National SUMP support programme workshop, Prague

About

 

The NSSP in-presence Workshop, held on 03-04 April 2025 in Prague, provided a valuable platform for representatives from various EU Member States to exchange knowledge and best practices regarding National SUMP Support Programmes (NSSPs).

The event focused on financing Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) in a way which ensures quality, deliverability and impact, as well as overcoming reluctance to prepare quality SUMPs. It was organized by the European Investment Bank (EIB-Advisory experts) in close co-ordination with DG MOVE and jointly funded under the JASPERS mandate.

The event saw the participation of 32 national representatives from 21 EU Member States.

The first day started with introductions by Paul Riley from EIB-JASPERS, Luděk Sosna  from the Czech Ministry of transport and Robert Szucs from DG MOVE followed by presentations from Alan o'Brien (summary of NSSP workshops to date) and Tanguy Desrousseaux (EIB urban advisory and lending) from EIB-JASPERS. 

After this there was a presentation by Michal Ulrich of the Ministry of Transport, Czech Republic outlining the Czech NSSP programme, focusing on quality assessment of SUMPs at the national level. Prof. Tom Rye and Aljaž Plevnik, key experts from the organizing consortium, supported the first facilitated discussion on the content and structure of high-quality SUMPs. Day 1 wrapped up with Alan o'Brien discussing conclusions of the day. An informal networking event was held in the evening of day 1.

Day 2 started with an introduction and welcome from Paul Riley of EIB-JASPERS. Amelia Alba Garcia from the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Spain provided an outline of the Spanish NSSP.

The second facilitated discussion of the event, led by Prof. Tom Rye, focused on National SUMP financing and linking SUMPs to financing of projects in a way that ensures quality, deliverability and impact. A "speed updating" session, in which Member States provided short updates on recent successes in SUMP support and/or new challenges, was then held with contributions from Wallonia, Malta, Flanders, Italy and Poland.

The 3^rd and final facilitated discussion, on reasons for cities' reluctance to prepare quality SUMPs, was led by Aljaž Plevnik. Finally, the NSSP in-presence workshop was wrapped up by Alan o'Brien and Robert Szucs.

Key Takeaways:

• Quality assessment of SUMPs: ‘One size fits all’ evaluation frameworks for SUMP do not adequately reflect the different urban contexts which requires careful consideration and the importance of assessing the SUMP process and measures, as well as links to funding.
• Funding Mechanisms: Many different Member States have different financing mechanisms in place to support transport infrastructure development and implementation, but it is important that these are made more conditional on being aligned to city SUMPs.  
• Strategies for achieving universal buy-in for the SUMP concept: Overcoming a lack of political commitment to SUMP is critical to strengthen the legitimacy of SUMPs, as well as overcoming barriers by providing co-financing and highlighting the benefits of integrated planning.   
• Exchange of practices: Participants continue to value opportunities to share experiences and learn from other EU Member States on how they are tackling common challenges – DG MOVE confirmed that the ongoing activities of the newly established NSSP Secretariat will help with more exchange on NSSP aspects via future online, as well as in-presence networking events. 
• The workshop concluded with a consensus that ongoing dialogue between Member States is important, exchanging knowledge and experience, as well as seeking common solutions to the challenges for NSSPs.
• Work is currently taking place to finalize a report, providing a summary of the findings from all the NSSP workshops delivered over the past year, as well as setting out a number of key recommendations from JASPERS experts, as part of the EIB advisory services, and the consortium who delivered the NSSP workshops.