Institutional cooperation in Kouvola through an Inter-sectoral Working Group

In the Kouvola Region of Finland, the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan was also linked to the regional, the state level and EU policies. “We need to look at policies all the way from the top to the bottom, making the whole process more coherent and influence policies and processes made by regional and national actors,” says Hannu Koverola, Planning Manager for the Kouvola Region Federation of Municipalities.

“Sustainable urban transport is one of our priorities. Authorities and organisations that decide on funding also play a key role in implementing policies. The federation of municipalities is present in regional projects in one way or another, either as experts, financer or coordinators.”

In Kouvola, an inter-sectoral working group was created as a result of the regional transport plan. The working group had representatives from the Regional Council, the Finnish Road Administration, the Finnish Rail Administration, the State Office and all seven municipalities. After the planning process started, the working group was expanded to include the regional public health services and the regional public environment centre, as well as citizens and other relevant stakeholders.

The group bases its work on an agreement, a letter of intent signed by all relevant parties to implement traffic policy in harmony with the Kouvola region transport  system plan,” Koverola says.The challenge is to get all parties to stick to this agreement. To date, policy coordination has been useful in planning land use. The target is to promote sustainable modes of transport by making them realistic all the way from cooperating on policies to implementing joint actions with sufficient resources.

 

Photo: City of Kouvola

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Country:
Finland
Year:
2007