By Martin Banks

The Turkish city of İzmir and a business that is easing the transition to electric vehicles have been named as winners of an award that recognises successful collaboration between young entrepreneurs and local authorities in the Mediterranean region.

Oğuzhan Saritaş, the 28-year-old founder of Car4Future, and İzmir Metropolitan Municipality were presented with the ARLEM Award.

It was created in 2019 and recognises both the work of entrepreneurs younger than 35 and efforts by local authorities to foster business-friendly policies.

The Car4Future application enables owners of electric vehicles to find charging stations and to earn money by sharing their own charging station. The company, which now employs 18 people, all of them younger than 30 years old, emerged out of a business-incubation programme created by the City of İzmir’s entrepreneurship centre.

The runner-up was the City of Marrakech and Cantal Bakker, a Dutch national who set up a bike-sharing company, Pikala.

As well as renting out bicycles, Pikala runs road-safety campaigns, holds classes in primary schools and bike repair days, and organises festivals to promote cycling in the city. It now employs 50 people. The municipality has helped Pikala by facilitating contacts, promoting the project, and closing down streets to give space to bicycle festivals.

The award was developed by ARLEM and other partners. ARLEM’s members from European Union countries are drawn from the European Committee of the Regions, which founded ARLEM in 2009 and serves as ARLEM’s secretariat.

Speaking at the presentation Patrick Molinoz (FR/PES), vice-president of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, who co-chaired the meeting on behalf of the European Committee of the Regions, and Ahmad Al Khazali, Mayor of Greater Ramtha in Jordan and ARLEM Co-President for the Mediterranean partners’ group, congratulated the winner and runner-up.

He said: “Car4Future and Pikala are examples of how we can accelerate the shift to more sustainable forms of transport. The transport sector is one of the most difficult sectors to decarbonise, and the support of city halls and regional administrations will often be needed. İzmir and Marrakech show what can be done to change minds and habits.”

Erdal Sabri Ergen, Deputy Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean in charge of transport and urban development, said: “The UfM reiterates its continued support to the ARLEM Award for its concrete contribution to supporting local communities in the Southern Mediterranean region, and for showcasing successful and inspiring examples of young local entrepreneurship.”

“The UfM is pleased that the ARLEM Award is framed under the annual celebrations of the Day of the Mediterranean, which aim to create a momentum for intercultural exchanges and diversity, and to give visibility to positive cooperation stories in the region.”

Oğuzhan Saritaş, who founded Car4Future in 2020 at the age of 25, said: “Our team benefits from the support provided by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality, and we are doing our best to develop İzmir and to make it a more sustainable city.”