One of the goals of Viajeo PLUS is to facilitate the uptake of outstanding solutions for innovative and green urban mobility across different cities in the EU’s Mediterranean Partner Countries (MPCs).
Source: Google Earth
The MPCs such as Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, and Turkey, are an area of vital strategic importance both in economic (trade, energy, migration) and political (security, stability) terms. Current efforts of cooperation with the region focus on long-term economic growth, sustainable development and environmental protection.
Along these lines, Viajeo PLUS partners invited MPC stakeholders to attend two MPC fora organised in Turkey and Morocco. Thanks to these fora, participants could better understand the current state of tranport networks in MPC countries. By allowing them to spot concrete urban mobility challenges, the MPC fora have contributed to set the foundations for inter-regional research and development cooperation.
The fora were complemented by site visits which showcased what MPC cities need in order to make their transport systems more efficient and sustainable. The visits were organised as bilateral meetings with Transportation professionals and city officials.
Though fora discussions and questionnaires and although priorities vary from country to country, Viajeo Plus has identified the following MPCs’ areas of interest:
The organisation of MPC fora and site visits were driven by the Mediterranean Universities Union (UNIMED). UNIMED brings together University of Mostaganem (Algeria), Cairo University (Egypt), Lebanese American University (Lebanon), Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (Lebanon) and University Mohammed V Agdal (Morocco).
This project has received funding from the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme under grant agreement 605580