Benidorm and Finestrat promote sustainable mobility with Ciclogreen

The City Councils of Benidorm and Finestrat, together with Hidraqua's digital transformation hub and Agbar group, Dinapsis, are launching a pilot project that seeks to promote sustainable mobility among citizens and tourists. Thus, during the months of January and February 2022, all the people who want to participate in this initiative will have to download the Ciclogreen application, where they will record those trips that are made in a sustainable way. As users report these trips, they will be exchanged for cumulative points. Later they will be able to exchange for discounts and promotions in the establishments and local businesses that have joined this initiative.

This pilot is developed as a result of the award received in Dinapsis Open Challenge, the international open innovation program promoted by Dinapsis Benidorm for a more sustainable tourism model. Thus, Ciclogreen was one of the awarded projects, whose recognition consisted of the economic and logistical support necessary for the development of the pilot in the two cities that participated directly in this program, such as Benidorm and Finestrat.

The initiative will be launched in January, coinciding with the sales season, and will remain in effect until the end of February. Likewise, for the implementation of this pilot it has been essential the collaboration of local businesses that have joined this initiative and that will offer these discounts in order to promote sustainable mobility.

In addition, this application is aligned with the municipal strategies of both municipalities, since innovation is used to create greater citizen awareness of the need to carry out social behaviors that allow creating more resilient and future-ready cities, promoting the local economy of the small businesses of the municipalities. In addition, the results obtained will provide information of great value for making municipal decisions related to sustainable mobility.

From the Benidorm City Council, the Councilor for Innovation, Aida García Mayor, expressed her satisfaction with the operation of Ciclogreen, an initiative that fully enters the DTI Innovation Axis and attends to the Sustainability Axis, which affects local commerce and the group of neighbors, tourists and residents. "From Benidorm we continue to bet on the use of technological solutions to improve the experience and quality of life while promoting a healthy lifestyle," said García Mayor, recalling that "Benidorm within its action plan on social sustainability of the Master Plan DTI + Seguro, promotes actions to encourage local commerce, as well as those of promotion, and Digital transformation ”. Benidorm is the first certified DTI in the world since 2018.

Due to the specificity of Ciclogreen, Benidorm, the mayor recalled, "it already has more than 110 kilometers of bike lanes and cycle paths and has an urban structure that facilitates soft travel", which is linked to municipal decarbonisation policies and commitment to sustainable and healthy mobility.

For his part, the Councilor for Commerce, Lorenzo Martínez, encouraged everyone to join in and "support local commerce by practicing sustainable mobility" at the same time, he said that "we promote awareness of resilience and sustainability." This Ciclogreen initiative, Martínez added, "promotes the responsible and sustainable use of travel while encouraging the use of local commerce by supporting it in the first months of 2022".

Finally, Aida García Mayor and Lorenzo Martínez, encouraged local businesses "to join the initiative and participate in this campaign" coinciding with the sales season, highlighting the importance, said the councilor, of "adding innovative initiatives adapted to the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals ”with an impact on ODS17, alliances to achieve goals,“ such as this action with Dinapsis, ”said councilor Aida García Mayor,“ which also adds us to a neighboring municipality, close and bordering such as Finestrat ”, delving into the idea of ​​transferring knowledge and innovations.

Registration, in the case of Benidorm, is: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSep6ACAzJISeVC9GXNz6x93ksgKrzG…

For her part, in Finestrat City Council, the Councilor for Business and Tourism, Donna Rebecca Plummer, was very excited about the implementation of Ciclogreen. “Right now we are creating the bike lane on the commercial boulevard, taking advantage of the renovation works on Carrer Alacant that runs parallel to the TRAM. Therefore, it is an ideal time to launch the Ciclogreen App and reward our neighbors and our visitors for making their trips in a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way ”.

Donna Rebecca Plummer thanked Dinapsis for promoting these proposals through its International Innovation Program for a sustainable and responsible tourism model. "A program in accordance with Finestrat's strategy as an Intelligent Tourist Destination, already integrated into the national network and at the most advanced level," Plummer underlined.

Finally, she encouraged all the companies in the town, not only on the Boulevard, to adhere to this platform, which represents one more example of public-private collaboration "since it allows the City Councils to incorporate these into their management, more immediately, technological tools that come from private initiative. "To join, you can contact the Finestrat Employment and Local Development Agency by calling 96 680 40 40 or by email by sending an email to adl@finestrat.org