Introduction
'Vélo Mondial 2000',the global bicycle conference held in Amsterdam, June 2000 was a great success and exceeded the expectations of many, organizers and participants alike. Program Director Tom Godefrooij and I would like to thank all those who contributed to the conference and the extra curricular activities offered which included:
ˇ The Municipal Symposium
ˇ The Expert Group Meeting in Amsterdam and Delft
ˇ Symposium Land Use and Travel Behavior
ˇ The Bicycle Festival
ˇ The Interactive Training Program
ˇ The Photo Exhibition
ˇ Excursions to Antwerp, Gelderland and Utrecht.
Together we made Vélo Mondial 2000 a success in so many ways. We thank the sponsors and the other financiers of the conference. We would like to thank the Dutch Departments of Transport and of the Environment and the European Union. Especially we would like to thank the City of Amsterdam, host to the conference. Finally we would like to thank the Dutch Cyclist's Union who took the initiative organizing the conference, the board of the foundation, Joep Huffener, Clasien Slebos and Oliver Hatch who really made a difference.
On this cd you will find the
original Vélo Mondial 2000 website. In addition we have added the proceedings
of the conference. These proceedings contain:
ˇ The Amsterdam Declaration as adopted during the conference;
ˇ The papers as they were presented in the workshops and sub-plenaries;
ˇ Speeches from the plenary sessions, the Bicycle Festival and the reception;
ˇ Some session reports from the session chairs;
ˇ The Posters
ˇ The position papers which were submitted by some conference delegates.
One of the conference's obvious results is the expressed wish to organize the way forward at a very early stage. This can be achieved by establishing a new Vélo Mondial Secretariat. This office will assume the lead from Montreal (1992) and the momentum created in Amsterdam (2000) to set the agenda for Asia 2006. A number of people are working very hard to see this needed entity come to fruition. Many have met, discussed and debated and have come to some initial thoughts.
The Vélo Mondial Secretariat
sees a world in which bicycling is widely used by people, regardless of age,
race, or gender, to access jobs, education, food and shelter, goods and services,
recreation, family, and friends. Bicycling is a safe, convenient, comfortable,
environment friendly and accessible means of travel in urban areas and rural
communities. Therefore the Vélo Mondial Secretariat must seek to:
ˇ Promote the right to bicycle among all the people of the world
ˇ Encourage national governments to adopt strategies, plans, and programs to
increase levels of bicycling
ˇ Raise political and public awareness of the benefits of bicycling as part
of the solution to local, national and international challenges
ˇ Coordinate and support the work of national and international bicycle user
groups
ˇ Increase the technical knowledge and skills of transportation engineers and
planners
We hope to be able to inform you soon through www.velomondial.net; at this site you can also find conference proceedings.
I wish you good reading and I hope to meet you on future occasions and with the support of many, I hope to welcome you all in Asia in 2006.
Pascal J.W. van den Noort
Managing Director Vélo Mondial 2000