Module 5: Engaging stakeholders in planning mobility measures and SUMP
This module covers strategies for involving stakeholders throughout the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) development and implementation.
The module will overview three main steps to plan for an effective stakeholder and citizen engagement – stakeholder analysis, framework for the engagement and the techniques. The module will teach how to raise awareness, secure political support, build stakeholder capacity and improve collaboration between stakeholders with different priorities.
Participants will explore methods for involving public and private stakeholders in Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning to ensure commitment, ownership and effective communication that are crucial to successful SUMP implementation.
The module is delivered in cooperation with an experienced SUMP trainer, Dr. Kristina Gaučė, a leading expert in sustainable urban mobility with over 20 years of experience in planning, policy development, and project management. She holds the role of a key trainer in capacity-building activities with JASPERS.
Module 5
This module introduces practical strategies for involving stakeholders throughout the SUMP process. It guides participants through stakeholder mapping, designing engagement frameworks and choosing effective techniques to build awareness, secure political support and strengthen collaboration. Real examples and expert insights demonstrate how meaningful engagement supports successful and inclusive SUMP implementation.
What will you learn?
- The importance of stakeholder involvement in SUMP process
- How to map stakeholders based on their different roles, interest and importance
- How to secure political support
- How to effectively engage stakeholders, types of stakeholder engagement activities, tools and examples of best practices and lessons learned from other cities
Agenda
Webinar: 13.05.2026, 09:00–10.30 CEST
- 09:00–09:10 | Welcome & Framing Ira Sibelius, Union of the Baltic Cities Sustainable Cities Commission / City of Turku, Finland and Kristina Gaučė, Gaučė ir Ko
- 09:10–09:30 | Key elements of successful stakeholder and citizen engagement. Kristina Gaučė, Gaučė ir Ko
- 09:30–09:45 | The power of the public opinion. Citizen engagement – The Leuven approach Tim Asperges, City of Leuven, Belgium
- 09:45-10:10 | Selecting effective engagement activities Kristina Gaučė, Gaučė ir Ko
- 10:10-10:25 | Case Study on the approach to engaging stakeholders, focusing on challenges, outcomes, and lessons learned. TBC
- 10:25-10:30 | Wrap up and next steps
Workshop: 27.05.2026, 09:00–11.30 CEST
- 09:00–09:10 | Welcome & Framing Ira Sibelius, Union of the Baltic Cities Sustainable Cities Commission / City of Turku, Finland, & Kristina Gaučė, Gaučė ir Ko
- 09:10–09:25 | Engaging decisionmakers in SUMP update process the successful stakeholder management and engagement activities and lessons learned. Justyna Suchanek, City of Gdynia, Poland
- 09:25–09:40 | Engaging citizens in the SUMP implementation the successful stakeholder management and engagement activities and lessons learned. Stella Aaltonen, City of Turku, Finland
- 09:40–09:50 | Challenge Briefing Kristina Gaučė, Gaučė ir Ko
- 09:50–10:10 | Group Work begins: Building SUMP Advocacy Plan
- 10:10-10:20 | Solution Sprint
- 10:20-10:30 | Break
- 10:30-11:00 | Group Work Result Sharing
- 11:00–11:25 | How to Plan Stakeholder Engagement: tools created in other projects to help cities plan stakeholder and citizen engagement. TBC
- 11:25–11:30 | Wrap-Up & Next Steps
Background & additional materials
Guidelines for Developing and Implementing a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan. Second Edition (Rupprecht Consult (eds.) 2019)
SUMP development and implementation process, detailed in the guidelines, consists of four phases, of which, Phase 1: preparation and analysis, helps to plan citizen and stakeholder involvement throughout the whole SUMP process. The guidelines help to identify and decide timing, methods and involved citizen groups, the involvement and communication approach through the clear list of tasks and good practice examples from other European cities.
Topic Guide: Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning in Smaller Cities and Towns (Rupprecht Consult (eds.) 2021)
The guide applies the SUMP Guidelines to the planning realities of smaller cities and towns and their specific challenges, including advice on how to involve the public and participation activities in the reality of scarce resources available.
CH4LLENGE Institutional Cooperation Manual: Working jointly with institutional partners in the context of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (2016)
Publication developed within European project CH4LLENGE “Addressing Key Challenges of Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning” supports practitioners in dealing with barriers in the following situations: identifying relevant partners, encouraging impacted stakeholders to participate and engage, and delegating and agreeing on each partner’s responsibilities. The manual helps to understanding different barriers planning authorities face when involving institutional stakeholders in transport planning, as well as presents recommendations, methods and local case study examples of how best to approach them.
CH4LLENGE Participation: Engaging Citizens and Stakeholders in the Development of SUMPs (2016)
Publication developed within European project CH4LLENGE “Addressing Key Challenges of Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning” supports practitioners in dealing with common participation challenges of SUMP processes, such as limited prior planning experience, resources, and/or capacities, deciding whether internal or outsourcing support for participation activities is required, developing a participation strategy to ensure common understanding between all involved actors to prevent conflict and creating a good representation of impacted stakeholders from all demographics.
Mobility Academy e-courses “SUMP learning programme for mobility practitioners” developed in CIVITAS SUMPs-UP project (2020)
The SUMP Learning Programme for mobility practitioners consists of 7 e-courses on different parts of the SUMP cycle. The courses tackle different phases in the SUMP process, while for this module, the most relevant is “Course 2: Co-creating the SUMP vision“. The course will introduce basic principles for mapping relevant stakeholders for the process. It will also give advice on what to take into consideration when cooperating with institutional stakeholders and how to prepare a public participation and communication strategy. The course presents concrete examples of methods and tools that can be used in workshops and events with different stakeholder groups to support the co-creation of the SUMP vision.
CIVITAS ECCENTRIC project Topic Guide: Addressing gender equity and vulnerable groups in SUMPs (2020)
This Topic Guide offers support to mobility practitioners and local authorities in understanding where gender equity and inclusivity meet transport planning and how to plan gender-responsive stakeholder engagement and meaningful participation.
Planner’s guide to Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (2020)
This Planner’s guide presents hands-on planning practices and measures to support sustainable urban mobility based on the experiences of cities.multimodal project partners. During the implementation of mobility measures, cities tested different ways to involve citizens. The case studies provide insights into the lessons learned on citizen involvement.
Participatory.Tools
Participatory.Tools developed within Interreg BSR HUPMOBILE project, is a webpage that collects tools and recommendations for the 5-step Stakeholder Engagement Process. The Participatory toolkit contains a library of different methods for participatory and co-creation activities with citizens and stakeholders, as well support for selecting the most suitable methods.
Year-Round Active Mobility Citizen Activation Guide for Practitioners (2024)
The Citizen Activation Guide (CAG) is a comprehensive framework designed to help planners working on urban planning, mobility, or transport-related issues to promote Year-Round Active Mobility (YRAM) by systematically engaging local people. It provides practical steps for planners to engage residents in maintaining active mobility year-round, especially during colder and darker months. The guide consists of three main components WHY, TO WHOM, and HOW and provides a CAG Canvas ensuring a structured and knowledge-based approach.
EU Urban Mobility Observatory Case Studies
The library includes numerous case studies and good practices on a variety of topics – from SUMP development to measure planning to implementation.
Exercises
Coming soon…