Draft:Velo-city 2012 Vancouver

Randy Neufeld at Velo-city Global 2012 in Vancouver

The Velo-city Global 2012 took place in Vancouver, Canada from 26 to 29 June 2012 at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Center Hotel. After Copenhagen in 2010, this was the second Global Edition of the Velo-city conference series. The Conference brought together around 950 participants including 150 speakers and 155 exhibitors.

The City of Vancouver has been voted as the World's Most Liveable City by The Economist three years in a row, from 2008 to 2010 and the city itself has displayed a steady commitment to making Vancouver a cycle-friendly city. According to its Greenest City Action Plan, Vancouver has a vision of being the greenest city in the world by 2020. Green Transportation is one of the 10 goal areas, with two main targets:

1. make over 50% of trips on foot, bicycle and public transit
2. reduce distance driven per resident by 20%

The conference was held under the motto "Cities in Motion", following the ambition to bring together cycling cities from all around the world in order to share best practices for becoming cycling-friendly cities.

Aims

The City of Vancouver and European Cyclists' Federation, as organizers of Velo-city Global 2012, sought to highlight the achievements of Vancouver as a cycling 'starter' city and bring forward European cycling experience, including its fast growth as a mode of transportation, to North America, to the Pacific Rim countries and globally. The primary goal was to bring all relevant stakeholders to Vancouver in order to share best practices for encouraging cycling as a means of transport.

To this effect, Velo-city Global 2012 was held with the following goals:

1. Spread knowledge of quality, positive, evolving information about cycling and transport planning
2. Provide valuable publicity for cities that have good cycling provision networks
3. Encourage the recognition of cycling as an efficient, healthy, environmentally friendly means of transport and recreation
4. Further the integration of cycling planning into transport and land-use planning, and other relevant sectors
5. Seek involvement from all relevant stakeholders, including environment, health and business sectors
6. Provide a wide range of real-world examples of cycling as form of transportation, with benefits to the environment, personal health and economy.

Exhibition

The Velo-city Global 2012 Exhibition was an integral part of the conference with the booths installed in the foyer of the venue among the session rooms where lunch and beverages were offered during the breaks. The exhibitors varied from cycling policy, cycling infrastructure planning and expertise centers to bicycle industry, other cycling friendly businesses and cities or other authorities related to cycling policy.

The Charter of Vancouver

The City of Vancouver and European Cyclists' Federation launched the Charter of Vancouver on Children and Cycling with the expectation that the Charter serve as a legacy for the city and the Velo-city Global 2012 conference. The Charter is based on the United Nations 1990 Convention on the Rights of the Child and outlines the important connection between children and cycling. It recognizes children's rights worldwide, the special capability that cycling has to enshrine these universal rights and a commitment from the signatories to call for the adoption of goals, policies, and practices toward promoting cycling as a means to further recognize and promote the rights of children. It is addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations calling upon him to adopt targets in order to promote active and safe mobility for people of all ages and abilities, especially children. The Charter remains open to signatures by institutions who are interested in using it as a tool for the promotion of children's right to safe cycling.

Program

The program of Velo-city Global 2012 was spread over four days and included plenaries, sub-plenaries and concurrent presentations in different formations: lectures, symposiums, workshops, roundtables or Pecha Kucha sessions. Cycling guru Gil Penalosa was the Master of Ceremonies while significant stakeholders and cycling advocates were among the keynote speakers.

The full list of keynote speakers is: Gil Penalosa, Alain Ayotte, Ayfer Baykal, Chang Hsin-Wen, Jerry Dobrovolny, Bernhard Ensink, Aske Wieth-Knudsen, Suzanne Lareau, Manfred Neun, Bob Paddon, Mayor Wan-Su Park, Gordon Price, Mayor Gregor Robertson, Niels Tørsløv, Paul Tranter, Maria Vassilakou, Mayor Stephen Yarwood, Rick Antonson, Adam Bodor, Dale Bracewell, S. K. Jason Chang, Rodney Ellis, Joop Goos, Michel Labrecque, Kevin Mayne, Randy Neufeld, Sten Møller, Gabriel Lagos, Brent Toderian.

Velo-city Global 2012 Vancouver was launched with central theme "Cities in Motion", which expressed the idea of gathering all those cities and regions around the world with great cycling records in Vancouver and having share their stories, inspirations and successes. The program was developed within nine themes in mind.

Core themes

1. Leadership – the politics of change 2. How cycling achieves community aspirations and addresses global problems 3. Essential elements – increasing cycling and safety 4. Empowering people and inclusivity 5. Emerging technologies

Pivotal themes

1. Public Bike Sharing Systems 2. Combined mobility – Cycling integration with Transit, Rail and other Modes 3. Cycling logistics – Movement of goods by bicycle 4. Cycling Tourism

Part of the program was a bike parade of a 9 km route in the heart of the City of Vancouver starting from and ending at the Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre by going around False Creek through the Burrard Bridge and the Olympic Village. A series of side events were held in the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, at Cecil Green Park House, on Salt Spring Island while an evening event was offered to all the delegates at the Law Courts building in the neighbourhood of the venue.

During Velo-city Global Vancouver, the Cycling Embassy of Denmark announced its yearly "Cycling Leadership Award", this year going to Randy Neufeld, Director of SRAM Cycling Fund for his dedication to cycling promotion. It was the third time that the Danish Cycling Embassy awarded high-profile figures of cycling advocacy. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Lake Sagaris have received the award the previous two years.