The CIVITAS Initiative ("City-Vitality-Sustainability", or "Cleaner and Better Transport in Cities") was launched in 2002. Its fundamental aim is to support cities to introduce ambitious transport measures and policies towards sustainable urban mobility. The goal of CIVITAS is to achieve a significant shift in the modal split towards sustainable transport, an objective reached through encouraging both innovative technology and policy-based strategies.

In the first phase of the project (2002 to 2006), 19 cities participated in four research and demonstration projects; and in CIVITAS II (2005 to 2009), 17 cities participated across a further four projects. The initiative is currently in its third phase, CIVITAS Plus (2008 to 2013), and 25 cities are now working together on five collaborative projects. In total, almost 60 European cities have been co-funded by the European Commission to implement innovative measures in clean urban transport, an investment volume of well over EUR 300 million.

But CIVITAS does not stop there. The so-called demonstration cities are part of the larger CIVITAS Forum network, which comprises almost 200 cities committed to implementing and integrating sustainable urban mobility measures. This, in turn, represents 68 million citizens in 31 countries. By signing a non-binding voluntary agreement known as the CIVITAS Declaration, cities and their citizens benefit from the accumulated know-how, experience and lessons learned of every participant. The CIVITAS Forum Conference brings together politicians and technical experts once a year in one of the network's cities.

If your city is interested in joining the CIVITAS Initiative, or if you have questions, please contact us.