
Webinar “Climate and Mobility”: Final decisions should be collaborative, in which all stakeholders are involved
The webinar was held on 11 July 2023 as part of the CLIMASUM project. Around 50 interested participants from Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Serbia participated. The emphasis was on more livable public spaces in the context of climate change mitigation with support of sustainable mobility and quality transport spatial planning where citizens are involved.
The increasing impact of the climate change and its consequences on our daily lives is notable. Transport as we know it, where we rely mostly on passenger cars, is one of the sectors that contributes the current state of art. In the EU, transport is responsible for a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions.

The largest share is related to car traffic – 70 %. Additionally, 75 % of EU residents live in cities and play an important role in achieving climate neutrality, said Magdalena Makar from ODRAZ in her opening remarks.
Interesting and educational thematic presentations followed which contributed to young professionals gaining a new perspective on transport and spatial planning.
In the first presentation, the participants had the opportunity to listen to Mladen Maradin from the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Science, who talked about the relationship between climate and traffic and what are the possible solutions to mitigate air pollution in cities. He referred to aspects of the impact of traffic (and roads) on the climatic characteristics of urban areas: climate change, atmospheric pollution and the impacts on the heat island.
Multimodality is a key component of sustainable mobility. Matija Sikirić from the Department of Urban Traffic at the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences pointed out the advantages, challenges and obstacles of multimodality. The backbone of multimodality consists of metro and rail, fast systems that are complemented by bus and tram transport and finally sustainable and active ways of moving – walking and cyccling.
Jana Vukić from the Department of Sociology at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb spoke about participation, urban sustainability and resilience in cities, quality of life and well-being, and a participatory approach to spatial planning with reference to two conducted research in Dubrovnik and Zagreb. Participation should serve to implement local knowledge in the right way. Green infrastructure and sustainable urban mobility are interconnected, because if they are well combined they will allow the city to be a living space to benefit citizens and the community.
Marta Popiolek from Placemaking Europe introduced us to the methodology of the placemaking approach that helps design positive and practical projects in the community. Placmaking is a good example of the transformation of local environments at the neighborhood level.
After the presentation, a short discussion was held.
Highlighted is the following:
- the adaptation to climate change is needed, as temperatures are higher and higher – the importance of the role of greening the city and green infrastructure
- green spaces are crucial and that is a matter of local politics and urban planning
- ghe EU is the only one who implements a policy of climate neutrality because of its dependence on energy sources, but does not have a clear strategy. In crisis situations, consistency is lacking.
- the social component should always be included / the community should be involved
- wise management of space is required
- to offer solutions that are not significantly large and expensive, for example, the installation of street furniture
- participation is important, but it cannot always and everywhere be carried out in a same way – adjustment is necessary.
- participation should serve to implement local knowledge in the right way
- it doesn’t matter if something has been solved, but whether the residents have recognized it.
- cooperation and continuity of all processes and changes, especially from the aspects of climate change, is essential
- in order to make real and tangible changes to gain trust and cooperate with citizens, final decisions must not only be political but collaborative – in which all stakeholders are involved.
A recording of the webinar is available on ODRAZ’s YT channel at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnDu6UkdRmM
All presentations are available on CIVINET’s website: https://civinet-slohr.eu/hr/multimedija/prezentacije