George Marinakis has been a lawyer since 1982 and the elected Mayor of the Municipality of Rethymno (Greece) since 2007 serving four consecutive terms (2007, 2010, 2014, 2019 onwards). During his mayoral term, he faithfully serves his vision for Rethymno Municipality to become a city model for sustainable development, not only a unique touristic destination; always concentrating his efforts to face the rising challenges of two continuously growing sectors – mobility and tourism. These years, Rethymno Municipality joined Covenant of Mayors (2011) and Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (2017); sustainable mobility is a priority pillar for the city’s Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP). Rethymno actively participating in the EMW 2019 was awarded in “Large municipalities” category with the first prize in national level and the second one in European level. Under his coordination, in 2009 Rethymno was one of the first Greek municipalities which conducted a Sustainable Mobility Action Plan. Through Civitas Destinations project, the aforementioned plan was updated to Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) meeting the current legislative requirements and the Sustainable Urban Logistic Plan (SULP) were conducted. Since 2018, he is a member of the Civitas Political Advisory Committee strengthening Rethymno’s involvement and promoting crucial CIVITAS activities and policies. As a member of the PAC, he strongly believes that the CIVITAS initiative is adding strong value to EU cities. During the next programming period, CIVITAS network will face the challenges
arising from the European Green Deal and the modified financial tools. PAC can further deepen the challenges that cities face to realise their vision for clean, safe, competitive and connected mobility.