Green Silver Age Mobility

January 2019 -
December 2021

Uncompleted

3. Transport 3.5 Urban mobility

GreenSAM

Although a lot of cities in the Baltic Sea region are introducing green urban mobility solutions, the majority of senior citizens remains reluctant towards these alternatives. The GreenSAM project develops a toolbox of good practices and potential obstacles for the participation of seniors in the decision-making processes in green urban mobility. The toolbox applied by public authorities in Hamburg, Aarhus, Gdansk, Tartu and Riga enables to exchange knowledge in efficient involvement of seniors and increasing their acceptance of eco-friendly mobility services such as collective transport and ride-sharing.

Summary

Increased institutional capacities

Most city administrations in the Baltic Sea region lack structured knowledge of the mobility needs of seniors. Their awareness of the accessibility need does exist (barrier-free design of new mobility solutions) but psychological and other “hidden” barriers usually remain unrecognised. This is why public authorities often take investment decisions that are environmentally-friendly but not age-friendly. Against this background, the project GreenSAM develops a set of innovative participation tools that help recognise mobility needs and requirements of seniors. GreenSAM also integrates new age-friendly solutions into decision-making procedures.

Behavioural change

GreenSAM directly cooperates with senior citizen groups in its partner cities and involves them in developing and testing new participation tools. These include e.g. consultations, coaching, tutorials, mobility labs, applications and chatbots. Not only do these interactive tools help public authorities to learn about the demands of senior citizens; they also trigger a behaviour change, convincing seniors to e.g. a bicycle sharing system.

Proven approaches for green age-friendly mobility

GreenSAM tests the participation tools in six pilot regions around the Baltic Sea, which face similar demographic challenges, yet they are diverse from a socio-cultural, political and economic perspective. Additionally, six follower cities, i.e. Gdynia, Göteborg, Oslo, Tampere, Växjö and Vilnius, complement with their insight into the transferability of the tools.