THE PEP VIENNA 2021
BUILDING FORWARD BETTER BY TRANSFORMING TO NEW, CLEAN, SAFE, HEALTHY AND INCLUSIVE MOBILITY AND TRANSPORT
The 5th High-level Ministerial Meeting of the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP) was held in the form of a virtual event from 17 to 18 May, 2021.
As preceding side events to the conference, a series of thematic webinars was offered from 10 to 12 May. In addition, a virtual exhibition was on display.
Furthermore, three international Youth Forums were held in April 2021 ahead of the High-level Ministerial Meeting in order to integrate opinions and experiences of young people into the process of THE PEP.
Every 5 years this high-level ministerial conference takes place to promote cross-sectoral cooperation at the highest level in the fields of transport, health and environment on a pan-European level. The overall aim is to set forward looking milestones for environmentally-friendly and health-conscious mobility of the future.
The two preceding high-level meetings took place 2009 in Amsterdam, hosted by The Netherlands, and 2014 in Paris, hosted by France. Austria, as the current host for the Ministerial Conference, had originally planned to welcome participants in Vienna in 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was postponed to May 2021 and held online as a virtual event.
The central element of this year's conference was the adoption of the “Vienna Declaration: Building forward better by transforming to new, clean, safe, healthy and inclusive mobility and transport” and its annexes, in particular the first Pan-European Master Plan for Cycling Promotion. Further annexes to the Vienna Declaration are: Key facts and figures on transport, health and environment; Recommendations for Green and Healthy Sustainable Transport; Policy Recommendations for Eco-driving; Conclusions and Recommendations of the Handbook on Sustainable Urban Mobility and Spatial Planning; and Workplan for the period 2021–2025.
The conference was organised at the joint invitation of the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology and the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection of Austria.
The Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme is currently chaired by Austria, Mr. Robert Thaler, Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology and co-chaired by Mr. Vadim Donchenko, Russian Federation and Ms. Vigdis Rønning, Kingdom of Norway.
THE PEP is a unique tripartite policy platform providing key links between transport, health and environment in order to take actions towards achieving sustainable, environmentally friendly and health promoting mobility. Further information can be found on https://thepep.unece.org
