 MEMBERS Promoting Tourism in Zgharta Ehden Zgharta-Ehden Municipality launched the "Ehden 2020 Tourism Plan" and the "Ehden Summer 2019" calendar, entitled "100 Activities within 100 Days", under the patronage of the Ministries of Tourism and Culture. The Ministers of Tourism and of Culture in Lebanon, along with many stakeholders, attended the event, during which a calendar for the summer of 2019 in Ehden was presented, detailing 100 activities of different types, such as eco tourism, religious tourism, training and educational workshops, festivals and artistic activities, gastronomic experiences, and sports. These activities are taking place in the framework of a strategy of sustainable rural tourism and emphasize the importance of preserving historical and environmental heritage and of respecting environmental standards. | | | EDITORIAL Sustainable mobility in urban areas Traffic is the single largest source of air pollution in cities and metropolitan areas. Globally, traffic is responsible for a quarter of particulate matter pollution in urban areas and, in addition, petrol and diesel vehicles release harmful nitrogen dioxide and ozone gases. The human and economic cost of unsustainable urban mobility is clear, with pollution-related deaths and illness both affecting workforces and placing enormous pressure on health services. Even beyond these drastic effects, the burden of ineffective and unsustainable transport systems is one that ordinary citizens feel on a daily basis. The high-density character of urban areas places acute pressures on transport systems through the sheer volume of movement of goods and people that move through a city on a daily basis. However, the density and proximity within cities also offers opportunities to make urban transport sustainable if it is comprehensively thought-out and implemented, such as through a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan. In addition to strategic planning, however, making urban mobility sustainable also demands cooperation. Mobility is an issue that transcends formal city boundaries; not only do air pollution and other environmental impacts have no respect for administrative divisions, but the efficient and sustainable transport of goods and people also demands cooperation across municipal authorities and with other levels of government. International initiatives – such as the European Union's Action Plan on urban mobility – are an important element of that cooperation, but mutual assistance among municipalities and metropolitan areas is also essential. It is only through the exchange of knowledge and support between Mediterranean cities – such as the innovative peer-to-peer sessions taking place in Barcelona at this month's GO SUMP High Level Training Courses – that urban transport can be made truly sustainable. | |
As the avenues and streets of a city are nothing less than its arteries and veins, we may well ask what doctor would venture to promise bodily health if he knew that the blood circulation was steadily growing more congested! (Hugh Ferriss)
