In late September, the Share4Equity (S4E) team participated in the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Projects Event 2025 held in Milan (30 Sept – 1 Oct 2025). This two-day gathering brought together all projects funded under DUT’s first calls and national funders, combining a kick-off for new 2023 projects and a midterm check-in for 2022 projects.
For Share4Equity, one of the newly funded 15-Minute City pathway projects, it was a valuable chance to meet our sister projects, network, exchange knowledge, and learn how to get the most out of the DUT programme. With around 200 participants from across Europe, the event was buzzing as we discussed how to accelerate urban transitions towards more sustainable, inclusive cities.
Day 1: Networking and Knowledge Hub Workshop:
Day 1 opened with a morning plenary, where DUT’s management introduced the partnership’s mission and activities. Participants engaged in some fun, interactive icebreakers, followed by a poster session in which each project presented its goals and explored common interests with others. This gave our team an early opportunity to pitch Share4Equity’s mission—examining how shared mobility can advance equitable, 15-minute cities—and to identify areas of synergy with other projects in the room.
In the afternoon, we joined a dedicated workshop on the DUT Knowledge Hub and Innovation Portfolio. This interactive session, organized by transition pathway (ours being the 15-Minute City pathway), focused on how each project’s expected results will contribute to DUT’s broader mission and urban sustainability vision. Together with colleagues from other projects, our team quickly summarized Share4Equity’s mission, key outputs, and target users, and then shared this with peers representing other 15-minute city projects. This collaborative exercise helped to map out our collective “innovation portfolio”, essentially seeing how all the projects’ pieces fit together to drive the 15-minute city transition.
We discovered that Share4Equity’s focus on shared mobility for transport justice complements many sister initiatives tackling inclusive mobility and proximity-based planning. Notably, we connected with teams from several kindred projects in the 15-minute city pathway, including:
- Car-goNE City – engaging residents to implement cargo-bike sharing and reduce car use in neighborhoods.
- DREAMS – driving equitable and accessible 15-minute neighbourhood transformations.
- INPUT (Engaging Places and Communities) – fostering community engagement and participatory design to make urban spaces more inclusive and resilient.
- PROWD (Proximity without Density) – exploring spatial and social strategies to achieve proximity-based living without compromising livability or inclusiveness.
- PROMISE – developing progressive micro-mobility and smart policy solutions for first-/last-mile urban travel.
- SMART-AGE – enhancing urban mobility and accessibility for older adults in the 15-minute city.
- SSWC (Smart & Sustainable Work Culture) – rethinking work habits through connectivity and sharing for a 15-minute city.
Connecting with these projects was inspiring, we realized we’re part of something bigger that explores how to make cities more liveable and fair. Despite the packed schedule, Day 1’s networking laid a foundation for future cooperation. We wrapped up the day feeling aligned with DUT’s community and eager to collaborate further.
Day 2: Open Discussions on Equity and Engagement
Day 2 kicked off with a highly interactive “Open Space” marketplace session. Participants were invited to propose their own discussion topics, which were then hosted in parallel groups. In the first round, Share4Equity joined a group on “Equity and Justice in Urban Mobility.” This conversation brought together researchers and practitioners to debate how principles of transport justice can be applied in real-world projects. We shared examples and challenges from different cities, brainstorming ways to ensure new mobility services truly benefit underserved communities. It was encouraging to see a common commitment to equity across various projects, a reminder that innovation has to go hand-in-hand with social inclusion.
For the second discussion round, we moved to a session on “Citizen Science and Participatory Approaches.” This lively discussion, which included participants from Slovenia, Latvia, and beyond, explored how DUT projects can actively involve citizens in research and co-creation. We talked about methods to engage end-users in data collection (for example, through mobility diaries or community workshops) and how to integrate local knowledge into project design. Given that participatory approaches and end-user engagement are expected to be core elements in DUT-funded projects, this was a timely topic.
Overall, the DUT Projects Event 2025 was an energizing start to our journey in the DUT Partnership. We’re excited to integrate the lessons learned into our upcoming activities. By connecting with the wider DUT network and exchanging knowledge, Share4Equity is better equipped to advance equitable and sustainable mobility in our cities—truly embodying the spirit of “driving urban transitions” together.
