The Municipality of Valongo hosted the last meeting of GreenMove, a European project funded by the CERV (Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values) programme that brought together 17 partners from 16 countries. The meeting closed a project that began in 2024. GreenMove aimed to make mobility more sustainable and inclusive across the European Union’s varied territories.

What the final meeting discussed

The meeting’s theme was “Sustainable Mobility and Social Inclusion, with a focus on the empowerment of women in mountain regions”. It treated mobility as an essential condition for equal opportunities, access to services, citizen participation and territorial cohesion. The programme included presentation, debate and final evaluation sessions among the partners, focusing on sustainable mobility, social inclusion, gender equality and citizen participation. Participants also discussed the role of mobility in territories with physical, social and territorial barriers, where isolation and a lack of transport alternatives can limit access to fundamental rights. In his welcome address, Mayor Paulo Esteves Ferreira said mobility should be understood not only as transport but as access to employment, education, health, culture and opportunities.

What Valongo presented

The municipality showed the partners the work carried out locally in recent years:

  • active mobility and the cycle lane network;
  • a reorganised public transport network;
  • energy efficiency, including solar panels on schools and the switch to LED lighting;
  • more sustainable solutions in urban management.

The municipality says taking part in GreenMove helped it highlight local policies and strengthen its institutional visibility. Participants also visited local sites, including the Escadaria da Cuca Macuca, the Centro de Interpretação Ambiental e da Mineração Romana, the Casa da Trilobite, the Igreja Matriz de Valongo and the Oficina da Regueifa e do Biscoito de Valongo.

What the project leaves behind

Over its course, GreenMove promoted the sharing of good practice, cooperation between municipalities and European organisations, and common responses for more sustainable and inclusive mobility. Its main results include good practice shared among the 17 partners, the consolidation of digital tools that support sustainable mobility, and the Design for All principle, aimed at accessible and inclusive spaces and solutions adapted to people’s real needs. The project’s legacy rests on European cooperation, citizen participation and the defence of mobility as a fundamental right. For Valongo, the meeting was a moment of political and institutional affirmation as a territory committed to sustainability, social inclusion, innovation and quality of life.