Project planning vs. strategic planning: Promoting a different perspective for sustainable transport policy in European R&D projects

- EU transport policy and planning suffers from a one-sided economic conception of negative market integration and a lack of positive political integration.
- European R&D projects have three structural problems: the legitimacy, fluctuation and communication trap.
- Institutions on the local level supporting political integration are required.

The European Commission is heavily engaged in financing R&D projects to support the development of sustainable transport. One of its largest initiatives is CIVITAS, which was launched in 2002 to re-think transport initiatives and policies in order to create cleaner, better transport in cities.The European Commission has stated that, despite all the efforts, the transport sector is not yet on the path to sustainability. In view of the discrepancy between its programmatic goals and current transport development in Europe, the CIVITAS initiative needs to be scrutinized: is the initiative able to effectively promote the development of sustainable transport? In dealing with this question, the authors draw on more than ten years of active participation in projects of the CIVITAS initiative. Focusing on the MIMOSA project, a cooperation between five European cities in five different countries, the authors show how shortcomings within the organizational framework of the initiative lead to immense transaction costs.In conclusion, the authors propose a programmatic shift from project planning to a strategic approach and make recommendations concerning the political and administrative structures needed to implement this strategic approach.