The project aimed to contribute to and respond to reflections on European freedom of movement, from a local, sustainable, and social justice perspective. It sought to promote the idea of local sustainable mobility as a fundamental human and citizen right. To achieve this, a comprehensive methodology and guidelines with concrete recommendations were developed in collaboration with a diverse group of stakeholders from Germany and France. The project also wanted to foster a better understanding of similarities, differences, and approaches within the European context while strengthening the German-French friendship. The integration of different cultural approaches and concepts into the developed mobility framework was a key objective, specifically targeting the rural Alpine populations in Germany and France, as well as local politicians. Another important outcome to develop was to be the improvement of mobility in rural areas. The project meant to support the development of sustainable mobility options for all in the pilot areas, benefiting both local populations and tourists, including day visitors. Finally, the project was expected to achieve a reduction of CO2 emissions through the development of a sustainable mobility concepts.
In many rural areas of the Alps, public transport services are inadequate for daily needs and tourism development. In some remote mountain regions, this is one of the reasons why there is a considerable amount of car traffic, especially on weekends, public holidays and during rush hours. There are various reasons for this, including the high cost of public transport solutions due to low population density, inadequate public transport options (such as timetables, accessibility, connectivity, travel time and costs) and political and social preferences in favour of private motorised transport. This leads to a high use of private transport in rural areas, high mobility costs, harmful emissions, noise pollution, increased traffic risk, land degradation, social inequality and migration to cities. By promoting sustainable mobility solutions in rural areas, dependence on individual car transport can be reduced. This makes it possible to lower mobility costs, reduce CO2 emissions and environmental pollution, minimise noise pollution and reduce traffic risk. The project aims to tackle these challenges and support emerging solutions by promoting co-operation between different Alpine regions and stakeholders.