The final day of Velo-city 2019 Dublin started with a plenary session on the importance of partnership and collaboration with a special focus on the “HANDSHAKE” Project by CIVITAS, which brings together 13 of Europe’s top cycling cities to share and inspire excellence. 

Mr Francesco Iacorossi, project manager at Roma Servizi per la Mobilita, opened today’s morning plenary session emphasizing the need for collaboration on behalf of the City of Rome, after presenting the current state of cycling in the city; 120 Km of cycling network, which is only 3% of the road network, and a modal share for cycling of only 1%. There are 640 cars per 1000 people in Rome, and shocking road fatality statistics, to which Mr. Iacorossi states “Some men fight for silver, some men fight for gold, but the cyclists are fighting for what the land the motorists stole”. The objective of the City of Rome is to take back the street and join forces with the best - hence the participation of Rome in the Handshake Project. 

As mentioned earlier, this project brings together 13 Cycling Cities, 3 champion cities, and 10 future cycling cities including Rome and Dublin. The overarching aim of the project is to shift 60,000 people to cycle, make places more livable and improve conditions for cycling as a mode of transport. Amsterdam is the mentor for Rome and Dublin in this project. 

Mr Brendan O'Brien leads the mobility and traffic management division of Dublin City Council, presented on Dublin’s accelerated learning through collaboration. He states “let’s make new mistakes not old ones” and emphasized the transferability of basic ideas to be shared and adapted in the case of Dublin in the context of the Handshake project. Dublin is looking to get these ideas in the area of cycling infrastructure but also the lifecycle of the infrastructure. 

Mr. O’Brien stated that the decision and willingness to bid for hosting Velo-city 2019 stems indeed from this wish for collaboration - the conference is an opportunity to mix and share ideas with delegates, in terms of concepts and designs for the cycle network expansion in Dublin. In the context of the Handshake Project - the focus is on cycle paring and junctions. 

Ms Karina Vestergård, the functioning mayor of technical and environmental affairs in the City of Copenhagen stated Copenhagen’s motivation in taking part in this project. Copenhagen see 49% of all trips being done by bicycle - but it is essential to note that this success is not because the citizens are more idealistic but because the infrastructure allows people to do so. However, there is a need to go further by learning from others on topics like cycle highways, cycle parking, and national level advocacy. The goal for Copenhagen as a champion city in Handshake is to share successes but also failures and learn from other cities too. 

Mr Chris Boardman was appointed as Greater Manchester’s first ever Cycling and Walking Commissioner, with a mandate to develop a Cycling and Walking Plan for the metropole. The immediate focus was to design cycling infrastructure for 12 year olds, and walking infrastructure for parents with prams. The importance of a plan such as this, rises from the 250 million car trips per year of less than 1 km, among other things - for the Greater Manchester area. 

The need for collaboration in this context was evident by similar experiences in cities across the UK. The first Walk and Cycling Commissioners Meeting took place in Leeds. The commissioners present represented more than ⅓ of the UK population. 

The ultimate purpose and need for such level of collaboration stems from the need for consistent national funding. 

The panel agreed on the necessity for partnership and collaboration in delivering cycling development in their cities, with a huge focus on public participation as a unanimous note across the board. Mr. Boardman’s closing words echo this sentiment perfectly; “We own the questions and they own the answers (our communities)”.