CER Partnership is one of the main promoters of a sustainable economy in Slovenia. This autumn hosted its members at a charming estate in the Karst Region. It introduced the new European project SmartMOVE: Smart solutions for sustainable mobility to its members and provided an insight into the state and potential of sustainable mobility in companies.

The SmartMOVE project, in which our department participates, will provide mobility plans for selected companies that are major traffic generators in Ljubljana to optimize the parking regime and encourage the use of sustainable travel options by employees. A new modality of transportation will be tested – a shuttle ride to and from work, a Certificate for Sustainable Mobility will be established and recommendations for strategic decision-makers formed.

The interactive workshop triggered a lively debate. Aside from calling for systemic incentives for the introduction of sustainable mobility within companies, ideas were flowing about what companies themselves can undertake. Combined with a survey among the participants, the discussion provided interesting insights:

• most companies are not yet thinking about benefits for employees that would use sustainable modes of transport to arrive at the workplace, but most of them identified the possibility of an organized shuttle from home to the location of employment as a most interesting solution;
• in order to move towards sustainable mobility, more than half would be in favor of granting an additional day of vacation for all employees who would leave the car at home;
• most companies would likely obtain a Certificate for Sustainable Mobility since it is in line with the company ethics, they recognize it as their contribution to environmental goals and its potential for building a positive branding;
• only large companies with a shortage of parking spaces would consider forming a mobility plan.

Followed by lunch, wine tasting, and a pleasant gathering in the beautiful garden of the homestead, the meeting showed that the members of the CER Partnership are very well aware of the importance of sustainable mobility but lack adequate infrastructure and mechanisms for easier implementation. These are exactly the issues addressed by the SmartMOVE project.