Message from EPA

In exactly a year from now there will be the opening ceremony of the 15th EPA Congress in Torino (Italy), and on behalf of the Organizing Committee and the Italian Parking Association AIPARK, I kick off with this newsletter, the first of many, with the intention of keeping you informed of the developments of this important international event titled Parking: the new deal.

You will become aware of the many opportunities that this special innovative project will offer to all parking and mobility related stakeholders, both private and public and above all both big and small.

The European Parking Association awarded the organization of its 15th International Congress to AIPARK, The Italian Parking Association after a competition that saw the Italian and French National Associations as the finalists. The proposal advanced by AIPARK was chosen and the beautiful City of Torino, that hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006, will be the venue.

The victory was announced at the 14th EPA Congress in Vienna in September 2009 and the former EPA President, Mr Juan Font, officially charged AIPARK with the organization.

An important aspect of the Italian proposal was on the one hand the calculated conjunction with the celebrations for the 150th Anniversary of Italian Unity which foresees many important events. The City of Torino, having been the first Capital City of Italy, will subsequently be playing an important role in programmed national festivities and the EPA Congress is part of the programme.

For the first time in the long history of the E.P.A. Congresses, an interdisciplinary Scientific and Technical Committee (STC) has been nominated to prepare the Scientific Programme of the Congress. The intention was to discuss the role that parking in the future can play considering certain notions contained in the European Commissions Green Book Towards a new culture for urban mobility.

The STC is a highly qualified group of 21 experts from 6 different European countries (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the U.K.), that is composed of public and private parking operators, transport planners, mobility experts, motor car producers research centre, economists, representative of the retail sector, architects, engineers and telecommunications specialists.

Parking. the New Deal is looking at how the European cities can be accessed and used integrating mobility planning, the new developments in the automobile production, the necessity of using parking as a tool that is part of the urban mobility system and how all this reflects on both management opportunities and urban and operative economics.

The objective is to show how parking is an integral part of urban mobility and accessibility policies and how an integrated approach contributes to the well being of citizens and the resulting economic vitality of the urban areas. The meetings began in January 2010 and the first phase was completed on the 10th September.

SiTI (Higher Institute on Territorial Systems for Innovation) a non profit organization created in 2002 by the Politecnico of Turin and the San Paolo Financial Institute, has offered all the logistic support for the meetings.

The first release of the Scientific Programme will shortly be published.
The website that contains all the info concerning the event is  www.epacongress.eu and here it is also possible to see the video presentation that illustrates the city, the venue, the sites for the fantastic social programme and the additional post congress opportunities. Should you need a copy of this DVD in order to show it at one or several of your organizations meetings, please ask for a copy and we will get it through to you.

The Organizing Committee:
Laurence A. Bannerman       Chairman
Giovanni Centurelli,       Control and monitoring of the budget
Piero Craveri           Coordinator Scientific & Technical Committee
Alessandra Faldi       Event supervisor
Gerhard Trost-Heutmekers   E.P.A.

The Congress organization also foresees an important exhibition area with at least 30 stands aiming to establish a showcase of excellence reflecting the expertise and quality that is available for this important sector of urban mobility.

News updates will follow shortly, in the meantime please visit the congress website and pass on the information to your colleagues and policy makers.