Ljubljana has once again proven itself as a good host and impressed the visitors of the 13th CIVITAS Forum, the most important European conference in the field of sustainable urban mobility, which was held in our city between 7 and 9 October 2015.

The successfully concluded forum with the main topic »Sharing the City« brought together a record number of participants, namely, some 560 people from 48 countries, among them political representatives from many European cities, city administrations and organisations, experts and interested individuals who are in their line of work dealing predominantly with mobility, spatial planning, environmental studies and other aspects of creating friendlier cities, accessible to all, as well as innovators and producers of interesting products in the field of sustainable mobility.
The event was especially marked by distinguished guests from Slovenia and abroad, among them the Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Dr Miro Cerar, the Vice-President of the European Commission for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen, the Vice-President of the European Commission for Energy Union Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commissioner for Mobility and Transport Violeta Bulc, the Minister of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region responsible for mobility Pascal Smet as well as the Slovenian Minister for Infrastructure Dr Peter Gašperšič and the Minister of Public Administration Boris Koprivnikar.
All the aforementioned agreed on one point: Ljubljana can be proud because in a very short time it implemented numerous measures for the improvement of the quality of life, and its efforts, which are resonating not only Europe but in the wider world, can serve as an example to other cities.

The host Mayor Zoran Janković and the organizing team received commendations for the excellent execution of the conference which sparked a lot of interest and presented good practices in the field of sustainable mobility and public space planning. The conference was prised for the quality exchange of information, opinions and cases of good implementation of measures that contribute to further creation and introduction of innovative, smart and sustainable mobility solutions.
‘I also express pride at the conclusion of this outstanding conference which brought into the most beautiful city in the world three times more participants than previous CIVITAS Forums. I should especially underline the significance of solidarity reflected in joint efforts towards an even ‘greener’ future for the coming generations while ensuring high quality of life for the present generation. If in one place we can present the best projects and learn from each other we can all be even better and continue to please our residents,’ summarized the Mayor Zoran Janković who believes the participants will have nice memories of Ljubljana. ‘I am convinced they will come back in their free time, and the doors of Ljubljana will always be open to them,’ he added and promised that Ljubljana will continue to follow the sustainable vision responsible for the prestigious title European Green Capital 2016 and two European Mobility Week Awards.

The main venue of the conference was the cultural and congress centre Cankarjev dom while site visits and other accompanying events enabled the participants to get to know Ljubljana more thoroughly, especially its numerous novelties oriented towards sustainability. The Deputy Mayor Prof Janez Koželj led a bike tour through the architecturally rich city, the ‘pedestrians’ walked through the renovated city centre and visited landmarks from the times of Emona, and the Ljubljana passenger traffic company LPP organised a study visit presenting environmentally and socially friendly technologies and public transport services.

The CIVITAS Forum is a network of cities investing their efforts in the development of sustainable urban mobility, established in 2003. It is comprised of over 200 European cities – those that have participated in projects co-financed by the European Commission within the framework of the CIVITAS Initiative and those that are following the guidelines and policies promoted by the CIVITAS Initiative in their implementation of sustainable mobility.
Ljubljana took part in two projects of the CIVITAS Initiative (ELAN and MOBILIS) and within their scope carried out 24 measures that contributed to the development of sustainable mobility and the change of travel habits in Ljubljana.