[world-carfree-news_eng] World Carfree News #78 - September 2010

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WORLD CARFREE NEWS >>>
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Edition 78 – September 2010 – English version
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Contents:

QUOTATION OF THE MONTH

WORLD CARFREE NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS

- ICC Prague Office Closed
- Network Decentralisation Process Underway
- Monthly Bulletin Service Resumes
- Happy World Carfree Day

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

- ICLEI Future of Cities World Congress 2010 (Oct.5-7)
- ThinkBike Workshops Chicago (Sept.23-24)
- National Cycle Network (UK) Celebrates 15 years
- Innovation in Mobility in Flanders (Sept.16)
- 'The Pricing of Progress' T&Е Conference in Brussels (Sept.28)

IN THE NEWS

- Istanbul residents hope to stop third bridge
- France reduces budget for highway construction
- Zürich removes building requirement of car parking
- Transport leaders call for paradigm shift in transport financing

REPORTS

- Public Policies for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety and Mobility
- Towards a Zero Carbon Vision for UK Transport
- Employment in Sustainable Transport

MEDIA & NETWORKING

- TCC IX conference materials
- Velocity 2010 conference materials

CURIOS

- Bamboo Bicycle project in Ghana

SUPPORT WORLD CARFREE NETWORK
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QUOTATION OF THE MONTH >>
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“Current transport financing practices are unfit to meet 21st century needs.
As much as $700 billion is spent annually subsidizing motor fuels, while
hundreds of billions more in public and global aid funds subsidize the
growing use of cars. This comes at the expense of investments in more
pressing human needs for modern bus rapid transit, streets safe for walking
and cycling, quality public space, as well as health, housing, and
education."

- Michael Replogle, Global Policy Director and Founder of the Institute for
Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP)
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WORLD CARFREE NETWORK ANNOUNCEMENTS >>
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- ICC Prague Office Closed

On August 31 the Prague office of the WCN International Coordination Centre
closed its office for good. This comes after several years of financial
hardship and lack of sufficient funding. Cigdem Cevrim, who served as the
last office manager, will still serve on a contractual basis as is needed.
Anna Nygard, the final EVS volunteer, will remain in her position until
November 2010. WCN is not immediately looking for a new ICC and physical
office, yet this option can be considered in the future.

- Network Decentralisation Process Underway

A new chapter is opening in the history of World Carfree Network, with the
aim of decentralisation and sustainability. Overheads and infrastructure
will be greatly reduced, allowing the network to fully focus on its core
activities. These steps are necessary financially in this difficult economic
climate, but it is hoped it will be a positive change that will allow for
increased involvement and a feeling of 'ownership' among members.

The Prague office has closed and initially two continental 'hubs' will
facilitate ongoing activities - one hub in Europe and the other in North
America. These will be run by WCN member organisations and will collect
membership and other income and distribute it to those contracted to do the
work. Running the network in this way will only require a fraction of the
funding previously required. Additional hubs may be added in the future.

A 'decentralisation task force' is focusing on the continuation of four
activities: Worldcarfree.net, the Towards Carfree Cities conference series,
the monthly World Carfree News e-bulletin, and Carbusters magazine
(including Carbusters.org). The latter will be published in a digital format
at first.

More news will be available in the next bulletin.

- Monthly Bulletin Service Resumes

After a longer absence of issuing the World Carfree Monthly Newsletter, the
service resumes activity with this September issue, and full-length monthly
issues will be the norm, starting at the beginning of October. As usual in
the past, translations of the bulletin are welcome, volunteer translators
may get in contact via bulletin-eIl3k1piWmly0T758RiaJuG/[email protected]

- Happy World Carfree Day!

World Carfree Day is just around the corner! The big days are PARK(ing) Day
on 17 September and World Carfree Day on 22 September. As usual World
Carfree Network website offers campaign resources and in addition to this
are the wiki listings, where anyone can enter their planned events:
http://editthis.info/wcd/.

European Mobility Week 2010 (http://mobilityweek.eu) is a week-long
celebration with awareness-raising campaigns and currently over 1400 cities
have registered. The dates are September 16-22.

See www.worldcarfree.net/wcfd/
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GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS >>
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- ICLEI Future of Cities World Congress 2010 will be held in Incheon, Korea,
from the 5-7 October. The four topics covered are Eco-efficiency,
Resilience, Green economy, Happiness.
http://tinyurl.com/35ldnb2

- ThinkBike Workshops — The Dutch Consulate General and Active
Transportation Alliance host first bilateral bike workshop to make Chicago
more bike-friendly, Sept. 23-24, 2010. It is the first of this type of event
in the USA, more are planned for 2011. Event is free, RSVP is required.
www.activetrans.org/dutchbikeplan

- The National Cycle Network (UK) is celebrating its 15th year. They are
hosting rides all over the UK and giving away a free Globe bike to one lucky
participant. Rides are taking place 11th through 15th of September.
http://tinyurl.com/28e9fq4

- ‘Flanders Inspiration & Innovation’ will take place on 16th September at
18:00 at the Flanders Expo, Ghent, Belgium. The topic this year is
'Innovation in Mobility'.
www.inspirationinnovation.be

- 'Transport and Environment' presents a conference: The Pricing of
Progress: Intelligent road charging for a smarter, more competitive Europe'.
The location is Goethe Institut, rue Belliard 58, Brussels, and it will take
place on September 28.
www.transportenvironment.org/conference

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IN THE NEWS >>
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- Istanbul fears construction of a new intercontinental bridge. The Turkish
government is aggressively pursuing the construction of a third bridge on
the Bosporus (connecting Europe with Asia). This is a project that the vast
majority of its citizens do not want, and which will bring environmental
devastation (including mass tree clearing) and swell the population of the
city. Protests are taking place, including a mammoth protest event planned
for the 2nd of October.
http://tinyurl.com/2ueu8ec

- France drastically reduces budget for highway construction. Of the 170
billion Euros that are devoted to infrastructure in the next 20 years, 90
percent is intended for alternatives to air and road traffic. Roughly half
of this budget is earmarked for high-speed rail, while just under a third
for local transport networks. This was published in Paris as the National
Strategic Plan for Transport Infrastructure.
VCS Magazine

- Zürich, Switzerland has now dropped the legal requirement for providing
parking places with new house construction. This is seen as a major
breakthrough and is welcomed by the Swiss Club of the Carfree People. There
are already developers waiting for projects that involve no or highly
reduced provision of parking places. Beyond this, the parliament of Zürich
has even decided to begin removing some of the existing parking places that
have been getting in the way.
VCS Magazine

- At the Fifth Regional EST Forum in Asia, top transportation and
environmental leaders from across Asia gathered in late August to issue a
call for urgent changes in transport financing. ITDP spearheaded this event,
and the outcome included the Bangkok Declaration and a 66 page white paper
titled "A Paradigm Shift Towards Sustainable Low-Carbon Transport".
http://tinyurl.com/33f38th
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REPORTS >>
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- Publication: "Public Policies for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety and
Mobility" is a report that usefully compiles and compares approaches taken
by various levels of government aimed at 'complete streets', bicycle and
pedestrian-friendly facilities, and related topics.
http://tinyurl.com/26t9van

-  Towards a Zero Carbon Vision for UK Transport - a new report by the
Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) York Centre and the University of York
have issued a road map for a Zero Carbon vision of the UK in 2050. This
report includes policy recommendations and demonstrates a phased programme
of technological, financial and behaviour changes needed to make this
happen.
http://tinyurl.com/2u5tzyp

- "Employment in Sustainable Transport" is a recent report by Ekosgen that
demonstrates that job creation is much more relevant when considering
sustainable modes of transport than road-based jobs. Further, a reduction in
car travel and an increase in public transport would also bring a net rise
in employment.
http://www.acttravelwise.org/news/1555
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MEDIA & NETWORKING  >>
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- The Towards Carfree Cities IX, that took place in York, England this
summer was another outstanding conference in the series, and the
presentations are now also available on the conference website.
www.worldcarfree.net/conference/

- The Velo-city Global 2010 conference took place in June. The conference
was deemed a success, presentations and abstracts are available for
download.
www.welcomehome.dk/Default.aspx?ID=711
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CURIOS >>
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- A project at Columbia University`s Earth Institute is initiating, as part
of the Millennium Cities Initiative, a bamboo bicycle production that is
targeting Ghana in the first place. Watch the slide show and introduction at
http://tinyurl.com/2frb4zd and follow the project at
http://bamboobikeproject.wordpress.com.
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SUPPORT WORLD CARFREE NETWORK >>
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Our joint carfree vision is only as strong as the people who support us. By
donating to WCN you'll strengthen the voice of the movement that's
committed to defending our right to a sound, sustainable future. For
donating and
joining as a member, please visit: http://www.worldcarfree.net/support/
Your support will make a huge difference.
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Bulletin #78 by Justin Hyatt

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