Introducing Cycling Cities: Join us for the ride

What if our cities embraced, encouraged and elevated cycling? How would that transform our streets? How would it transform access and opportunity for people?

The Cycling Cities campaign seeks to find out. Cycling Cities brings together cities, NGOs and civil society organizations, and private sector partners working to increase access for 25 million more people to safe and connected cycle lanes in their cities by 2025. We will start by learning from each other.

Join us for this virtual discussion, where representatives from Guadalajara, Mexico, and Kigali, Rwanda, two of our leading campaign cities, and UN Environment Program (UNEP), a founding campaign partner, will share their recent approaches to making cycling safer and more accessible for all. We will hear from panelists about why cycling matters for their cities, and discuss challenges, adjustments to plans and programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and opportunities to continue rethinking streets for cycling over cars. And, we will share how you can join us for the ride!

Visit cyclingcities.itdp.org to learn more.

 

About the Presenters

Heather Thompson Chief Executive Officer, ITDP

Heather Thompson has been with ITDP for more than a dozen years, first serving on its Board of Directors for eight years, and then as CEO since 2018. Ms. Thompson believes that bold progress needs to be made toward more walkable, cycle-friendly, and transit-accessible cities. ITDP’s work in making cities more equitable, livable and environmentally conscious changes everything for the better – for people and the planet.

Ms. Thompson has nearly two decades of experience in the environmental non-profit sector, designing and carrying out strategies with large-scale impact. She co-founded and served as VP of Programs at ClimateWorks Foundation, and was a Principal at California Environmental Associates where she led the firm’s work in philanthropic strategy. She has helped clients design and implement strategies that help our cities and natural systems increase resilience in the face of climate change, population growth and other development pressures. She has lived and worked abroad in China, the U.K., and Denmark, and holds a Master of Science in environmental economics from the University of York, U.K. and a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences from the University of California, San Diego.

Solange Muhirwa Chief Urban Planner, City of Kigali

Solange Muhirwa is the chief of Urban Planning at City of Kigali, in charge of implementation of the Kigali city master plan and the City strategies to support the city’s economic green growth and wellbeing of city residents.

She coordinates the land management and urban planning works with focus on development of affordable housing and upgrading of informal settlements.

Her current work at City of Kigali focuses on inclusion and sustainability, especially introducing a more equitable, flexible, and incremental approach to City development, in line with the UN HABITAT New Urban Agenda, Sustainable Development Goals.

Carly Gilbert-Patrick Team Lead, Active Mobility, Digitalization & Mode Integration, UN Environment Program

Carly leads the UNEP team for active mobility, digitalization and mode integration; supporting countries around the world to decouple increased mobility from increased emissions.

She has been working in the field of sustainable transport for over fifteen years including active mobility, road safety, bus rapid transit, congestion charging, low emission zones and bike share systems.

Prior to her time with UNEP Carly worked as a Programme Manager for the UN-Habitat Mobility Team and a Project Manager for Transport for London and holds a Masters in Business Administration with an elective in project management. She also holds the UK Association of Project Management Professional Qualification (APMPQ).

Contacts:
Email: carly.koinange@un.org
Skype: carly.koinange
Linked in: Carly Gilbert-Patrick
Twitter: GilboCarly

Jesús Carlos Soto Morfín Director of Mobility and Transportation, Zapopan Municipality, Mexico

Jesus is a philosopher and an activist with a degree from the Western Technological Institute of Higher Studies (ITESO). Between 2007 and 2015, he was a member of Ciudad para Todos, a citizen group that promoted the agenda for sustainable mobility in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, Jalisco. He was a coordinator of the 10th International Congress Towards Car-Free Cities in Guadalajara in 2011. Later on, he became a member of the Citizen Observatory of Public Transport and Mobility of Jalisco. In 2015, he became the Director of Mobility and Transport Department for the Municipality of Zapopan as well as the coordinator of the Metropolitan Mobility Board. He is also a professor at the Graduate School of Architecture in Guadalajara.

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