EMBARQ Director Holger Dalkmann presents at the 10th World Metropolis Congress. Photo by EMBARQ Brasil.

Transport experts invited by EMBARQ Brasil participated in "Cities and the Third Sector: EMBARQ Partnership Model for Sustainable Mobility" at the 10th Metropolis World Congress on November 24 in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The panel, coordinated by EMBARQ Brasil Director Luis Antonio Lindau, presented EMBARQ's work around the world and showed examples of how municipal governments in Delhi and Bangalore, India, and Belo Horizonte, Brazil, are dealing with urban mobility issues.

"This event aimed to broach sustainable mobility and to discuss how cities can work with the third sector," Lindau said at the opening. Following the presentations, there was a debate with the audience.

EMBARQ Director Holger Dalkmann spoke about EMBARQ's seven centers for sustainable transport, based in the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, the Andean Region, Turkey, India and China. He also spoke about the future of sustainable transport and the challenges of scaling up.

Dalkmann presented examples of EMBARQ's work considered to be "centerpieces for sustainable development." The director also highlighted the need to stimulate the "green economy," based on a sustainable mobility model. In addition, he recognized the role of national governments and enterprises in creating a paradigm shift.

BHTRANS Strategic Planning Coordinator Kátia Leite gave a practical example from Belo Horizonte, where the transit agency advises the municipal government on deploying its mobility plan. One of the city's goals is to increase the mode share of bicycles from 0.5 percent to 6 percent by 2020.

"We've realized that the third sector partnership [with EMBARQ Brasil] was essential, because the organization pointed out possible risks," Leite said, highlighting the strategic alignment with EMBARQ Brasil.

For the first time, different actors, including municipal government officials, bus operators and entrepreneurs, worked together to implement a bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Belo Horizonte.

EMBARQ Latin America Strategic Director Luis Gutiérrez presented an overview of mobility in Latin America. "Our work is indicated by outcomes," he said. "Now we are developing a methodology to measure how many lives we are saving with our road safety program."