ACTIVE Capacity Building

It turned out to be one of the most impressive experiences during the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on #RoadSafety in Marrakech: being a member of the the Bicycle Mobilty Panel; organised by Pikala Bikes and ACTIVE Capacity Building at the utterly cool Pikala Atelier in Marrakech. It featured the screening of the documentary Together we cycle (which explains that it took public uprisings, student protests and courageous local politicians to steer the Netherlands, in the 1960s, away from car oriented urban planning towards human centered cities, a process that took decades and wherein SWOV also played its part with its research) and the lively discussion that followed the screening, with the youth of Marrakech firing challenging questions at us panel members on what works and why, where to start, how to gain momentum and how they themselves can make a difference to make safe roads for cyclists in a city that currently doesn’t plan for them a reality. That the Netherlands didn’t become a cycling paradise overnight but that there were many challenges along the route that took us where we are today can serve as an inspiration for the youth of Marrakech to engage in debates about planning and policy making. It is also a reminder for us today not to be complacent because in the Netherlands we still face challenges with the number of seriously injured cyclists projected to rise if we don’t keep investing in proven effective measures that increase cycling safety. Thanks to all the young people in attendance and moderator Marguerite Wang Hansen, Bicycle Mobility Specialist, Pikala Bikes and fellow panel members, Laura Daniela Gómez R, Capacity Development Manager at YOURS, Janene Tuniz, Sustainable Mobility Officer at UN Environment Programme, Teije Gorris of Delft Road Safety Courses and Mounir Khamali, Director of Pikala Generation Lab, Pikala Bikes and also thanks to Geertje Hegeman head of Road Safety at the Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat who unfortunately couldn’t attend the panel.

On Day 2, DRSC featured in several panels and discussions - promoting the integration of active travel and the Safe System Approach. Teije Gorris, DRSC’s Director spoke on the panel ‘Safer Urban Streets for Active Mobility and Multimodal Transport’ along with Geertje Hegeman, Head of Road Safety at the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. They both spoke about the Netherlands’ story and shared how they have successfully applied the safe system approach which supports all road users - a lesson that is shared via our Annual Course. At the same time, Henk Stipdonk (as a key developer) was central to the launch of the new ITF - International Transport Forum Safe System Tool (www.safesystem.site) a user friendly interface to visualise the building blocks of the Safe System and how they fit together. Finally, to end the day, Teije and our Board member Martin Damen once again joined a panel across town organised by local organisation Pikala Bikes, @YOURS - Youth for Road Safety and ACTIVE Capacity Building to explore the intersections between bicycles, road safety, and youth. This fun and vibrant event was aimed at Marrakech’s youth aiming to empower them and bridge the gaps between what young people want for the city and road safety. ?? Our photo of the day: Teije speaking at Pikala Bikes with Marrakech youth

Contextualised by the International Ministerial Conference on Road Safety, Pikala Bikes and ACTIVE Capacity Building organised a discussion panel and documentary screening to explore the intersection of bicycles, road safety, and the youth. Though young people are some of the most vulnerable in cities, the infrastructure of Marrakech does not currently plan for them ??? ?? The session opened with an insightful documentary on cycling in the Netherlands, and the power that citizens had in their city’s change. The screening was followed by a dynamic conversation on why planning cities with and for youth is so important, how they can advocate for themselves, and what power young people have in being change makers. The session also gave panelists the opportunity to hear directly from Marrakech’s youth?? ? Thank you to the panelists for sharing their diverse insights and expertise with us: ?? Martin Damen, Director of SWOV ?? Laura Daniela Gómez R, Capacity Development Manager at YOURS ?? Janene Tuniz, Sustainable Mobility Officer at UNEP ?? Teije Gorris, Director of Delft Road Safety Courses ?? Mounir Khamali, Director of Pikala Generation Lab, Pikala Bikes ?? Marguerite Wang Hansen , Bicycle Mobility Specialist, Pikala Bikes Thank you to the participants of the session for bringing on some challenging, inquisitive and very fun questions. Their involvement and enthusiasm highlighted that involving youth in our policy-making, planning, and debates is not only interesting, but essential ? ?? A special thank you to Jelle Bakker, and the Dutch Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat for their support in organising this event. We look forward to creating and collaborating on many more workshops and events for youth on bicycle advocacy, and putting our visions into action! #CycleforMorocco ?? ??

??? The holiday season is upon us, and as we near the end of the year, it’s the perfect moment to reflect on all that we’ve achieved together in 2024. This year has been nothing short of transformative for ACTIVE. Over the course of 12 months, we’ve trained 740 active mobility experts through 11 impactful trainings across the globe! ?? Here’s a glimpse of where we’ve been: Lima, Peru Bogotá, and Envigado, Colombia, Santiago, Chile and Curitiba, Brazil in South America Maputo, Mozambique, Jinja, Uganda, and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in Africa Bangkok, Thailand (twice!) and Manila, Philippines in Asia Each training was a testament to the strength of collaboration, creating a global network of active mobility champions. We’re so grateful to all our partners, frontrunners, trainers, and trainees who have made this journey possible. Your commitment and collaboration have been the driving force behind our progress. As we look ahead to 2025, we’re excited to train even more experts and continue championing active mobility worldwide. ??♀???♂? If you want to join the alliance, have questions or would like to collaborate please email us at [email protected] For now, we wish you all Happy Holidays and a wonderful start to 2025. Let’s keep moving forward together! #ActiveMobility #GlobalCapacityBuidling #ACTIVE Arlette van Gilst Jelle Bakker Soesha Sandker Teun Zeegers Thijs de Jong Mirjam Borsboom Lucas Harms Sonja Munnix

Call for experts Morocco Be aware of the short deadline, 20th of December! ?? Call for experts: ACTIVE training in Marrakesh, Morocco week of 17 – 21 of February 2025 ? ??? The ACTIVE?(Alliance for Cycling and walking Towards International Vitality and Empowerment) program, together with GIZ and Pikala is organizing an active mobility training for policy- and decisionmakers on the regional and national governmental level, on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. ? ??? The key topics are: ·??????Intermodal transport: integration of cycling and public transport ·??????Road safety and designing safe cycling infrastructure ???? We are looking for experts that have experience in active mobility and specific expertise in the above mentioned topics. Proficiency in French is a plus! ???? Be aware of the short deadline. Please send your motivation and CV to [email protected]. You can respond until the 20th of December. ? ??? For more information click on this link: https://lnkd.in/epKp3M3v

?? Call for experts: ACTIVE training in Oaxaca, Mexico, beginning of February 2025! ? ?? Through the?ACTIVE?(Alliance for Cycling and walking Towards International Vitality and Empowerment) program, the Dutch Cycling Embassy is organizing an active mobility training for policy- and decisionmakers on the regional and local governmental level, on behalf of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. ?? The key topics are: ·??????Intermodal transport: integration of cycling and public transport ·??????Designing cycling infrastructure ·??????Planning & designing bike parking facilities ·??????Connecting urban areas to promote active mobility ???? We are looking for experts that have experience in active mobility and specific expertise in the above mentioned topics. ?? For more information click on this link: https://lnkd.in/esWS2iqW

In 2021, in response to the pandemic, the Philippines completed a network of 500 kilometers of bike lanes. I was part of a World Bank team then, providing technical assistance and a series of online trainings, which helped raise the profile of cycling as a reliable and sustainable form of transport. Now, a few years later, the Active Transport Project Office of the Department of Transportation - Philippines has grown from 6 to 19 staff members and continues to advance initiatives across the country. The network expanded to almost 9?? 0?? 0?? kilometers today. With this in mind, it was a great pleasure to team up again for an on-site active mobility training. The foresight in experiencing local circumstances and progress since the earlier training series firsthand was truly motivating. In partnership with DOTr and ACTIVE Capacity Building, we developed a 2-day training program focusing on ‘orgware’ (policy and governance) and ‘software’ (promotion, education). Nearly 70 professionals from the Active Transport Project Office, other national government agencies, local governments, civil society organizations, and private developers participated. The objective was to equip them with the knowledge and skills to create awareness and understanding of the benefits of active mobility and the necessity to develop and implement active mobility policies. Participants engaged in hands-on exercises, discussions, and a screening of "Together We Cycle." They concluded by presenting their integrated ‘orgware-software-hardware’ strategies to develop: ?? Active mobility policy plans highlighting benefits such as economic growth, health, safety, climate change mitigation, and road safety. ?? Promotion schemes using behavioral change insights and considering different target groups and their characteristics. ?? Low-cost tactical urbanist interventions. ?? Approaches to monitoring and evaluation. It was inspiring to see the enthusiasm, engagement, and joy. The National Bike Day celebrations and rides showcased the emerging cycling culture and the commitment of other stakeholders including private real estate developers. The exhibitions highlighted ongoing active mobility leadership and the determination to continue delivering. The progress made over the years and the learnings during the training were truly impressive! Thanks for the cooperation and making this a success: Decisio Matteo Jarre | Department of Transportation - Philippines Joevie Dela Cruz Patrick Santos Eldon Joshua Dionisio Under Secretary Jesus Ferdinand D. Ortega, Assistant Secretary James Andres B. Melad Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat Teun Zeegers Mirjam Borsboom Lucas Harms | Embassy of the Netherlands in Manila Robert van der Hum Eva Victoria Oskam, Gabriel Hernandez | Megaworld Corporation Krishield Sison-Quiogue GO-bility | More than learning

BICYCLES AND PUBLIC TRANSPORT - ALLIES IN SANTIAGO DE CHILE In a modern city, people must have access to a diverse range of transport options, and these different modes should operate safely and comfortably alongside one another. How urban space can be designed so that bicycles and public transport can coexist, and how intermodality can be increased – this was the question addressed in Santiago de Chile by a group of dedicated officials and planners, supported by the experts Constanza Gutiérrez Torres and Elke Schimmel, as part of an ACTIVE training. Thijs de Jong supported the training on behalf of Rijkswaterstaat - Ministerie van IenW. ACTIVE Capacity Building, which stands for the Alliance for Cycling and Walking Towards International Vitality and Empowerment, is a training program initiated by the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg after COP28, with the goal of training 10,000 mobility experts in the global South. ?? "It was a truly wonderful experience to organise this training with such a fantastic group of experts on site. Thank you for the amazing time!"

This week, the Dutch Cycling Embassy and november:city (#DCEnetwork) traveled to Curitiba, Brazil for the 2nd edition of Paraná Bici. After four days of dynamic programming—including a screening of the Dutch documentary Together We Cycle, as well as masterclasses and workshops on sustainable urban mobility—we’re excited to see the next steps and progress in Paraná! ?????? The event was held in partnership with the Paraná State Management School, the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Brazil, ACTIVE Capacity Building, and the Paraná State with endorsement of Goura Bataran Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Paraná.

Hace un par de semanas tuve el honor de ser uno de los 10.000 profesionales expertos en movilidad activa en ser certificados por el programa ACTIVE Capacity Building del Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat de Países Bajos. La iniciativa, impulsada por dicha entidad ministerial en conjunto con el Ministerio de Transportes y Telecomunicaciones de Chile, busca promover el desarrollo de infraestructuras y políticas públicas enfocadas en el cuidado de peatones y ciclistas, a fin de proyectar soluciones multimodales mas seguras, saludables y accesibles. Esto representa un compromiso claro y significativo de las entidades públicas por mejorar la calidad de vida y experiencia de viaje de las personas usuarias del Sistema de Transporte Público Metropolitano, del cual me siento parte y, por cierto, profundamente orgulloso. A seguir sumando! #transport