Patras, 03 November 2023
The International Conference "ITS 2023: Intelligent Systems & Consciousness Society" is thankful to its participants for their support. Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) ensure comfortable, fast and safe movement of people and goods in cities, communities and rural areas. Conscious Connected ITS (CC-ΙTS) are key to autonomous transport. Founded on holistic understanding and optimal interpretation of values and situations involving people, objects, vehicles and drones they lead to drastically improved mobility and safety. Drones, with their versatility and potential for autonomous operations can be central in ITS, revolutionizing the fields of logistics, agriculture, public safety, and the environment. This Declaration intends to assist its members to move forward in integrating drones in ITS and mobility governance.
This Declaration builds on the longstanding activities of the Urban-air-mobility Initiative Cities Community (UIC2), more specifically the UIC2 Manifesto for the Multilevel Governance of Urban Skies presented in December 2020 at the Amsterdam Drone Week 1. To this end, the members of this Declaration recognise the importance for harmonised and international Urban/Rural Space regulation, and recognise the central role of cities and local decision makers in forming the new mobility ecosystem.
We acknowledge the need for establishment of urban/rural flight operations at national, regional and city level, in alignment with the relevant articles of EU drones regulation (EU) 664/2021 and national legislation. We recognise the need for competent civil aviation authorities to lead the legal implementation and approval of drone flight operations in accordance with the recent EU regulations on drones and the fundamental principles of subsidiarity and proportionality within the new ecosystem.
This Conference recognises and supports the cities and regions in their role as an
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accountable stakeholder in the governance of the urban and rural airspace to be explicitly acknowledged and referenced in the prospective drone directives and action plans. This is an imperative in the context of multilevel responsible governance of drone operations and responsive decentralised policy implementation for the benefit of the citizen. This Conference requests that:
- Cities/Regions have an accountable role
in allowing, consistent with the rules, the operation of drone services of public interest, including future public transport, postal-deliveries, emergency services in alignment with the needs and preferences of their citizens.
- Cities/Regions have an accountable role in
establishing the extent that drone operations can be conducted in their territories.
- Cities/Regions have an accountable role in
establishing the spatial and temporal bounds for permitting drone operations within their territories (e.g. geo-fencing, day- /night-time restrictions, noise and visual abatements), respecting the citizens and the environment, customised to their needs according to the established legal framework.
- Cities/Regions have an accountable role in
deciding the location of take-off and landing sites.
- Prosecution of infringements of the public
use of the urban/rural drone airspace over a city or region remains a local task in alignment with competent authorities’ principles and guidance for safety and security.
This Conference trusts the above requests will be treated with consideration and attention in the forthcoming National, Regional and City Urban and Rural Space Regulatory Framework by acknowledging the imperative for multilevel governance of Urban and Rural Space.
1(https://civitas.eu/urban-air-mobility). |