The Regional Operational Programme for Umbria ERDF 2021–2027 - Priority 3 'A more connected region: sustainable urban mobility' - SO2.8 'Promote sustainable multimodal urban mobility as part of the transition towards a net-zero carbon economy', is a key pillar of the region's development strategy, focusing on sustainable growth, environmental protection, digital transformation, and social inclusion. It mobilizes European Structural and Investment Funds to address disparities and enhance Umbria’s competitiveness, with objectives that include supporting SMEs, fostering innovation, promoting green infrastructure, and improving regional connectivity.
Key measures target a green economy, renewable energy, efficient transport, and digital infrastructure, while prioritizing employment and skills in green and digital sectors. Sustainable tourism plays a pivotal role, promoting green investments and eco-friendly initiatives to support long-term economic stability.
Aligned with this framework, the CHESS project addresses challenges in sustainable mobility, particularly traffic issues related to tourism and commuting. By integrating with the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP), it reduces emissions and improves public transport, contributing to EU goals like the European Green Deal.
Through interregional collaboration and best practices, CHESS enhances the policy's effectiveness, advancing regional development in a sustainable and inclusive way.

Iasi Municipality is a key authority in Romania's Nord-East Region, with extensive experience in sustainable urban mobility, having implemented over 50 projects under ROP (2007–2022). It owns and directly influences the Iasi Metropolitan SUMP, a strategic plan guiding urban and peri-urban development until 2030. The SUMP aligns territorial planning with mobility needs, addressing accessibility, sustainable transport, and infrastructure improvements while promoting cost-effective, eco-friendly mobility.
Iasi SUMP focuses on public transport, cycling, walking, intermodality, parking, safety, and traffic management. However, the city faces challenges like expanding urban areas lacking transport coverage, dysfunctional railways, traffic congestion, demand for pedestrian zones, and improper use of e-scooters.
To address these, the SUMP requires updates aligned with EU strategies (e.g., European Green Deal) and citizen input, integrating successful practices from European cities. Iasi aims to improve governance, enhance the SUMP with innovation, sustainability, and EU methodologies, and implement low-carbon transport policies. The project fosters mutual learning, enabling Iasi to modernize its SUMP through innovative, citizen-focused solutions and better implementation, evaluation, and monitoring.

The law on public transport stipulates that every region has a public transport authority and a regional transport programme (TFP) / regional strategic plan for public transport. Region Värmland is the regional public transport authority and decides on the TFP (Regional public transport programme /Regionalt trafikförsörjningsprogram). The TFP is a strategic plan for developing public transport in Värmland. The current TFP, stipulates that Region Värmland takes responsibility for sustainable travel from a holistic perspective including shared mobility even though the national regulation of the programme is limited to the development of regional public transport. Värmland has been successful in implementing innovative mobility concepts in a Swedish context. The regional transport programme includes all forms of public transport in Värmland and is also one of the action plans for the regional development strategy, Vämlandsstrategin. In the TFP, priority is given to which policy measures are important to implement and which kind of travel have the highest priority. In the process of developing an updated and innovative TFP, collaboration with different parties such as local authorities’ business and other regions is of great importance. In particular in terms of infrastructure development, regional development and policy instrument’s connection to SUMP.

The 2030 regional SUMP sets ambitious environmental and health objectives, including:
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26%,
- Reducing the concentration of pollutants below regulatory limits,
- Improving road safety by halving the number of accidents and road and street fatalities between 2025 and 2029.
To achieve these environmental commitments, the plan defines clear intentions in terms of changing the transportation habits and usage of the inhabitants of Ile-de-France, including :
- A 15% reduction in car and motorized two-wheeler travels between 2019 and 2030,
- Relaunching the use of public transport (PT),
- Tripling the number of trips made by bicycle,
- Developing alternatives to the private car.
The 14 actions are the following ones : Develop the use of PT by making it more attractive, Put pedestrians at the heart of mobility policies, Continue to make PT and roads more accessible, Encourage the use of bicycles, Support the shared use of cars, Make it easier to switch from one mode of transport to another on the same trip, Make roads more multimodal, safe and sustainable, Share the road between different modes of transport (cycling, walking, PT, car), Adapt parking policy to different regions, Support more sustainable and efficient regional logistics, Decarbonize the regional vehicle fleet, Coordinate a policy of mutually supportive mobility services, Promote more sustainable tourist mobility, Make collective mobility more practical.

The main challenge is that Võru does not have a dedicated sustainable urban mobility strategy. Currently, the town relies on two fundamental policy documents: the Võru Development Plan 2017–2035 (2017) and “Võru - Bold City Vision 2050” (2022). However, these documents are overarching and lack the level of detail required to address urban mobility challenges effectively.
Võru needs a more structured thematic strategy for sustainable mobility that aligns with local needs and contributes to climate neutrality goals. Key areas for improvement include traffic management, road safety, connectivity (including light traffic roads and green areas), and overall accessibility. In addition, mobility research and sustainable mobility planning will provide valuable input for the upcoming revision of the Võru Town General Plan (VGP). The current VGP (2009) is outdated and does not sufficiently prioritize sustainable mobility or climate resilience.
The CHESS project will play a crucial role in enhancing the existing policy framework by integrating transnational knowledge and best practices. Rather than developing a new standalone SUMP, the project will support the refinement of existing policy instruments by incorporating solutions, methodologies, and insights gained through cooperation with project partners. This will ensure a more strategic, data-driven approach to urban mobility planning in Võru, strengthening its policy framework in line with the town’s long-term development objectives.