AENEAS was a project with the objective to become the cornerstone for international reference projects in the field of urban mobility of older people.
The EU-25 population aged 50 and over is expected to increase from 35% to 49% between 2005 and 2050. While in the past, “classical (walking and public)” transport have been the most important modes among older people, currently there are strong shifts towards the private car which are expected to increase further in the future. This trend will have massive negative impacts on energy-efficiency in urban transport. At the same time, sustainable travel options lack appropriateness to older people’s needs and wishes. Indeed, alternatives to the private car are often perceived as unattractive or not suitable, or people simply do not know how to use them properly even though this is hard to admit.
AENEAS project will promote enabling and encouraging measures, such as awareness & marketing campaigns, training courses, events, guided tours and will exchange knowledge with European practitioners via dedicated training sessions. More concretely, within AENEAS, different “soft measures” – mobility management, awareness raising, training, mobility days etc. – will be applied in order to achieve more energy efficient mobility of the older generations.
Examples of these measures already exist: mobility management and cycling training for older people in Munich, passenger and bus driver training in Salzburg, promotion of walking in Odense, assistance to older passengers at tramway hubs in Kraków and safety improvements for pedestrians in Donostia – San Sebastián, etc.
AENEAS includes also a strong dissemination and communication part: Best practices will be collected and disseminated via different media (study tour catalogue, good practice implementation guide, brochures, internet, conferences and events). Also dialogue and interactivity between different stakeholders – inside and outside institutions – will be fostered.
And of course, senior citizens themselves will be involved, as they are the most valuable experts on older people’s mobility.
The AENEAS project, launched in August 2008 and running till May 2011, is co-funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme (STEER).
For further information, please contact Ilenia Gheno and Nena Georgantzi
Project number: 215754
Project acronym: AENEAS
Project full title: AENEAS – Attaining Energy Efficient Mobility in an Ageing Society
Starting date: 1 August 2008
Duration: 33 months
AENEAS Final Conference
The Final Conference of AENEAS was held on April 8th at the Committee of the Regions in Brussels, attracting many high-level participants: MEPs, EC representatives, local politicians, transport operators, public authorities, European networks and user organisations.
The conference not only showcased the project’s outcomes but also offered a platform for discussion of future deployment of the initiatives of the five AENEAS cities. The need for a comprehensive approach including soft measures, research and policy actions at the European and local level was clearly demonstrated.
The discussions on “Green Mobility for Active Ageing” were based on two high-level panels focusing on European and local initiatives as the AENEAS experience offered many concrete examples for action at both levels. The conference agenda comprised of keynote speeches, panel discussions, allowing the interaction with the audience, presentation of the AENEAS solutions in a market place and sharing the impressions of a senior citizen who travelled around Germany on a tricycle.
Anne-Sophie Parent, AGE Secretary-General, stressed the added value of accessible mobility for the social participation of older people, pleading for a society for all ages. The upcoming European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations offers an important momentum for stakeholders to extend their commitments in this area. The panelists highlighted the need for legislation and standardization but also for soft measures like the ones adopted in the AENEAS cities. The Commission representatives expressed the need to link the current Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing with the next one that will focus on transport issues. As a result, research and policy should work on sustainable mobility and the needs of an ageing society.
Within its lifetime, the AENEAS project has undertaken many inspirational measures combining age-friendly and energy-efficient mobility options. It has also produced a variety of interesting publications in the field of sustainable mobility. During the final conference, the last publication of the project was presented which covers an in-depth review of innovative case studies from across Europe to encourage the use of public transport and cycling. You may read the Staying Mobile publication online, clicking here. Summaries in English, German, French, Spanish, Polish, Danish and Basque are also available.
Salzburg, one of the AENEAS cities, has also produced a brochure addressed to youngsters with a view to sensitize them on the needs of older passengers. The On the bus with Granny publication exists in English and in German version.
For more information please contact Ilenia Gheno and Nena Georgantzi
5th AENEAS Training Workshop
«Older passagers: It’s all about communication. How to address them? How to keep them? »
Salzburg, 24-25 November 2010
The last AENEAS training workshop focused on communication with seniors highllighting barriers but also success factors. The aims of this workshop were to:
- Understand the specific requirements for communication with older passangers
- Learn from the experiences of the AENEAS cities
- Develop implementation recommendations of successful programs from Salzburg
- Take home a toolbox which supports participants to set up a program in their own cities
To view the programme of this event please click here.
The workshop report will be available shortly in the AENEAS website.
For more information please contact Nena Georgantzi
and Ilenia Gheno.
AENEAS Study Tour Catalogue now launched!
The 54-page booklet takes the reader on a trip across Europe to witness innovative "soft" measures that improve the mobility of older people by encouraging sustainable choices. Each stop on the tour represents a real measure or activity undertaken in a city. The cases were pulled from a pool of more than 130 good-practice examples identified by the AENEAS project.
You may download the Study Tour Catalogue through the AENEAS Website.
Fourth AENEAS Training Workshop 'Cycling and Health in an Ageing Society'
Odense, Denmark, 9-10 June, 2010
The 4th AENEAS training workshop focused on the benefits and constraints of cycling at older age. Health issues, traffic safety, needs of older cyclists and means to promote cycling among seniors were addressed during the workshop that took place in Odense in the beginning of June 2010.
Participants, coming from various European cities, attended presentations by specialists in the fiels of cycling for older people and experienced the excellent cycling infrastructure in the city of Odense. In addition, they met with some older citizens who participate in the AENEAS cycling tours and participated in discussions about transferring the AENEAS knowledge in other European cities. Three wroking group sessions were formed to investigate how good practices can be implemented in othe regions: one focused on infrastructure for safe cycling; one on training and awareness raising campaigns and the last one on responding to societal change in advaced cycling locations.
The workshop material, presentations and photos from the event are now available in the AENEAS website.
Third AENEAS Training Workshop
Munich, Germany, 4 - 5 March, 2010
The third AENEAS training workshop: Marketing for multimodal mobility in an ageing society, took place in Munich on March 4th-5th, hosted by the local transport operator MVG. The aims of this event were to:
- Provide participants with a basic understanding of the mobility needs of older people and how mobility marketing can take these needs into account;
- Provide examples of practical experiences with developing marketing campaigns and training for older people on mobility;
- Create an interactive environment and work in small groups to enhance learning and knowledge exchange;
- Give an insight into multimodal marketing and mobility in Munich, through technical site visits and case study transfer sessions.
The training included plenary presentations by mobility management and marketing experts, interactive working group sessions and study visits relating to walking, cycling and public transport.
To view the workshop materials, the presentations and photos from the event, please visit the AENEAS website.
To become a member of the AENEAS Network just fill out the network registration form. Your “user needs” information is very important for the planning of the exchange activities within AENEAS. If possible we would also like to receive a Good Practice Description of one of your past projects on Mobility of Older People.
