NEWS

On April 20–21, an online meeting of the international project SPACE4PEOPLE took place. Further plans for the implementation of the project were discussed. Each partner country presented the already done works. The meeting was moderated by project coordinator Claus Kollinger from Austria and the expert Ivan Tosics from Hungary.

During the meeting, the partners from Bielefeld (Germany), Valga (Estonia), Serres (Greece), Turku (Finland), Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France), Arad (Romania), Badalona and Guia de Isora (Spain) discussed what has been done and what is being done currently in the situation of global pandemic. Integrated project action plans have also been analysed.

SPACE4PEOPLE project leader Gurskienė presented that during the implementation of this project a new bus traffic on route 1E (Kniaudiškių St. - Consulting Polyclinic) has been introduced. In order to find out the opinion of Panevėžys residents, how they evaluate this new public transport route, a survey was initiated. 181 respondent provided their answers. 94 percent of the respondents said that this route is necessary for Panevėžys residents. 76 percent think that this new bus route will encourage people to choose public transport more often. Panevėžys residents who took part in the survey were pleased that this route was very convenient and was welcomed not only by medical staff working in this part of the city, but also by Panevėžys residents using their services. It was proposed to use as many ecological vehicles as possible in the city, to increase the number of new routes and to create a schedule according to which buses running on route 1 E would appear more often.

SPACE4PEOPLE project, funded by the European Union's URBACT program, aims to increase the attractiveness of public spaces by focusing on three main aspects: pedestrians and their spaces, parking problems, intermodal and public transport.

The URBACT program supports the sustainable integrated development of European cities, provides funding for networking, exchanges of experience. It plays a key role in strengthening urban links, exchanging good practice and finding innovative solutions.