Newsletter – June 2019

EDITORIAL

Dear Readers,

As the newly elected President of IRF (Geneva), I am pleased to address to you this short message, while presenting you with this new edition of our Newsletter.

I believe that a vibrant Federation must be close to its members, but also engaged at international, as well as at local level, and work in partnerships with others. Whether sister organisations or other relevant national and international stakeholders – it is crucial for the future of the transport sector and that of our society as a whole that we all learn to work closely together.

Enabling access and sustainable mobility for all – which is at the core of IRF’s mission – means also breaking the silo culture that has largely dominated our sector so far. We are delighted to be actively engaged in the Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All), in the Belt and Road Transport Alliance (BRITA), in the SaferAfrica, the Movin’On Labs, the Road Safety private sector coalitions and to work with many of our members and partners around the world. You will be able to read more in this new issue of the IRF’s Newsletter.

The entire history of IRF is about instigating, building and fostering partnerships and it is my intention as President of IRF to walk that alley together with you and our members. We need your suggestions and your ideas.

I wish you good reading and I look forward to the opportunity of engaging and working with each and everyone of you.


Bill M. Halkias, PE, F.ASCE, F.ITE
President

IRF General Assembly elects Bill M. Halkias as IRF President

Meeting in Costa Navarino (Greece) in the margins of the ASECAP Days, the General Assembly of the International Road Federation (IRF) has unanimously elected Mr Bill M. Halkias, PE, F.ASCE, F.ITE as new President of IRF. He takes over from Mr Kiran K. Kapila at the end of his third and final mandate as IRF Chairman. Read More

Belt & Road: IRF to lead the Green & Sustainable Transport Committee

IRF was pleased to support again this year the World Transport Convention (WTC) organised by China Highway & Transportation Society (CHTS) – am esteemed member or IRF – in Beijing on 13-16 June 2019. WTC offered the background for the plenary session of The Belt & Road Transport Alliance (BRITA) during which IRF has signed agreement to lead the Green & Sustainable Development Committee.  Read More

Rural Roads For Development Course

The University of Birmingham, in association with the International Road Federation is pleased to offer this hands-on training course in the area of rural roads.

The course is a 5-day, intensive and practical residential programme delivered by experts of international repute. It is aimed at road sector professionals, road engineers, field engineers, planners, road maintenance managers who want to be exposed to cutting-edge established methodologies in rural transport for development.  Read More

Movin’On by Michelin sets the stage for the Mobility of the Future

IRF was pleased to partner and lead some of the sessions of the 2019 edition of the Movin’On Summit, the world summit on sustainable mobility. The successful third edition hosted about 5,000 visionaries from 44 countries between June 4 and 6, 2019, in Montreal, Canada and discussed new and actionable solutions to move from ambition to action. Gathering over 150 partners, the Movin’On Summit strengthens its position as a catalyst and mobilizer for sustainable mobility.
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IRF hosts high-level debate on the Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) at ITF Summit 2019

Organised jointly with the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) and the China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS) the IRF session opened with a keynote speech by H.E. Mr. Mehmet Cahit Turhan, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure of Turkey, and was followed by a panel discussion that touched upon key topics such as how to create conducive environments for the development of sustainable transport infrastructure project and how to attract private sector investments. Read More

A Private Sector Road Safety Coalition for Tanzania

The first meeting of the private sector road safety coalition for Tanzania led by Total and facilitated by IRF was hosted in Dar es Salaam in May. Attended by a highly-motivated and engaged group of private companies, the meeting mapped out priorities areas of intervention and defined a first set of actions to be implemented. Read More

World Road Statistics 2019 – Pre-orders & Advertising Opportunities

The 56th edition of the annual World Road Statistics (WRS) will be released at the end of August 2019. Advertising & Sponsorship Opportunities together with WRS pre-orders at discounted rates are now available. Associate your company name with high quality data and obtain global exposure to peers, potential clients and business partners!   Read More

IRF at the 70th UN Working Party on Transport Statistics

The 70th UNECE Working Party on Transport Statistics took place at the UN Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on 12-14 June 2019. A key focus was to continue the discussion surrounding the development of a global indicator framework for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Read More

SuM4All discusses Global Road Map of Action and new priorities

Meeting in Leipzig in the margins of the ITF Summit, the Sustainable Mobility for All (SuM4All) Consortium tackled progress on the Global Road Map of Action, the first-ever attempt in the transport sector to provide structured guidance to achieve sustainable mobility, and to tailor programs of actions depending on country performance. Read More

Sweden 2020 Ministerial Conference

Preparation of the 3rd Global Ministerial Conference on road safety which will be hosted in Sweden on 19-20 February 2020 is well advancing. The High-Level Consultative Committee – of which IRF is a member – held a second meeting in Stockholm on 5th June. IRF stressed the importance and the need to increase the presence of private sector stakeholders in the conference programme. The private sector is instrumental in forging road safety partnerships that deliver and IRF will be showcasing some successful examples in the lead up and during the Swedish Ministerial. Read More

SaferAfrica: new resources available on the Road Safety Observatory

As one of the outputs of the EU-funded project SaferAfrica, the African Road Safety Observatory is a space to access knowledge and expertise and also for interaction with and among the stakeholders. It includes various types of knowledge and tools, such as statistics, reports, fact sheets, webinars recordings, training material and it is integrated with crowdsourcing functions to facilitate the participation of experts and end-users. Check out the latest additions to RSO.Read More

IRF Foresight Sessions at PIARC World Congress

Abu Dhabi will be hosting the 26th World Road Congress of PIARC on 6-10 October 2019. IRF is organising one foresight session on road safety partnerships and another one on gender in transport together with World Bank and the International Transport Forum. Read More

Webinar: Making Climate Resilient Infrastructure the Norm

Organized jointly by IISD and the Global Commission on Adaptation, the webinar explored approaches to calculating the cost of climate risks and externalities. Susanna Zammataro, IRF DG was one of the panellists invited to speak. She brought in road sector perspective and experience on this matter. The webinar offered the opportunity to present the Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) developed by IISD and tested on road projects in collaboration with IRF and ADM (Moroccan Highways).
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