VENECO: Intermunicipal cooperation for effective cycle policy development and implementation

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27 Sep, 2023

ECF welcomes VENECO to Cities & Regions for Cyclists, a network that brings together local and regional administrations, actively working to promote the bicycle as a mode of transport and leisure, and the exchange of knowledge on cycling policies.

VENECO is an intermunicipal partnership of 21 municipalities around Ghent, Belgium, with a total population of approximately 385,000 residents. The affiliated municipalities are: Aalter, Assenede, Deinze, De Pinte, Destelbergen, Eeklo, Evergem, Gavere, Kaprijke, Kruisem, Lievegem, Lochristi, Maldegem, Melle, Merelbeke, Nazareth, Oosterzele, Sint-Laureins, Wachtebeke, Zelzate and Zulte.

VENECO works in the following policy areas:

Study and realization of economic land policy and economic development through the construction of new industrial estates and the reconversion of existing industrial estates.
Support for spatial planning and urban development.
Study and realization of housing policy.
Providing advice in support of municipal policy in general, and in particular around energy and climate, heritage and archaeology, e-government, land policy, housing policy, enforcement policy and mobility.

VENECO works together with the municipalities towards supporting and implementing local policy, as well as facilitating concrete projects. VENECO offers specialised in-house expertise by working on municipal, intermunicipal and regional levels. Since 2017 VENECO has enlarged its expertise with two mobility experts who are collaborating within the urban planning department. Specifically for the mobility-theme, VENECO supports municipalities in developing mobility and traffic policies, for example by conducting traffic surveys and modelling, supporting with specific mode plans – including cycling – as well as executing mobility projects.

Almost the entire operating area of VENECO falls within the Ghent Transport Region, which currently has 40% modal share of sustainable mobility (walking, cycling and public transport) and aims for 60% by 2040. Therefore, VENECO takes an active role in the activities of the Ghent Transport Region, for example, monitoring all working groups, providing substantive input, and ensuring that local mobility problems are tackled supra-locally within the regional mobility policy.

Source: modal shift ambition Ghent Transport Region (regional SUMP 2023)

The Ghent Transport Region has just finalised its regional Sustainability Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) in 2023, in which cycling plays a key role1. The new plan aims to redefine existing cycling networks (regional, provincial, municipal, recreational) and detect missing links from a regional perspective. VENECO has been given the task to tender the bike sharing scheme for the entire Ghent Transport Region as part of the Regional SUMP, with an annual budget of approximately 550,000 euros.

The partnership aims to stimulate sustainable mobility by focusing on the following projects, among others:

encouraging car sharing and setting up a network of mobile points in collaboration with the province of East Flanders;
making a city-regional traffic model for the Ghent transport region operational;
make bicycle leasing possible for municipal employees.
to function as a purchasing centre for the purchase of sustainable vehicles.

VENECO joins a network of cities and regions committed to promoting cycling as a mode of transport and leisure, collectively representing over 50 million citizens across Europe and beyond.  
For more information on Cities & Regions for Cyclists: https://www.ecf.com/community/cities-for-cyclists  
For more information on VENECO: https://www.veneco.be/nl