The second discussion of the series "Shaping Sofia" was held on January 16th 2020 in the city of Sofia. Representatives of the companies VMware, Spark, Forza Consulting and KBC Bulgaria took part along with experts in urban planning and transport from the team of Vision for Sofia, an official department of Sofia Municipality.

The discussion was moderated by Ivana Popova, curator of the Sofia Hub, and was initiated by an invitation to Kaloyan Karamitov, who presented a recently published Vision for Sofia report focusing on transport in the context of the Capital Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan. As part of the report, the team presented the results of a survey that reached more than 5,000 citizens of the capital. One of the key findings of the study is that in the last few years the use of public transport has been declining, while other European capitals report a larger number of people who regularly use the available means of public transport. In addition, Vision for Sofia explores the use of different modes of transport in the city, partnering closely with seven companies with offices in Sofia to learn more about their employees' transport habits; the modes of transport they prefer, as well as the time intervals in which they usually travel and the total time it takes them to get from point A to point B. About 300 volunteers took part in the study, and the processed results show outstanding trends including:

• 60% of the interviewed employees use a personal vehicle to get to work, while only 35% prefer the public transport network, and only about 5% prefer to walk or use other alternatives.


• Employees who live further away from their place of work are those who tend to rely heavily on their personal vehicle as a means of transport to the office.


• A significant number of employees, although living within a radius of less than 3 km from their office, still prefer to use a car to get to work - some of the reasons given are the need to take their children to kindergarten or school , personal habits, sense of comfort, lack of cycling infrastructure or convenient public transport.

Kaloyan Karamitov notes that if companies wanted to use more sustainable transport practices, perhaps an encouragement in the right direction would be to reconsider the incentives for free parking that most employers provide and look for alternatives, as the survey shows that 90% respondents use either free transport to work provided by their employer or a special parking space - a figure that immediately provoked a reaction in the audience. Asked by the public whether such a measure would really have the desired effect or simply make employees waste valuable time looking for parking spaces around the office and adjacent streets, Kaloyan said that such measures do not solve all problems, but definitely have the potential to affect the choice of those employees who do not have a real need to use their car to get to work, based on previous experience that the team of "Vision for Sofia" has in the implementation of such measures.

The survey also found that 68% of respondents travel to the office alone in their car, so restricting free parking can serve as a catalyst to encourage people to share their personal or corporate vehicles to achieve a more sustainable commute.

Kaloyan Karamitov finished the presentation of the report with a sample of good examples in the field of sustainable commuting, including:

• the application of flexible working hours is an effective way to prevent traffic jams on major roads in the capital;


• replacing fuel vouchers with vouchers / public transport cards in benefit incentives to employees may be another direction to encourage the use of alternatives to personal transport.

Boyan Bakardzhiev, a marketing manager for SPARK Bulgaria had the chance to acquaint the audience with what SPARK is, what is the role of the company as one of the main participants in achieving sustainable movement, as well as the challenges and considerations they have faced so far in their role as market pioneers.

He drew attention to the history of car sharing as a service and its long tradition dating back to the post-World War II period, much to the surprise of many present. In fact, car sharing in the form we know began in the United States in the early 1990s, bringing us to the last four years when shared travel, enhanced by the capabilities of fuel-saving technologies and systems, became a service. which we all know and love. According to Boyan, one of the main advantages of sharing electric cars is the low level of commitment to the asset and the ability to combine the service with all other means of public transport that the capital offers - for example, if you want to travel by subway but no subway station. walking distance to you, you can simply use a shared trip to get to the nearest station and then continue to your final destination. Here is the key to the concept of sustainable transport - the ability to have a number of different services and the freedom to use them in a way that suits your personal tastes and preferences.

The audience was curious to learn about the strategy that Spark implements in relation to corporate clients. Currently, interested companies can open a corporate Spark account, which gives them access to an admin panel for easy use. Spark is also working to increase the number of charging stations located on sites or in the private car parks of a number of corporate buildings.

After touching on the connection between car sharing and the corporate world, Hristina Haralampieva, an executive at VMware Bulgaria was able to share her useful experience regarding the long-standing partnership between VMware and SPARK. Since 2018, VMware, in cooperation with SPARK, has managed to create a fleet with a total of 10 electric vehicles and 20 bicycles, as well as the infrastructure needed for their maintenance and charging.

Before that, employees sporadically launch shared travel initiatives with each other, and this partnership is a natural continuation of the initiative. One of the reasons for the success of this partnership is the dedication that VMware demonstrates to the values ​​of sustainable development. Efforts to create the company's fleet are part of the pursuit of a larger sustainability strategy that the company implements in every office location around the world as well as among its 30,000 employees.

Hristina also stressed the importance of encouraging the adoption of steps to achieve sustainability not only in the professional life of the company's employees, but also on a personal level. In order to achieve truly meaningful change, efforts must be focused and consistent, not just when we travel to work or attend an eco-event or seminar. Guided by this belief, Hristina and her colleagues launched a volunteer initiative among employees called the Sofia Green Team, whose main goal is to multiply the company's sustainability efforts. Another point of view and experience with initiatives aimed at promoting sustainable travel was shared by Ekaterina Grigorova from Forza Consulting Bulgaria. The nature of consulting work requires constant travel from all consultants to different cities and countries depending on the commitment to which they are assigned at any given time. In an effort to reduce the harmful effects of constant travel, the company decided to equip each employee with an electric scooter to use at its discretion - a benefit that aims to encourage employees to travel sustainably at any convenient time. Scooters are given away free of charge to every employee when they join the company and stay with them even after they leave the company.

The discussion could not achieve the desired impact without taking into account the role of the human resources professional as a vital facilitator of the promotion of sustainable communication ideas. Denitsa Sotirova managed to share her experience and observations as part of the human resources team of one of the largest banks present on the Bulgarian market, namely United Bulgarian Bank, part of KBC Group Belgium. The bank employs over 2,800 people, distributed in offices and branches throughout the country, which implies a significant number of trips to and from work. Thanks to the close contact with the candidates for work in the bank, Denitsa managed to assess how important the trip to the jobs is for the potential employees. Traditionally in Bulgaria, the location and proximity to the office are one of the leading factors influencing the decision whether to accept a job offer. She also noted that changes in people's perceptions and thinking, no matter what the intended change, are easy at the community level and more difficult at the individual level - so organizational behavior and building a strong corporate culture and values ​​are from crucial, especially in the context of sustainability.

The discussion ended with an invitation for questions to the participants in the discussion and the audience was given the opportunity to share an opinion on the subject of discussion and to contribute to the topic of conversation.