� Chairman’sForeword

Welcome to the latest issue of our CIVINET UK & Ireland newsletter. Firstly, I’d like to thank all those whopresented at our Cycling Workshop heldlast November. It was extremely successful,and welcomed by all the delegates – manyof which weren’t current CIVINET members– so the event was a valuable opportunity tospread the word about our network.CIVINET was also represented at twoevents in December last year – CycleNetworks Fit for Growth in Leeds, and theMainstreaming Smarter Travel LSTFnational conference in Manchester.

Our next event is our Annual GeneralMeeting which is scheduled for early July –we will of course let you know more whenwe have more details.

We’re committed to keeping you informed,and have been issuing more regular“Newsflashes” to ensure the information we provide is the most up-to date. Ourfuture newsletters will be a little shorter as a result – please let us know if you like this approach.

Just a quick mention on membership fees – I am pleased to announce that they willremain unchanged for 2014/15. Invoiceswill be sent out in early 2014/15.

Finally, I’m sure many of you have beenvery busy recently putting together thelatest round of LSTF bids. The deadline forthe first call of the CIVITAS CAPITAL fundhas also just closed – and we hope thatsome of you have taken the chance to bidfor funds. If not, there will be moreopportunities coming up with the next calldue in September.

Mike Kirby Chair of the CIVINET UK & Ireland Networkand Director of Transport andEnvironment, Lancashire County Council

Newsletter 14 - April 2014

CIVINET UK & Ireland The Local Authority network

for sustainable mobility

CIVINET UK & Ireland - The Local Authority Network for sustainable mobility

News� Cycling Workshop – A Hit!

Last Autumn we held a workshopsharing cycling successes fromacross Europe. Presentationsincluded Transport for London oncycling in London, and theopportunity to learn from theDutch and European experiencefrom Velo Mondial. There werealso case studies from DublinCity Council about reawakening acycling culture in Dublin throughthe dublinbikes hire scheme, andfrom the London EuropeanPartnership for Transport on theirinvolvement in EU cycling

promotion projects involvingschools and personal travelplanning.

Delegates were also treated to aguided site tour of London's cyclehire and cycle superhighway.

Thanks to the Department forTransport for hosting the event.Presentations may be accessed inour members' private area onwww.civitas.eu/taxonomy/term/248/private-downloads.

The feedback wasvery positive andwe're pleased thatour first dedicatedcycling workshopproved to be such a success.

� Your Management Committee

The CIVINET UK & Ireland network is governed by a ManagementCommittee which is responsible for managing activities and budget. TheCommittee is elected by network members at each AGM, normally held inthe spring. Any network member may be nominated for election. The LocalGovernment Association and the DfT are observers. The currentmembership is:

• Colin Rees, Bath and North East Somerset Council • Mark Prior, Brighton& Hove City Council • Alistair Cox, Bristol City Council • Andy Wren,Hampshire County Council • Mike Kirby and Chris Hadfield, LancashireCounty Council (National Network Manager) • Jon Barnard, Norfolk CountyCouncil • Andy Watt, Norwich City Council • Paul Mathieson, Southend onSea Borough Council.

More information about the remit and organisation of the network can be found in the terms of reference, available online atwww.civitas.eu/civinet/civinet-uk-ireland. An important new developmentis that CIVINET UK & Ireland will have access to additional resources via theCAPITAL project. An annual activity and business plan sets out proposedcore and additional network activities in 2014. This can be viewed in themembers' private area at www.civitas.eu

� Southend on SeaBorough Council

Paul Mathieson talks us throughSouthend's sustainable transportactivities.

Southend on Sea Borough Councilhas been a member of CIVINET andits Management Committee for severalyears. They see their membership as akey opportunity to share theirexperience of European projects,network with other UK and Irelandpartners and keep abreast of fundingand potential projects.

Over the past five years, manyprojects have been implementedthrough the “Better Southend”programme and more recently theLSTF funded “Ideas in motion”campaign improving travelling to, fromand within the borough. Theseprojects have covered cycling,walking, public transport and driving.The Council has successfully bid andreceived funding not only from theLSTF but also the Better Bus AreaFund. It has set up a social enterpriseand a cycle hub called the “ComfySaddle”, which is leading oncommunity projects, recycling bikesand training.

The Council is also active at aEuropean level, and is currently a

partner in the EU (Interreg 2 seas) “Bike Friendly Cities” project. Seveninitiatives are already taking place inSouthend as part of the projectincluding a resource hub for localcyclists, bike friendly cafes and shops,integrating cycling into the schoolcurriculum and trialling use of electricbikes by Council staff and businesses. Earlier this year in February, a partyfrom Southend – students, teachersand Cycle Southend instructors –visited another partner in the project,Middleburg in Holland. The aim ofthe visit was to get an idea of thedifferent cycle culture in Middleburgand the Netherlands in general, andto inspire changes in Southend.

Through guided bike rides, the groupexperienced for themselves thedifferent types of infrastructure andother measures in place. Dedicatedcycle routes are available on mostbusy routes, as well as separatelanes on roundabouts andunderpasses. Some areas havespeed restrictions for motor vehiclesand cyclists have priority undernational law. Local students alsogave presentations about checkingtheir bicycles and safety initiatives.

The main lesson learnt was thatcycling is part of everyone's daily lifein the Netherlands; grandparents,parents and children all cycle. Nospecial equipment is required and

segregated routes allow continuousjourneys by bicycle.

Paul Mathieson says, “Now thechallenge is to learn from this and seehow we can apply this in Southendwith different road conditions andinfrastructure. Two wholly segregatedroutes in Southend (Prittle BrookGreenway and Seafront Cycle Route)offer a pleasant ride and areencouraging people back to cycling inconditions that prevail in theNetherlands. We can see that if theright infrastructure is provided,together with encouragement andsupport, people will cycle morefrequently and further”.

To find out more about this EUproject and other sustainabletransport initiatives please visit:

www.bikefriendlycities.eu www.cyclesouthend.co.ukwww.ideasinmotionsouthend.co.ukwww.comfysaddle.co.uk

CIVINET UK & Ireland - The Local Authority Network for sustainable mobility

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

� New Look Website

CIVINET UK & Ireland has revampedour web pages. Take a look atwww.civitas.eu/civinet/civinet-uk-ireland where you will find a current listof members, information aboutmembership benefits and governanceof the network. News items and detailsof events will also be posted here.

Further resources are available in theCIVITAS parent website,www.civitas.eu and also in theCIVINET UK & Ireland’s private memberarea. We intend to add slides fromevent presentations, special membersbriefings and reports. Please let usknow what types of resources youwould find useful.

Members’ area

1. Create a user account, by clickingon the "log in" sign available at thetop of all pages within the website.

2. Email Sam or Marcia(sam.jones@ttr-ltd.com ormarcia.daniels@ttr-ltd.com ) and wewill add you to the CIVINET UK &Ireland private online group.

3. Access the members' onlyresources under "privatedownloads".

� CIVITAS ForumConference 2014 –Registrations nowopen

Registrations have just opened for the12th edition of the annual CIVITASForum Conference will take placebetween 23 - 26 September inCasablanca, the economic capital ofMorocco.

Casablanca will be the first non-European city hosting the CIVITASforum conference. The choice ofCasablanca as CIVITAS forum 2014host officially seals the cooperation inthe urban mobility field between theEuroMed transport project stakeholdersand the CIVITAS Initiative.

The CIVITAS Forum is an annual eventorganised as part of the EU CIVITAS2020 Initiative to bring together therepresentatives of the CIVITAS ForumNetwork's member cities and of theEuroMed region: policy makers, urbanplanners, mobility experts andpoliticians to present and discusstransport measures and policiestowards sustainable urban mobility,accessibility and socio-spatialinequalities.

The main theme of the CIVITAS Forum2014 will be accessibility and socialinclusion which are key factors inurban mobility and city planning,especially when looking at thecoordination of urban mobility, spatialplanning and institutional governance.

All CIVINET UK & Ireland members areinvited to attend the conference -register atwww.civitas.eu/node/34675/register.It will take place at the Hyatt RegencyHotel, close to the Medina, thehistorical city centre of Casablanca.

CIVINET UK & Ireland - The Local Authority Network for sustainable mobility

COMING UPThe next AGM isexpected to be heldin early July at theDfT in London. We hope to run asustainable mobilityevent later in theyear. Watch out for furtherannouncements!

CIVITAS Forum 2015 A call for Cities interested in hostingthe forum in 2015 has beenlaunched online. For moreinformation, please visit: www.civitas.eu/content/host-next-annual-civitas-forum-2015

For more information about the Civinet UK & Ireland Network and how to become a member please contact Sam Jones on: +44 (0)1543 416 416 or email: civinet-uk-ireland@civitas.eu EUROPEAN

COMMISSION

CIVINET UK & Ireland - The Local Authority Network for sustainable mobility

� Getting Greener Fleets

The fleet recognition scheme ECO Stars continues to grow acrossthe UK and celebrated its fifthanniversary last month.

The free scheme, established by localauthorities in South Yorkshire in 2009,has grown to 11 schemes nationwidewith a further six in Europerepresenting a total of almost 300members in the UK. It is designed tohelp local authorities tackle their airquality issues, by encouraging fleetoperators of all sizes to improveefficiency and reduce fuelconsumption and emissions. Thisdirectly helps improve local transportrelated air quality.

Barnsley Central MP Dan Jarvis and Councillor Roy Miller (CabinetSpokesperson for Development,Environment & Culture for BarnsleyCouncil) helped mark ECO Star’s 5th anniversary by presenting special awards to the first ECO Starsmember, Clipper Logistics and the

latest – and 75th member in SouthYorkshire, Airmaster.

ECO Stars has been especiallysuccessful in Scotland – where thereare now four schemes – NorthLanarkshire, Dundee, Edinburgh andFalkirk with interest from severalScottish Local Authorities.

Sharing best practice is fundamentalto ECO Stars and a Fuel EfficiencyWorkshop held recently in Falkirkproved very popular. An opendiscussion allowed free exchange ofideas and best practice, as well asproviding an opportunity for dialoguewith the council over local transportplanning concerns. For moreinformation, please contact the ECOStars team on ecostars@ttr-ltd.com.

� Join a CivitasThematic Group!

The EU-funded CIVITAS CAPITALproject, is capitalising on CIVITASsustainable mobility measures alreadydemonstrated in over 50 cities acrossEurope. CAPITAL provides support fornational networks like CIVINET UK &Ireland, with members benefitting froma range of initiatives.

In the CAPITAL Thematic Groups,cities and their expert mobilityprofessionals can meet each other,discuss hot topics, exchange ideas,post interesting sources and learnabout how to transfer successfulmeasures to their own areas.

Ten topics are covered: n integrated planning n clean fuel andvehicles n collective transport n demand management strategies n mobility management n safety andsecurity n car-independent lifestyles n urban freight logistics n transporttelematics n public involvement.

To participate, visit www.civitas.eu anduse the log in link to create a profile andrequest membership of the Groups youare most interested in. Once you are amember, you can view profiles of othermembers, get in contact, start orparticipate in discussions and postdocuments, news or events. Thematicgroups are also organising variousactivities, including webinars, trainingand site visits, so keep an eye on theCIVITAS website for further news.