Webinar “Travelling Light Mainstreaming low-carbon mobility for tourism travel” overview

 

  • The webinar was held on 29/January /2025, organised by the Task Force Greening transport of the  EC Together for EU tourism expert group, in which EGWA participates and has actively contributed to its organisation.
  • Provided a comprehensive overview of the different modes of transport on the path toward sustainability and the challenges facing the green transition in mobility and solutions, through the presentation of concrete examples of good practices, and regional and sectoral action plans. 
  • Active mobility, through greenways, and inter-modality with public transport, in particular rail, were highlighted throughout the seminar.

Webinar started with a welcome by the moderator Shane Colgan, and a brief introduction of the webinar and works of the Task Force Greening Transport.

Andreea Staicu, Acting Head of the Tourism and Textiles Unit of DG Grow, then gave a brief overview of the main current and future actions and challenges in the tourism ecosystem.  She highlighted the appointment of a new European Commissioner for Transport and Sustainable Tourism, which for the first time explicitly includes responsibility for tourism, demonstrating the importance attached to this sector. The announcement of a forthcoming Sustainable Tourism Strategy, soon to be launched through a wide public consultation. Mentioned the progress made through the transition pathway for tourism, with implementation commitments from stakeholders; the first report reflected progress, and will be updated with the forthcoming publication of the 2024 report, which will serve as a reference for the triennial report to the Tourism Council on the European Agenda for Tourism 2030.

Best Practices presentations on Low-Emission Mobility within Tourism Destinations block, started with “Transport & Intermodality for Active Tourism”, by Giulio Senes, EGWA president, who offered a reference to the clear interest of greenways, and a concrete example of a tool to facilitate inter-modality with active mobility, through the Soft Mobility Map in Italy, promoted by RFI, Italian Railways, and implemented by the University of Milan of which he is professor.

From the Vennbahn, an iconic example of transformation of a former cross-border railway as greenway, reference was made to the positive impact and achievements thanks to this essential infrastructure for sustainable tourism, in the little more than 10 years since its creation, furthermore a reference to the pending challenges in terms of mobility.

The presentation of Ile de France showed how it managed to become the first Olympic Games 100% accessible by sustainable modes of transport; thanks to an easily accessible information through a mobile application with real-time data, integrating all modes of transport including cycling, and the possibility to easily purchase transport tickets.

The inspiring example of Ireland, and the National Sustainable Mobility Policy, which integrates sustainable mobility principles and practices into tourism activity. These included continuing the development of greenways and cycle routes throughout Ireland, expanding scenic options for tourists; as well as developing a connected network of greenways and cycle routes across Ireland.

The webinar also provided a better understanding of the perspective of the decarbonisation of European airlines, a challenge that the transport sector is working on, and a better knowledge of this leading mode of transport, thanks to the intervention of the ASAC director.

The final presentation, from the DG MOVE, provided a global vision on the greening of the transport sector in the EU; this without reference to active mobility.

Concluding with a closing remark, and next steps, by the coordinator of the Green Group, Ralf Pastleitner, of TUI.

There was time for comments and sharing of useful information from the audience, and for questions and answers.

In short, a very interesting and useful seminar, with clear examples of good practices to inspire new developments for the decarbonization of transport, the objective of the Task force.

 

>> Webinar Material

The recording of the webinar together with the summary and presentations are published in the EU Tourism Platform >>  https://transition-pathways.europa.eu/event-resources/webinar-material-travelling-light-mainstreaming-low-carbon-mobility-tourism-travel

 

 

 

Through its participation in the tourism expert group EGWA promotes active mobility in tourism, through greenways and non-motorised routes, and in particular cycle tourism, which is positive for both locals and visitors; highlighting the importance of tourism in rural areas linked to greenways ecosystem.

The article Active mobility for sustainable tourism through inter-modality and greenways, was prepared by EGWA director as a contribution to the TF Greening transport, and to this webinar.

The dissemination of best practices in the greenway ecosystem, constitutes the basis of the commitments for the co-implementation of the EGWA transition pathway for tourism.

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Mercedes Muñoz Zamora
European Greenways Association, Director
10/March/2025