Kieran Reeves, Climate Action CoOrdinator, Sean McGlynn, Senior Engineer, Active Travel, Toby Goodwin, Behavourial Scientist, Active Travel and Breda Kilroy, Project Liason Officer, Active Travel.  Picture: Keith Wiseman

Limerick has been selected as one of 24 European cities to receive ‘Twin City’ status as part of an ambitious initiative aimed at helping cities across the continent reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve climate neutrality. Limerick City & County Council’s application to the ‘NetZeroCities’ programme was spearheaded by the Active Travel department, with support from the Transportation & Mobility directorate, the Climate Action team, and Limerick’s Citizen Innovation Lab.

The selected 24 Twin Cities, including Limerick, have been matched with a Pilot City or cluster of cities already innovating and piloting decarbonisation activities, as part of the Twinning Learning Programme. Limerick has been matched with Tampere, Finland for the initiative.

Tampere is focusing on increasing sustainable modes of transport to reach 69% of mobility choices by 2030. These efforts have been focused on strengthening infrastructure such as bike lanes and public transport. Over the next 18 months, Limerick and Tampere will engage in a knowledge-sharing initiative titled ‘Mobility Mindshift – Co-designing a Mindshift for Sustainable Mobility’. This programme will facilitate collaboration and the exchange of best practices between the two cities.

Mayor of Limerick, John Moran, welcomed the announcement saying, “Limerick, like other cities across Ireland, Europe and indeed the globe, is rightly putting a greater focus on sustainability and the need for climate-resilient infrastructure than ever before. Sustainable transport options form a key part of that focus. Ensuring Limerick continues to grow and improve its infrastructure for people to walk, wheel and cycle safely, along with rail development and enhanced bus facilities, will provide the options for people to buy into this change. I congratulate the team in Active Travel and the Transportation and Mobility directorate as a whole for their work in Limerick’s application to the ‘NetZeroCities’ initiative and look forward to seeing the learnings from and progress of our partnership with Tampere, Finland.”

The selection process was highly competitive, with 61 applications from 17 countries received in for Twin City Status in what is the third cohort callout of the project. Previous rounds took place in 2022 and 2023. Through peer learning and practical knowledge exchange, Pilot Cities share their experiences with Twin Cities, which then incorporate these insights into their own urban planning strategies through a dedicated Action Plan after the programmes’s completion.

Toby Goodwin, Behavioural Scientist with the Active Travel department at Limerick City & County Council, emphasised the importance of public engagement, “A big part of what we’re doing here in the Active Travel department is not only improving our infrastructure to give people more options to walk, wheel and cycle safely in Limerick, but ensuring we bring as many people with us as possible along that journey. We’re conscious of the diverse needs of Limerick people as we enhance our sustainable transport facilities and in some cases change the makeup of our road space. Our partners in Tampere have been undertaking great work in stakeholder engagement, particularly towards young adults, and we’re excited to learn from them over the coming months.”

The Twinning Learning Programme covers travel costs for Twin Cities like Limerick, allowing two representatives to visit their paired Pilot City and providing funding for hosting reciprocal site visits. These visits offer Twin Cities valuable insights into pilot initiatives and support the development of a Twin City Action Plan.

Madeleine Lyes, Living Lab Co-Ordinator at Limerick’s Citizen Innovation Lab, highlighted the significance of collaboration in the project, “We’re delighted to have collaborated with the Active Travel team to achieve Twin City status and match with Tampere. The UL/LCCC Citizen Innovation Lab works to accelerate and embed citizen involvement in climate action and policy in Limerick, and that approach was an important part of our project pitch.  A climate neutral Limerick by 2050 is the ultimate aim and we hope being part of the NetZeroCities project can help us towards achieving that objective.”
Sources:www.limerick.ie