The European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) helped organise this year’s “The Netherlands Study Tour” – a one week site visit of some of the best cycling infrastructure in the world for a mixed delegation of Romanian cycling experts with the support of the NGO Ador Romania and Eurosport DHS SA (Romanian bicycle manufacturer).

The visit lasted from 29th June to 3rd July 2015 and one of the aims was to facilitate exchanges of knowledge between Romanian and Dutch local authorities, cycling infrastructure engineers, architects and funding experts. The Romanian delegation was headed by Prince Nicholas of Romania, who is a strong advocate of urban mobility. There were also representatives from the Romanian local authorities of Sibiu, Deva, Hunedoara, Timisoara, Sinaia and Constanta. The ambassador of The Netherlands Study Tour, which forms part of the wider Romanian project ‘My Right to Bike’, is Andreea Raicu, a Romanian TV presenter. During the trip, the Romanian delegation cycled over 170 km and used the public transportation system on several occassions, in order to experience the Dutch urban mobility concept first hand. More than 15 seminars and workshops were held by experts in Integrated Urban Mobility from Eindhoven, Nijmegen, Amsterdam as well as representatives of the ECF, IPV Delft, CROW and Mobycon. Some of the highlights of the tour included:

• “Innovative bridge design” – 29th June, IPV Delft
• “Sustainable safety principles, a guidance to build a safe and comprehensive road network” – 29th June, Martijn van de Leur – Team Leader Cycling & Behaviour, Mobycon
• “Netherlands Design Standards and Guidelines for Bicycles Facilities” – 30th June, Hillie Talens – CROW
• “Presentation Bicycle Policy” – 1st July, Gerben Siebenga – Senior Policy Advisor, Nijmegen City Hall
• “Urban Mobility, touristic bike paths and iconic structures” – 1st July, Bas Braakman and Eric van Hall – Traffic Planners, Eindhoven City Hall
• “Cycling in Amsterdam Region” – 2nd July, Iris van den Horst – Project Manager, Urban Development, Amsterdam City Hall
• “Cycle Tourism in Europe/EU Funding/EuroVelo, the European cycle route network” – 2nd July, Ed Lancaster – ECF.

This was the second edition of The Netherlands Study Tour. The objective is to offer access to state of the art best practices and the latest knowledge in urban mobility and cycling infrastructure to Romanian authorities, to inspire them to introduce cycling measures in their area when they return home.