Forthcoming CIVITAS call
The CIVITAS Forum 2006 hosted a special session on current and future EU programmes and funding opportunities. Several representatives from DG TREN and DG Research were present to highlight the various funding opportunities for cities. Ms. Maria Alfayate and Mr. Marcel Rommerts from DG TREN shared their first ideas on the new CIVITAS call to be launched early 2007. Stakeholders were invited to share their views on this new initiative.
After the success of the CIVITAS I and II initiatives, the Directorate General for Energy and Transport decided to continue this adventure by launching a new CIVITAS call early 2007. The presentation given by the representatives from DG TREN is available on the CIVITAS website, although this does not represent the final decisions taken by the European Commission on this matter it served as a good basis to collect first comments from the audience. The representatives from the European Commission highlighted the new criteria that will be put forward within CIVITAS III. The emphasis of this call will be put on New Member States. Indeed, CIVITAS projects should pay a special attention to the problems, opportunities and limitations faced by them. Larger consortia of leading and learning cities will be desirable, provided that each city from different countries gives an added-value to the project. The new call will be open to small and medium sized cities and their work will focus on a clearly defined innovation area with a continued emphasis on evaluation and learning. It is also important to mention that cities who have already participated in previous CIVITAS projects will not be able to apply, with the exception of old ‘learning’ cities that wish to become ‘leading’ cities. The overall structure of CIVITAS will remain the same with several local partnerships, an annual Forum meeting and the maintenance of the Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) and CIVITAS Advisory Committee (CAC). CIVITAS III will also be accompanied by two support actions, responsible for the evaluation of the overall project as well as for the wide dissemination of the CIVITAS outcomes and the preparation of the Forum. In addition to these two support actions, the European Commission will fund another project that will be responsible for taking up the results of previous CIVITAS projects and assist in the transfer of knowledge.Eight measures will be favoured within CIVITAS III, ranging from the increasing use of alternative fuels to demand-management strategies. New measures will also be added to the existing list and emphasis will be put on safe and secure road infrastructure and means of travel for all users, urban freight logistics, and innovative telematics systems for traffic management and traveller services.The new call is expected to be launched by the European Commission early 2007. Several information events will be organised in the months to come.
