka Talvi

Portrait

Jukka Talvi is an active smart city developer with a background in mobility, energy and tele-communications. He has worked for three city organizations in Finland with different roles – from expert to managing director.

Currently he works as a director of municipal infrastructure for the City of Vaasa. The de-partment is responsible for transport, streets, fleet management, parks, forests, outdoor sport-ing facilities and the harbor infrastructure. The biggest challenges on his desk are related to carbon neutrality by 2030 and implementing solutions for a livable city.