28 Oct, 2013
Worldwide interest in Adelaide Velo-city Global 2014
Hundreds of presenters from across the globe have registered their interest in speaking at Adelaide Velo-city Global 2014, the world’s premier international cycling planning conference to be hosted in Adelaide next May.
The conference will feature internationally recognised and respected experts who will present to delegates from around the world on best practices for creating and sustaining cycle-friendly cities, where bicycles are valued as part of daily transport and recreation.
Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood said that more than 300 abstracts have been received from potential presenters, demonstrating the high level of interest the conference has generated.
“We’ve received abstracts from all over the world from Brazil to Germany, the UK, Austria, Taiwan, Sweden, New Zealand and Australia,” Stephen said.
“The depth and breadth of knowledge this will bring to the conference will give us fresh ideas about how we can further support cycling to create healthy communities and an active and lively city.”
The abstracts will be reviewed by an international panel of more than 60 people with broad and diverse experience in cycling and cycling related matters, and rated against specific criteria before programming decisions are made in late November.
Some of the emerging themes are:
• Bicycles can be a big part of the solution to the complex issues facing cities now and into the future
• Re-framing and understanding the recent history of car centric societies, and looking at how urban design, architecture, traffic planning and management has contributed to this
• How understanding more about what motivates people’s personal travel choices can lead to more people riding
• The connection between destination development, cycle tourism and economic renewal
• Laws that help and hinder.
Road Safety Minister Michael O’Brien said another theme that had emerged was how communities could start their children cycling from a young age.
“Parents have safety concerns about allowing their children to cycle to school, and sometimes over-estimate the time it will take them to ride but if we have safer roads and better cycling infrastructure, more people will ride and the community itself will provide a safer environment,” Mr O’Brien said.
“Cycling gives children independence and good health which will serve them well as they move into adulthood.”
Hosting Adelaide Velo-city Global 2014 will cement Adelaide’s reputation as a vibrant, cycle-friendly city and lead to improvements in cycling infrastructure.
It will also market Adelaide as a premier tourist and conference destination to the rest of the world.
Velo-city Global 2014 will be the first time the event will be held in the Southern hemisphere. A range of community events, activities and programs are planned during the conference and beyond.
To find out more about Velo-city Global 2014, please go to http://www.velo-city2014.com.