“At its Essence, the MobiliseYourCity Partnership Connects!”

says Sasank Vemuri, New Secretariat Coordinator for the MobiliseYourCity Partnership

Since April 2019 Sasank Vemuri has followed Markus Delfs in the position of Secretariat Coordinator for the MobiliseYourCity Partnership. In this interview he talks with us about joining the Changing Transport family and his perception of and plans for the MobiliseYourCity Partnership.

Sasank, what is the role of the MobiliseYourCity Partnership when it comes to changing transport?

MobiliseYourCity Partnership is a sector network for sustainable mobility. At its essence MYC connects: It connects cities to each other, it connects national governments, it connects these cities and countries with European institutions implementing agencies like kfw, GIZ, AFD that want to support these cities in meeting their climate policy goals. The support comes in the form of technical assistance for sustainability mobility planning at the city or national level, networking and capacity development, and elevating local issues to intranational fora.

How do you want to shape the Mobilise YourCityPartnership further and how do you perceive your role?

The MobiliseYourCity partnership has accomplished an incredible amount in the few years since it was conceived in 2015!  I would like to work with the partners in better consolidating and communicating those achievements. Having spent the last 10 years working with and in development banks, I would also like to bring my experience in project finance to ensure that our plans are linked to finance.

How does the MobiliseYourCity Partnership contribute to the Agenda 2030?

Although the roots of the Partnership are in climate action, it plays a strong role in meeting the SDGs. The approach to urban mobility supported by our partners contributes directly to six SDG targets, namely on sustainable cities, climate change mitigation, road safety, sustainable infrastructure, urban access, and air pollution. These SDG targets have been taken on by the Partnership as our “core indicators,” which all the partners are committed to supporting.

The TRANSfer project by GIZ is implements the MobilizeYourCity Partnership on behalf and funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).