Sustainable Mobility Technical Mission to Spain, GIZ / MoVer Ciudades (Ecuador)

Year: 2025  |  Client: GIZ – MoVer Ciudades programme (for Ecuadorian cities & MTOP)  |  Country: Spain (host) — Ecuadorian delegation

Cities Forum designed, hosted and facilitated the "Misión Técnica a España en Movilidad Urbana Sostenible" organised by GIZ under its MoVer Ciudades programme in September 2025, bringing an Ecuadorian delegation to the Spanish Basque Country and reference cities to learn first-hand how mid-sized European cities deliver ambitious mobility transformations. The delegation comprised directors and technical staff from Ecuadorian municipalities (the GADs of Riobamba, Ambato, Ibarra and Rumiñahui) together with officials from the national Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MTOP), giving the mission both a local-implementation and a national-policy dimension.

Our approach

The programme, running 13–20 September with a core technical week of 15–19 September, was structured as a hands-on learning journey through Vitoria-Gasteiz, Bilbao and San Sebastián, with Pontevedra cited as a further reference model. Each city illustrated a distinct set of transferable practices: Vitoria-Gasteiz its "Anillo Verde" green ring and its electric bus and tram network; Bilbao its city-wide 30 km/h limit, integrated metro–tram–electric-bus system and low-emission zone; and San Sebastián its extensive bidegorris cycle network and traffic-calming schemes. Activities combined technical site visits, institutional meetings with city governments and transport authorities, guided tours and structured peer-to-peer exchange.

What we delivered

Cities Forum coordinated the full mission, a preparatory virtual session, agendas, concept note, guide, participant dossiers and briefing materials, and delivered on-site facilitation, debriefings and testimonials capture. A distinctive feature was the requirement that each participant prepare an "applicability report" translating what they had seen into concrete measures for their own city, presented at a closing evaluation session back in Ecuador; this converted inspiration into committed follow-through. Deliverables ranged from the final mission report and evaluation forms to communication materials and a mission video amplified through Cities Forum's and GIZ's networks.

Impact

The mission strengthened Ecuador–Spain cooperation on sustainable mobility, gave Ecuadorian decision-makers a validated toolbox of Basque best practice, and reinforced the international positioning of Spanish know-how within GIZ's MoVer Ciudades programme. By pairing compelling site visits with rigorous facilitation and a structured applicability mechanism, Cities Forum ensured durable institutional learning rather than fleeting impressions, consolidating its role as a designer of high-value city-to-city learning journeys and a trusted delivery partner for international cooperation agencies.