Ansoain pueblo que camina Ansoain walking town Sustainable mobility project

Summary

Ansoain pueblo que camina is a project which aims to provide a sustainable model of municipal urban mobility that seeks to reduce the impact of transport on the natural environment and public health while also raising awareness within the p opulation regarding the need to preserve the environment and combat climate chan ge It also seeks to recover urban space for the use and enjoyment of women and m en on equal terms

Background and Objective

Situation Before the Initiative Began: Urban policies were aimed at favouring car use, with the consequences that this brought for people and their environment. Neither was any work done to overcome the inequalities affecting women regarding mobility, their being those who most use public transport and walk the most because they have fewer economic resources and act as carers. Establishment of Priorities: Since 2008, the gender perspective has been included in all projects, prioritizing mobility, both to contribute to the fight against climate change and recover urban space for the enjoyment of women and men equally. Ansoáin provides favourable conditions for walking. Consequently, two logical priorities were set: to make the most of those steps already taken to improve urban mobility and to encourage cycling, walking and the use of public transport. The Council’s Departments of Equality and the Environment led the project at political level. At a technical level, an interdisciplinary team consisting of an equality officer, an environmental officer and a mobility coordinator. Formulation of Objectives And Strategies: The objectives were to develop a sustainable model of urban mobility, to regain public urban space for use by and the enjoyment of women and men on an equal basis, taking their diversity into account, and to raise public awareness regarding the fight against climate change. A citizen participation forum defined the following actions: • Traffic calming: 30 km/h zone, speed bumps, one-way streets, widening pavements, safety hedges, narrowed road junctions and improved public transport. • Route networks: Urban pedestrian paths in green areas and the countryside, access bridges to the old town and the countryside, cycle path in the urban area, lowering of architectural barriers on pavements and in buildings, automatic toilet in pedestrian area. • Construction of pedestrian areas and concentration of Public Services: five streets. • Development of strategic plans for universal accessibility: 1997 General Urban Development Plan, 1st Local Action Plan 2008-2012, 2nd Local Action Plan 2012-2014. • Raising awareness: creation of a women’s group to facilitate their participation, study of dangerous points in the town during the local festivals, sustainability day, educational tours as part of the urban “summer camps” organized for children. • Training: courses on Sustainable Public Procurement, Equal Opportunities and Sustainable Mobility for municipal technical staff. Mobilisation of Resources: The financial resources came mainly from the National Government, 74.7%, and the Town itself, 22%. The Provincial Government contributed 1.9% from the Environment and 0.7% from Gender Equality. Technical responsibility was assumed by an integral team formed by a Gender Equality officer, an Environmental officer and a Sustainable Mobility officer. Technical support was also received from the Provincial Government in the form of advice on both mobility and gender equality. The town’s Women’s Association, the Multiple Sclerosis Association ADEMNA, the Caritas Ansoáin organisation, which deals with people in situations of social exclusion, the Senior Citizens' Association, and the local primary and secondary schools can be highlighted as key players. City/Town

Actions and Implementation

There was a problem at the start of this initiative: the lack of participation of women in the project, this being an area of action, urban mobility, in which they are not usually present due to their gender role. Local organisations and female citizens in general had been invited to participate in the sustainability forum, but had not come, meaning that the perspective on the problems and the solutions were still male. Therefore, we created a specific women’s group managed by the Council Equality Officer in which work was performed on how the women of Ansoáin viewed the urban space and mobility, what difficulties they had and what possible solutions they could come up with. Attention was paid within the group to paths and also potentially dangerous areas, proposing improvements in accessibility, safety and enjoyment. Architectural barriers and dark areas created by vegetation were eliminated, and a public toilet was installed. Following the intervention, everybody can now cross the town from one end to the other by bike or on foot using the bike path or a pedestrian path forming an axis from the start of the municipality to the paths through the green areas and the paths on Mount Ezkaba/San Cristobal. Both the bicycle path and the pedestrian axis also link up with the neighbouring municipalities of Pamplona, Berrioplano (Artica) and Berriozar. The structures which have been consolidated are the LA21, the Equality Service and the Social Co-responsibility Forum for Sustainability. Different public services take part in the forum: Youth Centre, the Local Police, Social Services, the Health Centre, the School Centre; as do many groups local to Ansoáin: the Women’s Association, the NGO Caritas Ansoáin, the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), the Senior Citizens’ (Pensioners’) Association and the Multiple Sclerosis Association (ADEMNA), among others. At national level, we have joined the Ciudades que Caminan Network, an international association composed of cities and towns that are committed to improving the situation of pedestrians through the implementation and exchange of initiatives aimed at improving universal accessibility, road safety and the environment. One of the tools which has been developed is a standard evaluation model with environmental, social and ethical indicators to be used in all the projects that the Forum drives, both those which the Town Council manages directly and those run by collaborating organisations. On the basis of this experience, all the data are collected disaggregated by sex and gender indicators are used to carry out an analysis with which to check the persistent inequalities between women and men in all fields, and, consequently, include corrective measures to reduce the gender gap and address equality. A municipal sustainability training programme is designed annually, consisting of two parts: a more technical part directed at Council staff and an awareness-raising part aimed at the groups which make up the Forum and the general public. The subjects addressed so far have been Sustainable Mobility, Sustainable Public Procurement and the Prevention of Violence against Women among Young People. All this in coordination with other Provincial Government Entities, such as the Government of Navarre’s Department of the Environment, the NELS Network (Local Agendas 21), the Foundation of Environmental Resources of Navarre and the Navarrese Institute for the Family and Equality (INAFI).

Outcomes and Impacts

The purpose of the project “Ansoáin pueblo que camina” was to raise public awareness of and transform the prevailing values in modern-day society, within the very hearts of people, through the promotion of changes in behaviour to create a more sustainable future in terms of environmental integrity, economic viability and a fair society for present and future generations. The project has addressed new problems and citizens’ demands which affect not only one sector, but the organisation as a whole, and developed integral actions that leverage synergies, make the most of existing resources and lending greater quality to the result. It has sought the maintenance of the process by establishing consistent, consolidated structures and tools which form the basic pillars for further phases in the future through a theoretical framework based, from an global perspective, on the Aalborg commitments and an approach to implementation which makes these commitments a reality within the organisation itself and the citizenry that it represents and for which it works. In particular, the project has focused on commitment 6 BETTER MOBILITY, LESS TRAFFIC. By doing so, we recognize the interdependence of transport, health and the environment, and are firmly committed to promoting models of sustainable mobility. And commitment 9 SOCIAL EQUITY AND JUSTICE, in order to promote social inclusion and equality between women and men, and ensure equitable access to public services, in this case to the urban environment. We have particularly worked to reduce dependence on private motorised transport, promote attractive alternatives that are accessible to everybody and increase the percentage of journeys made by the population of Ansoáin on foot, by bicycle and using public transport. In so doing, the aim has also been to reduce the impact of transport on our environment and people’s health. The project has worked in this way to achieve environmental sustainability through the fight against climate change. With regard to financial sustainability, the investments made have consolidated and launched enduring projects which have integrated a change of mentality, another way of doing things with the resources available to us. The benefits we have achieved from mainstreaming can be summed up by saying that we are transforming what we have done and what we had, achieving different results. Nothing is the same after mainstreaming sustainability, neither within the organisation itself nor beyond it, in the town and in its citizenry.

Gender and Social Inclusivity

In order to share experiences in local sustainable development, the Town Council of Ansoáin organised a Technical Workshop back in 2010 under the slogan “Walking towards sustainability”, with the participation of other local councils in the area, such as Pamplona, Berriozar, Berrioplano, Burlada, Egüés, Huarte, Noain, Villava, Zizur Mayor and Cintruénigo, and the Federation of Local Councils in the Pamplona District. The event identified the importance of a political will to put people and our environment at the centre of all municipal projects, laying the groundwork for cooperation between the different municipalities. In 2013, we shared our project at the 1st Ciudades que Caminan Congress held in La Rinconada (Seville) and it was recognized with the First Ciudades que Caminan Prize for municipalities with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants. This prize is awarded by a state-wide network involving more than 50 cities, including Barcelona, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Valencia, Cordoba, Burgos, Pontevedra, Lleida, Torrelodones, Irún and Cambrils. Ansoáin was one of the first towns in the country to set a 30 km/h speed limit throughout its municipal area, establishing it as a benchmark council at national level. In Navarre, where it was also a pioneer in this regard, this good practice was shared at the 2014 Annual meeting of the NELS Network (Navarrese Network of Local Authorities for Sustainability), which represents 80% of the population of Navarre. At the invitation of the Government of Navarre’s Department of the Interior, Ansoáin also shared its project at a Workshop on Traffic and Mobility held in the town of Baranáin in 2014. The workshop was attended by representatives from the Provincial Traffic Headquarters, the Navarrese Police force, the Councils of Pamplona, Burlada and Egües, and, of course, the Government of Navarre. The transferability of the project is evident in the fact that several municipalities, both in Navarre and in the rest of the State, have, to a greater or lesser extent, taken one or more of the actions adopted in Ansoáin on board. Such is the case of the Council of Berriozar, with which we are collaborating in a preliminary study of mobility in the municipality for the future implementation of measures. We are also currently advising the Federation of Local Councils in the Pamplona District on its Strategic Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (PEMUS), offering our experience and introducing the gender perspective (this Plan affects the Metropolitan area of Pamplona, with a population of approximately 350,000 people).

Innovative Initiative

The main lessons learned are: • Projects must be integral, with environmental, social and economic sustainable development criteria, addressing the Aalborg commitments in a comprehensive manner. • Gender must be mainstreamed to form an integral part of all public policy processes and structures, of the ways we see and do things, of the cultures and organisations that participate in their implementation, from the initial stages of the decision-making process right through to the implementation and evaluation stages. We are trying to look at things with fresh eyes in order to transform the reality that surrounds us. • All municipal projects have to rely on political and technical participation, and on the involvement of the citizenry through groups and associations. • There must be coordination between different municipal, provincial and national administrations. • Projects must rely on existing sustainability and equality regulations at international, European, national, regional and local levels.