Studi di fattibilità di progetti di mobilità urbana sostenibile in città dell'Ecuador

Transport between cities and urban mobility cause a lot of greenhouse emissions in Ecuador. Increasing private car traffic is also leading to more traffic jams, poorer air quality and a decline in the quality of life in mid-sized cities. This particularly affects socially disadvantaged groups such as low-income groups and indigenous women, who are often dependent on reliable public transport in their everyday lives. Mid-sized cities could reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from transport and traffic significantly through green mobility. However, they are falling short of their potential and are not implementing climate protection measures. MoVer Ciudades (Movilidad Verde en Ciudades) is implemented by GIZ and co-financed by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It seeks to accelerate the transition toward sustainable urban mobility in Ecuador, with a focus on intermediate cities. The overall objective of MoVer Ciudades is to support mid-sized cities in Ecuador to be better at putting climate-smart and environmentally friendly mobility into action in order to mitigate climate change. The project operates in three areas: 1) Together with the government, it develops norms and standards for climate-and environmentally friendly urban mobility. In addition, the project offers training courses for municipal administrations and national institutions and introduces knowledge management. 2) The project advises four mid-sized cities on sustainable urban mobility plans. Furthermore, it supports the cities in the implementation of green mobility pilot measures and in the development of three sustainable mobility projects. 3) The project also works with financial institutions to establish needs-oriented financing offers. To this end, it is introducing standards at the financial institutions. At the same time, it is developing financing instruments that promote sustainable mobility in mid-sized cities. The project adopts a multi-level and multi-actor approach, engaging a wide range of stakeholders to ensure long-term impact and replicability. At the national level, key ministries responsible for infrastructure, environment, finance, and transport are directly involved, together with the BDE, the Association of Municipalities of Ecuador, financial associations, and regulatory bodies. At the local level, direct advisory support will be provided to the municipalities of Ibarra, Loja, Rumiñahui, and Riobamba. Civil society organizations, academia, citizen collectives, and private transport operators, are also part of the ecosystem. At the international level, the project builds synergies with major development banks such as KfW, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and CAF, as well as complementary cooperation initiatives like GEF7/E-MOVILIZA and ACCESS. The services to be provided under this contract are designed to support the consolidation of sustainable urban mobility in Ecuador through the development of bankable projects, the creation of innovative financing instruments, and the strengthening of institutional capacities at both national and local levels. The contractor will be responsible for guiding the process that takes selected mobility initiatives in intermediate cities from the conceptual stage toward bankability, ensuring their technical, financial, institutional, social, and environmental feasibility so that they can be presented to financial institutions for funding. This work will be undertaken in close coordination with GIZ, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT), the Banco de Desarrollo del Ecuador (BDE), municipalities, private financial institutions, and civil society actors. The first stream of work focuses on transforming five urban mobility concept projects into bankable initiatives, based on the Avoid-Shift-Improve (E-C-M) framework promoted by the project. These projects, drawn from the current portfolio in cities such as Ambato, Ibarra, Loja, Riobamba, and Rumiñahui, may include electrification of public transport routes, integrated cycling networks, low-emission zones, and multimodal platforms, among others. The contractor will refine and complete all pre-feasibility components, including technical design, demand modeling, cost-benefit and financial structuring, legal and regulatory analysis, risk assessment, environmental and social safeguards, and institutional arrangements. Each project must be matured to the level where it can enter the evaluation pipelines of national or international financiers. In parallel, the contractor will identify and develop a pipeline of additional projects under private sector initiative, such as the electrification of logistics fleets, sustainable mobility plans for enterprises, or last-mile e-mobility solutions, thereby broadening the scope of investment opportunities. To ensure financing readiness, the contractor will prepare a comprehensive guide to funding opportunities for sustainable urban mobility projects in Ecuador, mapping public and private instruments, identifying incentives and constraints, and analyzing the alignment of national policies such as the PNMUS with financial sector practices. Based on this analysis, the contractor will design two sets of technical guidelines to integrate national mobility and climate policies into the financing offers of banks and development institutions. In addition, three innovative financial instruments will be developed in collaboration with stakeholders, potentially including revolving funds, leasing schemes, guarantee mechanisms, pay-as-you-save models, blended finance structures, or green bonds. These instruments must be validated technically, legally, and operationally with the banking sector to ensure feasibility and relevance for the Ecuadorian market. The contractor will facilitate regular workshops with ministries, municipalities, financial institutions, and private actors to build consensus, obtain feedback, and promote adoption of the instruments and guidelines. A second stream of work will address the strengthening of institutional capacities in the design, structuring, and financing of bankable mobility projects. The contractor will establish a training plan targeting municipal government, public and private banks, transport companies, and private sector stakeholders. Capacity development will be delivered through a blended approach that combines online courses hosted on the knowledge management platform of the project, interactive workshops, mentoring, and peer-to-peer exchanges. Training materials will include manuals, guidelines, toolkits, case studies, videos, and infographics, all designed to ensure accessibility and pedagogical quality. Specific mentoring will be provided to three additional projects, beyond the five prioritized for bankability, to foster a wider culture of project preparation and financing readiness. The contractor will also facilitate exchanges between cities and financial institutions, document good practices, and systematize lessons learned to be integrated into a national platform for knowledge management. Throughout the implementation of the contract, the contractor will adhere to strict standards of coordination, reporting, and knowledge integration with GIZ. This includes preparing inception and progress reports, maintaining regular exchanges with advisors, organizing technical workshops, and ensuring that all deliverables follow good practices in document management, gender equality, environmental protection, and respect for human rights. Special emphasis will be placed on maintaining gender equality in both project preparation and training activities, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts in the execution of the contract, and ensuring inclusive participation of vulnerable groups. Therefore, the works and services provided will deliver five full bankable MUS projects and technical dossiers for sustainable mobility projects, a validated set of financing guidelines and instruments, a national guide on financing opportunities, a portfolio of private initiative projects, a comprehensive training program hosted on the project"s virtual platform, and a systematization of lessons learned for replication. The combination of these outputs will enable intermediate cities in Ecuador to access sustainable financing, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, modernize their mobility systems, and position the country as a regional leader in sustainable urban mobility.