“Let’s Go” – Germany to advance walking with a national strategy

At Germany’s recent National Walking Congress, Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer announced that the Ministry for Transport and Innovation will develop a National Walking Strategy for Germany. 

This essential policy advance will help to mobilize national-level resources to treat walking as a valuable transport option.  Many legal or financial framework conditions need to be aligned on a national level to support the efforts of decision makers in improving walking conditions on regional and city level.

With policies such as a National Walking Strategy states are able to leverage walking as a zero carbon transport option to pay into their decarbonisation efforts as part of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) within the Paris Climate Agreement. 

The guidelines for a National Walking Strategy in Germany were prepared by the German Environmental Agency and the German Institute for Urbanism in the brochure “Let’s Go – Framework for a National Walking Strategy” which is now available as an international version.  The document lays out the opportunities and possible policy targets for walking as “the healthiest, cheapest and most environmentally friendly means of transport.”