As part of the grant, the Jerusalem Municipality will receive a budget of €150,000 for the improvement and expansion of the “clean air” area towards zero emissions, as well as the measurement, assessment and preparation of reports on the project

The Jerusalem Municipality, together with five other cities, including London, won a European grant to promote innovation in restricting access of polluting vehicles to city centers [access regulations]. The program is designed to promote innovation and cooperation in the field of sustainable transportation.

Together with Jerusalem in the group, they were awarded a grant: London, Bielefeld in Germany, Vitoria Gastez in Spain, Helmond in the Netherlands and Padova in Italy.

The entire project budget (including all cities) is €3.5 million and will last 3 years. This is a grant under the European Horizon 2020 program to promote cooperation in innovation in a variety of fields, including environmental and transportation, in which the Jerusalem Municipality project deals. The budget for the Horizon 2020 program is €77 billion for 7 years (2014-2020) and Israel is also a partner in this program. To date, Israeli projects have been granted grants totaling € 660 million, of which about € 200 million is for industry and about € 440 million is for academia. The success rate is low – only about 13% of the Israeli projects submitted so far have been awarded a grant, indicating the complexity of the program.

About a year ago, the Jerusalem Municipality decided to turn the center of the city into a “clean air” [LEZ-Low Emission], in order to improve the quality and lives of the residents. A bylaw was passed to limit the entry of a heavy polluting vehicle including an old diesel vehicle (over 3.5 tons), which did not have a particle filter installed, to the center of Jerusalem. In order to improve and improve the implementation of the clean air area, the Jerusalem Municipality has joined other cities and submitted its request for support to Horizon 2020. The Jerusalem Municipality intends not only to improve the LEZ but to deepen the limitations in the future, towards reducing emissions.

The consulting firm Ecotraders, which specializes in providing support grants to Horizon 2020 and other international organizations, accompanied the Jerusalem Municipality in the process of preparing the application and working with the group of partner cities.

“The Horizon 2020 program continues to be a significant source of economic support and cooperation in a wide range of areas for local authorities, industry and academia,” said Ron Kamara, Ecotrade’s Climate Change and Energy Policy Team Leader. The strict rules of the mechanism and the adaptation of the request for the purposes of the specific voice, which is very successful for the Jerusalem municipality, and we were proud to take part in it”.

The Jerusalem Municipality has another project under the Horizon 2020, which has been operating for several years in the Baka neighborhood. As part of the project, sustainable transportation is promoted at the neighborhood level. The project includes encouraging walking to schools, establishing a green route for walking in the neighborhood, encouraging joint transportation projects and encouraging the use of public transportation.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)