SPECIFIC is an international research project involving five European universities: Oxford, Maastricht, Graz, Poznan and the Department of Environment Constructions and Design SUPSI in Mendrisio, with a team from ISAAC-Institute of Applied Sustainability to the Built Environment.
Each has chosen a case study in its own territory with the shared aim of experimenting with how to promote the implementation of the “15-minute city” (also known as the “city of proximity”) through the use of bicycles. In particular, SPECIFIC focuses on small to medium-sized territorial contexts and low-density peri-urban areas. The 15-minute city is, in fact, an urban model designed explicitly for metropolitan contexts, where it has been implemented experimentally in various ways (in Milan, to give an example).
However, there is a lack of applications in sparsely populated areas, where longer distances are more suited to cycling. In these contexts, what strategies should be implemented to effectively promote cycling? SPECIFIC’s experiments seek to answer this question through concrete interventions “in the field” and in real conditions.
In the Camorino district of Bellinzona, from September to November 2025, Elementary School students will be accompanied on a journey packed with activities by the ISAAC research team – Francesca Cellina, Caterina Berlusconi, Marco Belliardi and Tiziano Gerosa – and various local partners: the City of Bellinzona, the City’s Blue Zone School, PRO VELO Ticino, ATA-SI Traffic and Environment Association of Italian Switzerland, ATA Pedibus, Mobalt, BikePort and the Baobab Cooperative.
Among the fun and educational activities proposed to encourage the use of bicycles as a daily practice during the two months of the SPECIFIC experiment are classroom courses on bicycle safety, lessons on road rules, workshops on how to carry out minor repairs on your own bicycle, as well as activities with families on Saturday afternoons, such as group bike rides to test the two wheels in the area, parties with theatre performances on the theme of cycling and even an art competition for the most creative work.
The entire Camorino school community is invited to participate, including parents and school staff, to earn points towards the coveted prize: a trip to the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne. Participants can record their journeys manually each day in the classroom, while parents are invited to use the Mobalt app to automatically record their journeys by bicycle.
Follow the progress of Bellinzona SPECIFIC trial
Beyond the Camorino case
Researchers at the Institute of Applied Sustainability to the Built Environment will analyse the short- and long-term effects of the SPECIFIC experiment with the aim of identifying the factors that encourage and discourage bicycle use. The results, which will be available in the second half of 2026, will be useful not only for the specific context of Camorino; they can also be extended to other areas of Ticino and, through the European project, even abroad, with the necessary adaptations to each context.
Policy briefs
During spring 2025, policy briefs were published: short documents identifying the factors favouring and hindering cycling mobility in the five European cities participating in the SPECIFIC project (Bellinzona, Bristol, Maastricht, Graz and Poznan). These documents are easy to consult, simple and straightforward, designed by researchers from the Institute of Applied Sustainability to the Built Environment and other universities not only for those working in the field of mobility, but also and above all for the general public and policy makers: short guides for those who want to promote cycling (not only in the cities involved in the project).