The 3rd EUSALP AG4 Mobility Conference on 20 June 2018 in Trento, organized by the European Region Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino in its function as leader of the EUSALP Action Group 4 (AG4) gathered once again politicians, representatives of local, regional and national administrations as well as stakeholders, experts and civil society from EUSALP regions and states to discuss mobility challenges and solutions in the Alpine Region. This year’s edition was hosted by the autonomous Province of Trento and put the focus on secondary networks to exchange how to better connect Alpine territories to the main transport corridors.
Political support for cross-border collaboration and willingness to find sustainable and inclusive solutions are crucial for the success of the Alpine macro-regional strategy. In this regard the president of the autonomous Province of Bolzano-South Tyrol Arno Kompatscher, the Vice President of the region Tyrol Ingrid Felipe, the councillors for mobility and infrastructure of the autonomous Province of Trento Mauro Gilmozzi and of the Region of Veneto Elisa De Berti underlined the importance of accessibility for the further economic and social development of the Alpine Region as well as the promotion of modal shift from road to rail to secure the sustainable development of sensitive Alpine territories.
While the implementation of trans-European networks (TEN-T) has gained a lot of attention, it is becoming increasingly important to develop a vision of transport that considers also secondary networks, not only to accompany the far reaching impacts of transport infrastructure but also to exploit the potential of sustainable, multimodal mobility in the Alpine Region.In this light the aim of the 3rd EUSALP AG4 Mobility Conference was to highlight the importance of connecting the regions, including peripheral areas, and to discuss new, innovative approaches for the improvement of existing functions.
Ahead of the event, the Action Group 4 developed a discussion paper outlining the importance of secondary networks from the point of view of the Alpine regions and countries. The discussion on secondary networks within the AG4 has been divided in two overall parts. One in reference to modal shift, including stakeholders to re-appraise their approach on intermodality, transport flow management, protection of the territory, and the function of nodes, including ports and combined transport terminals, the other in reference to accessibility in terms of management, maintenance, safety, socio-economic sustainability and a sustainable transportation system. The draft paper was presented and discussed together with high level experts during a preparatory workshop the day prior the conference. The summary of the workshops were presented to the public during the Conference:
Secondary networks and modal shift:
Helmut Adelsberger, consultant to the AG4 and former traffic planner in the Austrian Ministry of Transport as well as former national expert to the European Commission DG Move.
Secondary networks and Ports in the Alpine Region:
Giovanni Campeol, former lecturer at the University Iuav Venice and former consultant to the Italian Ministry of Environment for strategic environmental evaluations
Secondary networks and Inland Terminals:
Alberto Milotti, Director of the Consorzio Zailog – Interporto Quadrante Europa di Verona. Expert in economics of transport and logistics and member of the expert group of the EU Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA)
Secondary networks and accessibility:
Roberto Andreatta, Director of the Public Transport Service autonomous province of Trento
Inputs and further elaborations collected during the workshops and the conference will be taken into consideration for the final discussion paper on secondary networks in the Alpine Region, which will be finalized and published in Autumn 2018.
A key principle of macro-regional strategies is that they do not have their own financing. Therefore, the strategy is implemented by mobilising and aligning existing EU and national funding of relevance. In this regard the current discussion on the future EU Multiannual Fianncial Framework post 2020 in the sector of mobility and transport is of high interest and importance to the EUSALP states and regions. For the 3rd EUSALP AG4 Mobility Conference an expert from the European Commission provided a first insight into the recently published proposals of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027:
Investment opportunities for secondary networks in the Alpine Region in the Post -2020 Multiannual Financial Framework of the EU:
Antongiulio Marin, European Commission DG Move, Deputy Head of Unit B2 Transport Investment
Investments in mobility and transport for the Alpine Region is also in the focus of the next AG4 Meeting taking place on 6th and 7th November 2018 in Brussels. For further information please do not hesitate to contact the AG4 Lead Team: eusalp.mobility@tirol.gv.at
