September 23, 2021 - Pula Car-Free Day was commemorated on September 22nd, 2021, just like in many cities and towns worldwide. The event, which is part of European Mobility Week, also raised the question of whether or not should Pula's Lungomare promenade be closed for car traffic in general.

Given that Zagreb is the capital of Croatia, the city may often take up more room on the Croatian news scene than other cities and places in the country. Such an example was the programme the city prepared for European Mobility Week (like the event in the Zagreb City Museum), the celebration of which took place on Wednesday with the commemoration of World Car-Free Day on September the 22nd.

That said, other towns in Croatia had their programmes too. One such example is the Eastern Istrian coastal town of Pula.

As the local Pula.hr website stated, this year's edition of the European Mobility Week programme in Pula was added to with a motto ''Mobility with zero-emissions for everyone'', with which Pula entered its fifteenth year of organising activities for the occasion.

''In marking this important event, partners from the Muscular Dystrophy Society of Istria, the Istria County police force, and the Croatian Car Club Pula-Rovinj have been joining us every year. By participating in European Mobility Week, we want to encourage sustainable development and upgrade urban traffic. Twenty new buses operating in Pula are fueled by natural gas which satisfies the highest ecological standards and are adapted to disabled people. This all contributes to the image of Pula as a modern European town,'' said Pula's Deputy Mayor Elena Puh Belci at the opening in the programme earlier this week.

On Wednesday, in the spirit of Car-Free Days, the main waterfront, Lungo Mare promenade, was closed for car traffic from 06:30 to 15:30.

''The pedestrians we bumped into yesterday thought some construction work was underway instead of it all being a promotion of a more healthy lifestyle, given the no-traffic-sign was placed all the way from Valkan to Mornar,'' wrote the local Glas Istre daily newspaper.

Glas Istre journalists also asked the locals whether or not Lungomare should be closed for traffic in general and not just symbolically on September the 22nd.

''It would actually be really nice if people could have a promenade without traffic so they could walk its whole length. Given that the younger population gathers here on benches at night, maybe it would be good for the promenade to be open for traffic from 22:00 to 06:00,'' locals Tin Knežević and Ana Milotić told Glas Istre.

''It should be closed off for traffic. People need to move more and walk around more, and there's too much traffic here. People want to jump straight from their cars into the sea without doing any walking. The beginning of this road is slim and the road from the restaurants goes off in two directions, so everyone should arrive here by walking,'' said Marta Pešutić.

While many in the article felt that cars on Lungomare should be limited, apart from not being sure whether or not something like that would be possible in the near future, some people also openly took into account the fact that cars aren't useless.

''Cars get in the way, but sometimes they're needed, so maybe we should think about that too,'' concluded Glas Istre with a quote from Mira Filipović.

Learn more about Pula in our TC guide. 

For more about ecology in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

September 20, 2021 - Are you curious about Zagreb mobility history? Head on over to the Zagreb City Museum, learn about it and see how Zagreb's citizens moved around and exercised as the capital of Croatia honors European Mobility Week.

Cipelcug, which is a bit of an outdated but still quite distinct word from Zagreb's own jargon, is a term used for walking and being a pedestrian.

With the word being more commonly used in the historic days of Zagreb's city life, it is only right that the programme ''Cipelcug Through The Past“ which deals with the historical development of Zagreb's transportation, carries such a name. The programme hosted by the Zagreb City Museum (MGZ) already kicked off Saturday, and this Wednesday, September 22, at 11:00, another day of this event is set to take place.

MGZ invites everyone to walk to the museum up in Upper town (Gornji grad) and enjoy the thematic tour looking into the history of Zagreb's public transportation and other ways of moving through the city. In addition, an expert from the Medveščak Sport and Recreation Society will demonstrate how people exercised in the past.

The demonstration will be followed by an opportunity for the visitors to try out some antique exercise props themselves. Participation is free, and you can also look at the permanent exhibition of the museum that stores relics of the earliest human activities in Zagreb's territory, leading all the way up to modern times. This includes, as TCN previously wrote, the display of three previous cannons that took the duty signaling noon for Zagreb's residents before being replaced by today's cannon from the 80's.

The ''Cipelcug Through The Past“ programme is organised to honor and contribute to European Mobility Week (September 16-22), and on a local level, it is part of a ''Safe and Healthy with Sustainable Mobility'' initiative, coordinated by the City of Zagreb.

The City of Zagreb first took this initiative with the World no Car Day back in 2001 and for the past 20 years, it has organised a week-long streak of activities which makes Zagreb a ''Golden participant'' in the eyes of the international community.

''The selection of this year's theme honors the difficulties both Europe and the world witnessed during COVID-19. It celebrates the resilience of cities and their achievements in trying to preserve the momentum. It also reflects the possibilities of changes that come from this public health crisis which has been unseen in Europe until now,'' says the City of Zagreb's official website.

For its efforts in promoting carless mobility and the rich content of its events, Zagreb won the Mobility Award back in 2012.

Learn more about Zagreb on our TC page.

For more about culture in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 16 Sept 2021 - On the occasion of European Mobility Week which started on Thursday, Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Tomislav Ćorić called on the Croatians to move as much as possible, to cycle and adopt other good habits and apply them in their daily lives.

"Physical activity is extremely important for our health, and walking, cycling and other sustainable solutions in transport contribute to the protection of the environment, nature, and climate", Minister Ćorić said.

European Mobility Week is European Commission's awareness-raising campaign on sustainable urban mobility and has been taking place every year from 16 to 22 September since 2002 to promote and encourage behavioral changes in favor of sustainable mobility solutions.

The theme of this year's edition is "Safe and Healthy with Sustainable Mobility", chosen in response to the challenges of the new everyday life caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development said in the press release.

They called on citizens to maintain their physical and mental fitness, as well as take care of the environment and other people's health when choosing their transportation.

European Mobility Week calls for greater attention to the relation between mental health and urban mobility, which is a topic that gained importance during the pandemic.

Zagreb, Drniš, Zaprešić, Koprivnica, Kutina, Osijek, Rijeka, Pula, Varaždin and Cres take part

"Anxiety caused by traveling in a crowd or unavailability of information on travel details can lead to mental disorders. Therefore, in a pandemic, cities must do even more to create conditions in which citizens can move around safely, comfortably, and sustainably," the press release reads.

Numerous studies indicate that an active lifestyle reduces depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems. Thirty minutes of walking or cycling is enough to improve mental health, and this will raise the general mood and quality of sleep, as well as reduce stress, anxiety, and fatigue.

This year, awareness-raising projects on the need for sustainable urban mobility have been submitted by the cities of Zagreb, Drniš, Zaprešić, Koprivnica, Kutina, Osijek, Rijeka, Pula, Varaždin, and Cres. This includes activities for European Mobility Week, the organization of Car-Free Day, and permanent measures through the introduction of innovative transport and traffic solutions.

For more on lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.