How to contribute to the reduction of motorized traffic in urban city centers and thus reduce pollution and increase the quality of life? This is a question that 13 partners from 7 countries seeking the answer through a joint project called CHESTNUT.

One of the partners in the project is Dubrovnik's Development Agency DURA, which has gathered more than 50 representatives of partner organizations from Croatia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Austria, Romania and BiH in the last three days in Dubrovnik.

"This meeting is one of a series of activities we are pursuing to contribute to the overall project goal of reducing motorized transportation leading to urban centers' hubs and promoting more sustainable transport models," said Marko Cosmai, project manager at DURA.

Dubrovnik is faced with significant traffic problems which are introduced to 50 participants of the meeting during a study visit to Dubrovnik's Old Town. The four cruisers and about 8,000 passengers that appeared in Old Town that day have perfectly depicted the load during the tourist season. The step towards overthrowing this complex clutch is the development of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan at Functional Urban Area level.

"The focus of this meeting is on the technical aspect of the CHESTNUT project. We've reviewed and compared the drafts of sustainable urban mobility plans that will come closer to their final form right here in Dubrovnik," said Takeru Shibayama, researcher at Vienna University of Technology, also one of the project partners.

At the beginning of the second day, partners were greeted by Marko Cosmai from DURA - Dubrovnik's Development Agency, and were split into three parallel sessions, each moderated by representatives of Research Center of Transport Planning and Traffic Engineering at Vienna University of Technology. After the working sessions, CHESTNUT partners had a study visit to Dubrovnik's Old Town to witness the mobility problems the city faces during the peak season.

SUMP was in the focus of the third day of the CHESTNUT transnational meeting. Partners were concentrated on identifying the most appropriate measures to meet their respective overarching goals. The FVVTUW's team lead the efforts, provided guidance, and feedback needed to move ahead in the right direction.

After three days of hard work, reviewing and comparing each other's drafts of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans, partners held 6th CHESTNUT Steering Committee. One of the most interesting proposals was the introduction of trams in Dubrovnik as an additional option for sharing mobility.

As a part of the CHESTNUT dissemination event, partners presented the project to local media. Marko Cosmai, Takeru Shibayama and Gianluca Sarti talked about project for DUTV. The focus was also on work packages of management and communication - partners presented a short overview of the activities they managed to align with the predetermined plan.

As part of the project, with the aim of popularizing more sustainable transport models, DURA will launch a pilot project for urban electric bikes during the forthcoming project period in Dubrovnik.