Spring reception of the NRW regions: Networked mobility as a joint task of state policy and region

Münsterland e.V. discusses with representatives from politics, business and society

MÜNSTERLAND/DÜSSELDORF. Increased commuter numbers, climate protection targets, demographic change, a more flexible world of work - all these developments pose challenges for regions when it comes to mobility. How to meet and master them was discussed by Münsterland e.V. on the evening of 5 June at the "Spring Reception of the Regions" with around 150 stakeholders from politics, business and society in the Düsseldorf state parliament.

Under the title "Networked Mobility in Regions", Münsterland e.V. had invited as part of "regionen.NRW", an association of the nine regional development and marketing organisations in NRW.

"Mobility is absolutely relevant in order to position oneself as a region for the future," the board members and managing directors of regionen.NRW agreed. "Because it means that all areas of society are interlinked at the end of the day: Working, living, leisure, family, services of general interest. The key lies in a successful combination of mobility solutions. In this context, closing ranks with each other and with the state government is particularly important to us."

NRW Transport Minister Hendrik Wüst picked up on this in his keynote speech and emphasised the need for the regions to develop concepts and model projects for mobility in rural areas and in the urban-rural relationship: "Mobility is a decisive prerequisite for growth, employment and prosperity. That is why the state government has enabled a planning, approval and construction ramp-up for the transport infrastructure. The maintenance, modernisation and needs-based expansion of transport routes as well as the networking of transport modes are the steps that guarantee individual mobility in rural areas as well. In doing so, we want to use the opportunities of digitalisation."

Angela Freimuth, 2nd Vice-President of the NRW State Parliament, welcomed the guests. "We are pleased that we can once again welcome the regions of NRW to our House with their annual spring reception. As a place for exchange and discussion, the Landtag is once again pleased to offer a platform on the topic of mobility."

In her welcoming address, Dorothee Feller, District President of the Münster District Government, showed how it is possible to find out which mobility solutions work well: "With the cooperation project 'Reallabor Mobiles Münsterland', we are trying out various mobility solutions and project modules and bringing the results together as a 'model region for mobility in rural areas'. The focus is on testing an integrated overall public transport system that takes the needs of citizens into account in the best possible way."

Klaus Ehling, board member of Münsterland e.V., added: "Car, train, bus, bicycle or mobile phone can only offer sustainable mobility for citizens, employees or tourists in interaction. A good option would be, for example, a regional ticket for the whole region that includes all mobility offers."

At the spring reception, Professor Hans Jeekel from Eindhoven University of Technology also took a look at the Netherlands and presented various best-practice examples relating to smart mobility, e-mobility and sustainable mobility to those present. The moderator Eva-Maria Jazdzejewski then ventured into practice with the regional players Professor Peter Urban (RWTH Aachen), Professor Uwe Schneidewind (Wuppertal Institute) and Manfred Müller (District Administrator of Paderborn). They presented mobility projects in the areas of "city", "urban-rural" and "rural" and made it clear how different the circumstances are depending on the region and how corresponding mobility offers must be designed in the respective living space.

Over beer and pretzels, the participants then had an intensive exchange with the guests.

www.regionen.nrw

Further information

In 2013, the regional development and marketing organisations founded the association regionen.NRW to strengthen their cooperation and to consolidate the strategic cooperation with the state government. The aim is to promote the development of the sub-regions and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The association regionen.NRW consists of the Region Aachen Zweckverband, the Bergische Struktur- und Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft mbH, the Regionalmanagement Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf - Kreis Mettmann, the Region Köln/Bonn e.V., the Münsterland e.V., the Standort Niederrhein GmbH, the OstWestfalenLippe Marketing GmbH, the Regionalverband Ruhr and the Südwestfalen Agentur GmbH.