KTH joins innovation community on urban mobility
KTH and ITM further strengthen their networks, innovation capabilities and international appeal by participating in ‘Mobility for Liveable Urban Spaces’ (MOBiLus) – an EU transport research initiative consisting of 48 partners from 15 countries.
On 5 December 2018, the MOBiLus consortium was named the winning Innovation Community on Urban Mobility by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). EIT Innovation Communities are public-private partnerships whose objective is to find solutions to major societal challenges in areas with high innovation potential – in this case urban mobility.
The aim of EIT Urban Mobiliy is to strengthen European competitiveness, improve access to mobility and increase attractiveness of cities.
KTH researcher Martin Vendel has been appointed Interim Educational Director at EIT Urban Mobility:
– If we look at the numbers for global population growth and urbanization, we need to build a million-citizen city every week, every year, until 2050. That means a demand for solutions which address transportation of people, goods and waste in growing cities all around the globe. European cities are often thought of as role models for future urban spaces. One explanation of their attractiveness is probably that most of our cities in Europe were built before the introduction of cars.
The EU will contribute with a funding of around €400 million for seven years, making the project one of the world’s largest for urban mobility.
– In addition to the funding, the initiative means that KTH and ITM become a part of a large and strong network, which further improves educational relevance and quality, and makes us even more attractive to international talent, says Martin Vendel.
Text: David Andersson
Photo: Hanson Lu on Unsplash