Interreg Europe
What is Interreg Europe?
Interreg Europe helps regional and local governments across Europe to develop and deliver better policy. By creating an environment and opportunities for sharing solutions, the aim is to ensure that government investment, innovation and implementation efforts all lead to integrated and sustainable impact for people and place.
Regional Policy Instruments
The European Union is working to reduce disparities in development and quality of life in European regions. Policy instruments include actions that helps European regions to be more innovative, more sustainable, and more inclusive; thus, improving quality of life for its peoples and communities.
European regions need a radical transition toward seamless intermodal mobility to motivate people to choose sustainable forms of travelling; moreover, underserved communities in peripheral and rural areas face a diverse range of mobility challenges; limitations in digital connectivity, transport infrastructure and services can in fact have significant social and economic consequences for communities in terms of reducing travel horizons and hindering access to opportunities such as employment, education and social activities.
EMBRACER is a region-driven project where seven underserved regions have committed to integrate public transport (PT) with informal modes (cycling, ride-hailing, car/bike/scooter sharing, on-demand transport, autonomous shuttles) to enhance the interconnection with urban areas and achieve seamless intelligent climate-resilient regional and local intermodal mobility.
Irish partners of the EMBRACER project, The Environmental Forum and Cork City Council are collaborating and working with regional stakeholders, the Transport and Mobility Forum, a representative group of organisations with a common interest in sustainable and active travel. As Ireland’s partners of the project, a number of regional stakeholders events and strategy meetings will be held throughout the lifetime of the project.
Each regional event hosts key stakeholders to share experience and discuss passenger mobility challenges and investigate existing successful models. These events also include local site visits investigating existing transport infrastructure and future plans to develop more accessible and sustainable public transport as well as better connectivity to underserved communities.
Each European region will organise and host a two-day Exchange of Experience, inviting European partners, industry experts, policymakers, and key stakeholders. Learning about policies and exchanging experiences between regions are central to EMBRACER. These exchanges are the methods through which projects aim to bring about policy changes.
The Transport and Mobility Forum fully supports sustainable modes of travel measures and policies. Members include advocacy groups for various forms of transportation, sustainable health and travel initiatives, transport providers and representatives from the public and private sector.
Sustainable and Active Travel helps reduce congestion on our roads, supports a low carbon economy, reduces noise and air pollution, improves public health and quality of life.
Mission: to increase the number of people travelling through sustainable and active travel in Cork.
‘We must ensure that everyone has access to safe, convenient and timely public transport as well as feeling safe and welcomed to walk and cycle within and to and from their communities. This together with enabling more people to live closer to where they work, study, shop, and socialise, this will reduce our reliance on private car use, which has negative impacts on congestion, air quality, and climate change, as well as the health and quality of life of ordinary people who are having to spend more and more of their life sitting in traffic.
Dr Darren McAdam-O’Connell, Coordinator of the Transport and Mobility For