Berlin, 18 July 2017 – The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the Institute of Transport Research of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding that aims to promote  cooperation between the institutions in the field of Sustainable Urban Mobility.

The Memorandum was signed by Dirk Heinrichs, Head of Division of Mobility and Urban Development, DLR - Institute of Transport Research and André Dzikus, on behalf of UN-Habitat.

The agreement provides a framework of cooperation within which the organizations intend to develop joint research and concepts – as well as further discuss transport solutions and technologies aimed at improving urban mobility under the broad scope of the New Urban Agenda adopted during Habitat III in Quito in October 2016.

The collaboration will focus on developing mobility concepts in the field of digitalization, accessibility and inclusive mobility, climate change, electric-mobility and non-motorized transport. UN-Habitat and DLR both bring in their complementary competencies in the fields.

A multi-disciplinary approach

Due to its multi-disciplinary approach, DLR’s Institute of Transport Research has extensive knowledge to assess a broad spectrum of research questions in the field of mobility utilizing quantitative and qualitative methods. As the UN lead for sustainable urban development, UN-Habitat advocates more sustainable approaches towards improved mobility in cities.

Both institutions aim to deliver applied and feasible solutions for the mobility challenges cities face in the 21st century and want to coordinate in tracking progress towards the transport related targets of the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – particularly the transport target SDG 11.2 “access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all“.