On October 30rd Deputy Mayor Judith Bokhove from the city of Rotterdam joined the ECF-EU webinar “More Cycling for a Green Recovery”.
She presented her vision on the future of cycling and inspired colleagues from other European cities: “In the past, cars were a symbol of prosperity but today, we need to show that cycling is a lifestyle and a symbol of prosperity. We have space in Rotterdam, so we have the opportunity to make our roads more comfortable for bikes.”
“If you build proper infrastructure, people are going to use it and they are willing to cycle more than five kilometers.” Anna Garret, project leader at Cycle Superhighways, speaks with Geert Kloppenburg and Chris Bruntlett (Dutch Cycling Embassy) about how cycle superhighways are getting people out of their cars and about how the world’s two top cycling countries, Denmark and the Netherlands, do have a different cycling culture.
Dutch Cycling Embassy teams up with Netherlands Embassy in Dublin to bring cycling expertise to Ireland.
During the corona pandemic, countries around the world have shown how substantial improvements in cycling infrastructure can be made in the short term; investments which benefit all transport users. Ireland is no exception, and with the recent annual commitment of €360 million towards active travel initiatives from their national government, cities across the country are poised to take a giant leap forward in the coming months and years.
In response to these new opportunities, in conjunction with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ireland, the Dutch Cycling Embassy presented a series of free cycling webinars with Irish and Dutch experts. In four digital seminars throughout the months of September and October, experts from Ireland and the Netherlands shared their knowledge and experience with an engaged audience of politicians, planners, policy makers, and advocates. The aim: attractive and safe cycle networks for all ages and performance groups and to see where Ireland and the Netherlands can learn from each other’s experience in building safe, user-friendly and inclusive mobility infrastructure.
The first session, entitled “Bicycle Parking and Successful Integration with Public Transport”, included contributions from Brendan O’Brien of Dublin City Council, Folkert Piersma of ProRail, and Monique Harmsen of LumiGuide.
The second session, entitled “The Role of Business in Supporting Cycling and Creating Livable Spaces”, included contributions from Graeme McQueen of Dublin Chamber of Commerce, Erik Tetteroo of HODworks, and Matteo Jarre of Decisio.
The third session, entitled “Developing Rural Cycling Routes and Attracting Tourism”, included contributions from Robert Burns of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County, Sjors van Duren of Royal HaskoningDHV, and Eric Nijland of Landelijk Fietsplatform.
The fourth session, entitled “Active Travel: Encouraging Cycling to Schools and Third-Level Institutes”, included contributions from Dublin Bicycle Mayor Donna Cooney, Robert Egan of Green-Schools Travel, Mark Wagenbuur of BicycleDutch, and Angela van der Kloof of Mobycon.
Each webinar was hosted—and included a Q&A session moderated—by Netherlands Ambassador Adriaan Palm. You can watch recordings via our YouTube channel.
Dutch Cycling Embassy hosts “Going Dutch” panel discussion during inaugural WRLDCTY Festival.
Taking place from October 22 to 24, 2020, WRLDCTY was the first global city event of its kind—bringing together thought leaders, urbanists, and city lovers on a single digital platform for three days of conversations, connections, and experiences broadcast from leading cities around the world.
The Dutch Cycling Embassy was proud to participate in this groundbreaking event, organizing a panel discussion on October 23 entitled “Going Dutch: Translating Dutch Cycling Ideas to a Global Context”. It included contributions from Leon Hoogsteen of Landelijk Fietsplatform, Raoul Teekamp from the City of Amsterdam, and Eveline de Jon of Mobycon.
It is available on demand via the World Stage on the WRLDCTY Festival website.
On October 26th the DCE delivered the keynote speech at the virtual “Cycling Research Board” meeting hosted by the Technical University in Eindhoven.
DCE Director Lucas Harms presented his findings about the transfer of Dutch best practices to cities around the world and the importance of embedding and adapting Dutch perspectives to the various and very diverse geographical, societal and cultural conditions.
DCE hosts series of webinars to help German cities develop attractive and safe cycling networks.
Dutch experts did shine a light on all kinds of issues around the theme: “Learning from the Netherlands: moving from Pop-up to Permanent Cycling Infrastructure”. With help of Allgemeiner Deutcher Fahrrad-Club (ADFC), we reached over 400 attendees during the various digital sessions.
Background
Thanks to the German Federal Climate Plan, German municipalities and regions will have millions of euros at their disposal for improving cycling infrastructure in the years ahead. The financial resources of the Bundesregierung and the practical experience of the Dutch can significantly accelerate the so-called ‘Verkehrswende’ in Germany – if the momentum is used and investments are made wisely.
Seminar series
The first four webinars which were scheduled on Thursdays in the summer months of July and August, all had a specific focus and theme. In every edition, the theme was first introduced by director of the Dutch Cycling Embassy, Lucas Harms, and a presentation was given by at least two experts from Dutch organisations to inform attendees and share knowledge about the theme. Dagmar Köhler from the Deutsches Institut für Urbanistik, moderated the sessions and effectively translated Dutch experiences to the German context.
A final over-arching session was scheduled on September 24th (here you can view the recording of the session), in which various topics from the summer series were highlighted, and the most frequently asked questions were discussed in detail. Most attention was given to the design of safe intersections and attractive bicycle network, with additional presentations by Paul Schepers (SWOV) and Manuel Klomp (ICAF). In two rounds of subsequent panel discussions with Dutch and German experts from previous sessions, a lot of questions from the participants have been answered. Finally, Pex Langenberg (Dutch Embassy in Berlin) underlined the importance of knowledge transfer and collaboration between the Netherlands and Germany.
Last week, a workshop was organized to discuss a current fast cycling route plan in Bizkaia, Spain.
The region of Bizkaia is planning a fast cycling route and requested feedback on the current plans from a Dutch perspective. BUas and DCE worked together and developed a unique approach with a combination of feedback provided by ‘freshbrains’ (students) and ‘experienced brains’ (experts). The participation of FreshBrains was arranged by BUas, which aims for cooperation between students and experienced consultants in the field, as well as preparing their students for the future work environment. Three students from the International Spatial Development (ISD) program (photo, from left to right Boyan Andonov, Janae Amanfo & Nick Hulsman) joined forces with 4 experienced consultants from Mobycon, BikeMinded, Beccan Davila Urbanismo and the Loendersloot Groep. Based on a digital workshop in which the plans were presented by a representative from the Bizkaia region, the students and experts provided concise feedback and advice within a short timeframe. The feedback was received very well by the region of Bizkaia and will contribute to further improvement of the cycle highway and in a wider perspective also in their ambition to establsih a stronger cycling culture in the region.
“We need to design our streets for people, rather than designing them for cars.” Will Norman, the walking and cycling commissioner of London speaks with Geert Kloppenburg and Chris Bruntlett (Dutch Cycling Embassy) about low traffic neighbourhoods, how London is dealing with covid-19, and why Will Norman doesn’t let his children see his feed.
DCE joins webinar designed to help South American cities build entire networks of emergent bike lanes.
In response to the corona crisis, global cities—most notably Paris—are implementing entire networks of safe, emergent bicycle lanes. On October 8, 2020, the DCE’s Chris Bruntlett joined WRI Cities and a global group of experts to discuss the key design principles when building such a network.
The session was organized as part of WRI’s Vision Zero Challenge, which includes cities in Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Bolivia, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.
Following an introduction to Safe Designs for Emergency Cycle Lanes from the WRI team, an overview of the emergent bike lane deployment in Paris was presented by Alexander Santacreu of the International Transport Forum. Cities were then invited to share their own experience and questions about emergent bike lanes for discussion.
Panelists included Anne Eriksson, a Traffic Safety Engineer from Copenhagen, Anders Hartmann, a Senior Advisor from AsplanViak AS in Oslo, and Felipe Targa, Senior Urban Transport Specialist at the World Bank Group in Mexico City. The session was moderated by Claudia Adriazola-Steil, Director of Health & Road Safety at WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. You can view a recording of the webinar here.
DCE highlights various cycling communication and awareness campaigns from across the Netherlands.
On October 13, 2020, the Dutch Cycling Embassy’s Chris Bruntlett joined in a webinar organized by the South African Department of Transport. The third such workshop in an entire series focused on non-motorized transport, the two-day event was titled “Developing Cycling Cities”.
This particular session was focused on “Communications and Awareness”, during which Chris highlighted some of the best cycling promotion campaigns from across the Netherlands. These included the Doortrappen scheme, the “Ik Fiets” mobile app, and Groningen’s “Smart Routes”. Panelists included Simphiwe Ntuli from the City of Johannesburg and Leigh Stolworthy from the City of Cape Town.
