At a meeting held on 28th February in Tbilisi representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Environment Facility (GEF) hosted high level discussion forum on the development of Georgia’s first National Strategy on Sustainable Urban Transport and Policy Framework.
The objective of the strategy will be to encourage the development of low-carbon urban transport systems and improvement of the quality, accessibility and sustainability of urban transport (including all modes of urban mobility) and institutional mechanisms in Georgia. The meeting therefore brought together a range of stakeholders, including Government and Parliamentiary representatives, local authorities, civil society organisations, academia and international partners, including EASST partner the Partnership for Road Safety (PfRS).
During the meeting, Gela Kvashilava of PfRS presented on the project entitled, Green Cities: Integrated Sustainable Transport for the City of Batumi and the Adjara Region. The aims of which have been to:
a) develop integrated sustainable urban transport plans in the City of Batumi and other municipalities of the Ajara region;
b) develop specific feasibility studies and functional plans for low carbon transport in Batumi;
c) support direct investment in sustainable urban transport measures in Batumi
d) inform national policies on sustainable urban transport and green urban development.
The strategy will be based on these experiences and developed in cooperation with PfRS and the Netherlands-baed smart mobility company MOVE Mobility. It will be grounded on the national vision, strategic directions and priorities of sustainable urban transport, which will be identified as a result of national discussions. It will include the guidelines for local authorities and will propose institutional and financial mechanisms for coordinating sustainable urban transport on the national, regional and local levels.
