Cycling cities - Local Opportunities for Sustainabl e Mobility and Tourism Development

1st CYCLO meeting Minutes

Acharnes/Athens, Greece

23rd and 24 th May 2011

CYCLO Meeting Agenda

Monday, 23rd May 2011

8.15 Meeting at the Fresh Hotel reception

8.30 Departure from the Fresh Hotel by bus to the City of Acharnes

9.30 Delegates arrival and welcome in the City of Acharnes

9.45 Welcome Dr Nikolaos Krimnianiotis, Managing director of Efxini Poli /Secretary General of the Municipality of Acharnes Sotirios Douros, Major of Acharnes

10.15 Opening of the Working Sessions Giovanni Brandoni, European Policies Councillor of the Municipality of Chiaravalle

10.30 1st Working Session – Introduction to the Cycling Asse ts Analysis Gregor Steklačič – Litija Development Centre

10.45 Round Table: presentation of the Partners’ Cy cling Assets Analysis Litija Development Cente – Gregor Steklačič/ Saša Ceglar Municipality of Soller – Lluis Rullano Municipality of Ioannina – George Anastasoulis CIMAC – Julio Cimac Municipality of Chiaravalle – Viola Acanfora/Silvia Campanella Cyprus Tourism Organisation – Monica Liatiri (state-of-the-art) Prefecture of Preveza – Apostolos Pappas

12.00 Conclusion of the 1 st Working Session Gregor Steklačič - Litija Development Centre

12.30 Lunch 14.30 2nd Working Session – State-of-the Art of CYCLO: Activ ities and Financial Implementation

Viola Acanfora/Silvia Campanella/Laura Carletti – Municipality of Chiaravalle

15.30 Round Table: partners’ feedback on project im plementation (criticalities, suggestions, etc.)

16.30 Steering Committee Meeting • CYCLO project communication; • Effect of the Kallikratis reform on MED projects implementation; • First Level Control procedures • Others to be suggested by the partners

17.30 Conclusion of the 2 nd Working Session and departure to the Fresh Hotel

18.30 Arrival at the Fresh Hotel

Tuesday, 24th May 2011

8.15 Meeting at the Fresh Hotel reception

8.30 Departure from the Fresh Hotel by bus to the City of Acharnes

9.30 3rd Working Session – Focus on short-medium term activ ities Laura Carletti – Municipality of Chiaravalle

10.15 Master Plan Format and further development Dimitris Papayiannis – Efxini Poli

11.00 Round Table: partners’ discussion on Master Plan and other future activities

11.45 4th Working Session – Presentation of the preliminary communication results related to the use of Web 2.0 tools Viola Acanfora – Municipality of Chiaravalle

12.15 Conclusion of the meeting and agreement for t he next meeting in Cyprus Laura Carletti – Municipality of Chiaravalle Monica Liatiri – Cyprus Tourism Organisation

12.30 Lunch

14.30 Study Visit to the nearby Mount Parnitha for Assets Analysis of the Mountain Bike /Olympic Cycling roads and paths – Athens Olympic G ames 2004

18.30 Departure to the Fresh Hotel

PARTICIPANTS LIST

NAME SURNAME FUNCTION ORGANISATION

1 Giovanni Brandoni EU Policies Councilor Chiaravalle Municipality (IT)

2 Silvia Campanella SC member Chiaravalle Municipality (IT)

3 Laura Carletti Project coordinator Chiaravalle Municipality (IT)

4 Viola Acanfora Technical Secretariat Chiaravalle Municipality (IT)

5 Monica Liatiri CYCLO Project Manager

Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CY)

6 Othonas Kaisaris External Expert Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CY)

7 Gregor Steklačič CYCLO Project Manager

Development Centre Litija (SL)

8 Sasa Ceglar CYCLO Project Assistant

Development Centre Litija (SL)

9 George Anastasoulis Project Manager Ioannina Municipality (GR)

10 John Benekos SC member Ioannina Municipality (GR)

11 Lluís Rullan Project Manager City Hall of Soller (ES)

12 Bernat Reynés Project Assistant City Hall of Soller (ES)

13 Julio Mateus Project Manager CIMAC (PT)

14 Apostolos Pappas Project Manager Preveza Prefecture (GR)

15 Sotiris Douros Mayor of Acharnes Municipality

Efxini Poli (GR)

16 Dr. Nikos Krimnianiotis

Managing Director Efxini Poli & Secretary General of Acharnes Municipality

Efxini Poli (GR)

17 Panagiotis Anagnostopoulos Assistant Mayor of Acharnes Municipality

Efxini Poli (GR)

18 Dr. Dimitris Papayiannis Project Manager Efxini Poli

Efxini Poli (GR)

19 Mary Krimnianioti Assistant Financial Manager Efxini Poli

Efxini Poli (GR)

Day 1 – 23rd May 2011 Opening of the meeting The Managing director of Efxini Poli and Secretary General of the Municipality of Acharnes, Dr. Nikolaos Krimnianiotis, the Major of Acharnes, Sotirios Douros, and the European Policies Councillor of the Municipality of Chiaravalle, Giovanni Brandoni, welcomed the partners. 1st Working session: Presentation of the Partners’ Cyc ling Assets Analysis After a quick introduction of the Analysis process done by Gregor Steklačič – Litija Development Centre, each partner presented the results of the Cycling Assets Analysis carried out at local level.

o Litija Development Centre : the Analysis was carried out in the Municipality of Kamnik (close to Ljubljana), that will provide the 15% co-financing to the CYCLO project. The cycling infrastructures in the area are well developed and just few connections are lacking. The main problem in the Municipality is that in the planning processes, cycling is always considered the less important issue, so cycling policies are not well integrated in the urban planning ones. Other problems related to the promotion of cycling are the weather (in autumn and winter is really cold, so it’s difficult to use bicycles as urban transport mean), the bad position of the parking racks (that are often hidden or too far from the main entrance of the building they are close by), the lack of a Municipal strategy on the cycling signs (the only signs present are installed by private people). The Tourist Info Point provide a service of bike hiring, but it isn’t a very efficient service as it takes quite long to prepare the bikes (that are stored in another location), so the tourists have to book them pretty in advance. Moreover, no helmets are provided.

o City Hall of Soller : the cycling infrastructures in Soller are very poor. There is no signalization at all and very few cycling tracks. However, due to the climate conditions, the bike is a very used transport mean (it is possible to cycle since February till the end of November). Also in Soller the parking racks are bad located (usually on the back, not on the main entrance). The activities of the City Hall of Soller up to now were related to awareness raising and education activities in the schools to promote the use of bicycles to go to school and to make the pupils teach to their parents to use the bicycles as daily transport mean. Moreover, the project is being advertised in the Soller facebook page.

o Ioannina Municipality : The main problem related to the use of bicycles is the lack of integration of the cycling policies in the normal urban traffic plans. Moreover, the situation is complicated by the lack of big streets: the roads are narrow and that causes a high traffic congestion, making it difficult to use bicycles as daily transport mean. Another problem is represented by the presence of street dogs and by the high temperature in the summer. Other gaps include the lack of specific cycling information for tourists, the lack of regular meetings, the absence of a real cycling policy and the scarce attitude of the citizens to use the bikes as urban transport mean. A positive aspect if the presence of two cycling stations for bike sharing: one in the city centre (for shopping) and one along the lake (for tourists).

o CIMAC: the area focus of the Analysis is the Municipality of Evora, where is a very poor situation of cycling infrastructures. There isn’t a municipal planning on cycling and a very poor private initiative on the issue. The main focus of the pilot action will be to raise awareness between the citizens for the use of bicycles (for that purpose, a communication campaign will be carried out, including the purchase of two electrical bikes).

o Chiaravalle Municipality : In Chiaravalle there are special signs for cyclists on the access points to the cycling ways. The cycling ways are named after important people from Chiaravalle and a new signalisation project in underway: the city will be divided in 5 main areas, each represented by a specific colour and linked to a specific area of knowledge (e.g. green for nature and science). To promote specifically the use of bikes, there is a Committee named “Cycling Chiaravalle”. Its members are: the municipal Councillor in charge of the Public Works and Mobility, the city officer responsible for the management and development of cycling ways, the city traffic wardens and the association Bicipiù. The aim of the Committee, that meets 3-4 times per year, is to promote the use of bicycles and to improve the cycling infrastructures. There are a lot of initiatives underway, as an agreement with restaurants and country houses to give a 15% discount to cyclists, the event “On the right way” to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Italian unification, the Bicibus initiatives (volunteers from the Bicipiù association who come along with the children from home to school) or the initiative “Slow look life” that includes the project “ Here the cyclists are welcomed” (shops, cafés or restaurants pay 100 € to the Municipality and have back a bicycle rack just in front of their shop). As regards to the potentialities, Chiaravalle is located in a good position between the sea and the mountains and could improve its visibility as cycling city. The main gaps are the lack of signed cycling routes for tourists, the absence of internet-based cycling route planners, the lack of bike sharing terminals, the lack of information for tourists in foreign languages (the Bicipiù website is just in Italian), the scarce integration of cycling policies in the normal urban traffic plans.

o Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) : The focus area of the Analysis is the Municipality of Limassol. The Municipality possesses a moderate cycling network, which is safe and well structured. The cycle network covers nowadays only a small proportion (9km) however an expansion, by approx. 25km, of the cycle track network has been planned and is currently under construction .This project, which has been included in the updated Limassol Local Plan, is co-funded by both European and National funds. Cycling is allowed everywhere. The main problem for the use of bicycles is the behavior of the car drivers. Often cars are parked on the cycle lanes or path making it difficult for bikes to move easily. There is no overall school strategy to improve the use of bicycles. The only awareness raising campaigns are carried out by private associations or NGO’s committed to the improvement of eco friendly actions. Regarding cycling facilities and information for tourists, the Municipality depends on the policies adopted and implemented by the Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO). Tourist information is only provided through the websites of CTO and other tourist agents or printed material (tourist guidebooks, leaflets, brochures, etc) produced by the CTO. Overall, there is no concrete and integrated Cycling Policy in Cyprus. However a few years ago a Committee for the Promotion and Development of Cycling in Cyprus has been established whose main intention is the design and implementation of the

necessary norms and rules governing a National Cycling Strategy through the adoption of a law regulating the use of bicycles.

o Region of Epirus - Preveza Prefecture : After the Kallicratis reform, the former Prefecture of Preveza has been included in the Region of Epirus. Its headquarters are now in the city of Ioannina, while detached offices are still in Preveza. The Analysis focused on the area of Preveza, where there is no distinction (in the city plans and policies) between cars and bicycles. the cycling infrastructures are very poor and there is nearly no specific signalisation. There are few cycling paths on the coast and not enough parkings. There are not intermodality services and there aren’t facilities to promote the use of bicycles, even if bikes are allowed on buses as luggage. The former prefecture of Preveza carried out a Plan to promote the use of bicycles between the tourists, but it is not currently applied. It will be included in the CYCLO masterplan and further developed. There is a big gap for cycling lessons in the schools, cycling facilities for tourists, guidebooks, etc. Until the 80’s the bikes were commonly used by the citizens as urban transport mean, while now there is a scarce attitude of people to use the bikes for daily transports.

Conclusion of the 1 st Working Session Although the Analysis template was completed by a Lexicon of cycling terms including images (to understand how and when to use correctly terms as cycling lane), the main obstacle in the comparison of the partner Cycling Assets Analysis was due to language differences and misunderstandings. Another problem is caused by the inclusion of pedestrian lanes or paths in the Analysis, while it should be just on cycling infrastructures, even if cycling is usually allowed also in pedestrian zones. For that reason, the Analysis will be reviewed in this sense. Also, the Analysis will be published on the website, so the partners will have about 2 weeks to review them, to amend possible mistakes or to add new information gained. 2nd Working Session – State of the art of CYCLO: activ ities and financial implementation Up to now, an underpsending problem/cirticality has been detected in the CYCLO financial situation, as detailed in the table below:

Year AF forecast Actual spending

Difference

2009 2.000 € 813,24 € 1.186,76 €

2010 151.400 € 24.668,74 € 126.731,26 €

2011 361.300 € 10.781,41 € 350.518,59 €

2012 390.300 € 0 € 390.300 €

Total 905.000 € 36.263,39 € 868.736,61 €

In the attached Power Point presentation, single tables per partner are provided. The current spending period runs from the 1st March until the 31st August 2011. The next deadline to present the claim of expenditures incurred until the 31st August 2011 is the 31st October 2011 . Due to the underspending of the project, in order to avoid the risk of cuts to the budget due to the decommittment rule, each partner is requested to prepare a planning for the budget spending, divided in two periods: the expenditures planned up to the 31st of August and the the ones planned up to the 31st December 2011 (just expenditures piad up to these dates shouls be kept into account). CYCLO Steering Committee Meeting The topics discussed during the Steering Committee meeting were:

• CYCLO project communication: due to internal procedural problems, Marche Region, in charge of the development of the general project communication, was not able to finalise the public tender to appoint a communication company. For that reason, the Lead Partner decided, in agreement with Marche Region and with the MED JTS, and with the approval of CYCLO Steering Committee, to move the communication budget from Marche region to the Municipality of Chiaravalle. The Municipality of Chiaravalle just closed the tender for the communication and has appointed a company that is developing the communication materials for the project.

• Effect of the Kallicratis reform on MED projects implementation: one single partner, the former Prefecture of Preveza, now Region of Epirus, is directly affected by the Kallicratis reform, but also the Municipality of Ioannina was forced to slow down the project activities, due to the changes in the public procurement rules and in the lack of clear information about expenditures claiming in Greece. The partners are in close contact with the Lead Partner and are facing this difficult situation.

• First Level Control procedures: Marche Region just appointed an internal First Level Controller, while the last partner lacking of a FLC is the Soller City Hall. Due to the delay caused also by the city election in May, the Soller City Hall will be able to appoint an internal FLC just by the mid of July.

• Budget changes: some partners (Ioannina Municipality, etc.) need a budget modification under the 10%. For example two Greek partners (the Ioannina Municipality and the Region of Epirus- Preveza Unit) are suffering for the consequences of the Kallicratis reform and cannot claim staff costs for the 2010 and 2011, so they need to shift this money to another budget line. The template to request the budget modification will be sent to the partners, that will have 2 weeks at disposal to finalise the budget change request. A major budget change seems to be necessary for CIMAC: the partners should inform by the mid of July the Lead Partner if any other major change is needed, in order to make a single request to the Managing Authority.

Day 2 – 24 th May 2011 3rd Working Session: Focus on short-medium term activi ties General overview of the next activities to be implemented within the framework of the CYCLO project. As detailed in the attached short-term timeframe (Annex 1), the main activities are related to:

• the Communication: each partner will be asked to provide materials (texts, pictures) about the involved area and to give feedback about the communication products under development.

• 3rd progress report and financial claim to be submitted to the JTS by the 31st of October 2011.

• Elaboration of the Masterplan, on the basis of the template provided by Efxini Poli. • Definition and Planning of the Pilot actions • Organisation of the 1st Focus Group and of the 1st Round Table: the partners have

to fix the dates of the first Focus Group and Round Table and to lay down the list of the stakeholders to invite to these meetings. For each meeting, the partners have to provide in advance to the Lead Partner the following information: dates, location and stakeholder list. After the meeting implementation the partners have to provide to the Lead Partner the minutes of the meeting, the signed attendance sheet, the meeting agenda and pictures.

• Awareness raising events (for pupils, tourists, commuters, etc. on the basis of the local strategy, expressed in the Masterplan): the partners will start to plan the organisation of such events. They will select the topic of the events, the target group, the period they will be organised and the number of events (about 6 for the whole project duration).

• Local communication campaigns: the partners will start to plan the contents of the local communication campaigns and the main means they will use (tv broadcasting, press conferences, posters, etc.).

The overview of the next activities went together with the detailed presentation of the Monitoring file, that each partner has to fill in by each claim deadline. Masterplan format and further development Efxini Poli presented the Masterplan format (Annex 2): the partners should send their feedbacks and comments in two weeks. 4th Working Session – Presentation of the prelimina ry communication results related to the use of Web 2.0 tools Overview of the results of the CYCLO facebook pages and twitter: the CYCLO facebook page has got 114 users (124 up to now) and the Twitter page has got 15 followers. Presentation of the first communication products delivered (leaflet template, folder, homepage of the website, etc.). The partners are requested to have a look to the attached Power Point presentation on the Communication and to give a feedback on the products in two weeks at the latest.

Conclusion of the meeting and agreement of the next meeting in Cyprus The dates proposed for the next CYCLO meeting in Cyprus – Limassol, are the 3rd and 4th October 2011. The partners should double check their availability and confirm if these dates are ok by the end of June, in order to start to draft the meeting agenda and book cheapest flights. To do list

WHAT WHO WHEN

To review the Analysis for the publication on the website

All the partners

By the 20th of June

To plan the next forecasted expenditures: the ones will be paid by the 31st of August and the one will be paid by the end of the year.

All the partners By the 24th of June

To give a feedback on the Masterplan format

All the partners By the 24th of June

To fill in the file to request budget changes under the 10%

The interested partners By the 17th of June

To inform the Lead Partner if there is the need for a major change (new budget line or change over the 20%)

The interested partners By the 15th of July

To fix the indicative/confirmed date of the first Focus Group and to laid down the list of the stakeholder will be invited

All the partners By the 24th of June

To fix the indicative/confirmed date of the first Round Table and to laid down the list of the stakeholder will be invited

All the partners By the 24th of June

To plan and start organising the awareness raising events

All the partners By the 15th of July

To plan the local communication campaigns

All the partners By the 15th of July

Annex 1 – CYCLO Short-term Timeframe

SHORT TERM TIMEFRAME May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

1. COMMUNICATION 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 191.1 CYCLO image design and delivery 10 11 Chiaravalle 1.2 Web2.0 tools implementation 8 9 10 11 12 Chiaravalle and all PPs contributions1.3 Final meeting in Chiaravalle2. MANAGEMENT 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 192.1 Kick-off meeting2.2.1 I Progress report submission to JTS2.2.2 II Progress report submission to JTS2.2.3 III Progress report submission to JTS 3 4 5 6 D all PPs2.2.4 IV Progress report submission to JTS 1 2 3 42.2.5 V Progress report submission to JTS2.2.6 VI Progress report submission to JTS3. CYCLE-FRIENDLY CITIES* 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 183.1 Assets analysis 113.1.1 Analysis guidelines3.1.2 Analysis elaboration 6 Litija, Cyprus, Preveza 3.1.3 Meeting in Athens M23.2 Master plans elaboration] 6 7 8 9 10 113.2.1 Master plan format 63.2.2 Master plan elaboration* 3 4 5 6 7 8 Chiaravalle, Ioannina, Soller, Pesaro, CIMAC, Litija, Preveza3.2.3 Case-studies 4 5 Chiaravalle and all PPs suggestions3.2.4 Meeting in Cyprus M33.3 Pilot projects 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Chiaravalle, Ioannina, Soller, Pesaro, Litija4. CYCLE FRIENDS* 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 144.1 Target 1 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 144.1.1 Focus Group 1 organisation by all PPs4.1.2 Focus Group 2 organisation by FG4.1.3 Round tables 1 organisation by RT all PPs4.1.4 Round tables 2 organisation by4.1.5 Meeting in Litija4.2 Target 2 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 all PPs4.2.1 Pupils guided tours organisation by 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 all PPs4.2.2 Courses on cycling skills organisation by 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 all PPs4.2.3 Cycle tourists 1-day tours organisation by 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 all PPs4.2.4 Initiatives for commuters organisation by 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 all PPs4.2.5 Road safety training days organisation by 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 all PPs4.2.6 Local communication campaigns realization by 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 all PPs

M3 = 2nd meeting in CyprusD = Progress Report DeliveryFG = Focus GroupsRT = Round Tables

PROJECT PARTNERS INVOLVED

Annex 2 – Masterplan format

DRAFT VERSION 1

SUMMARY OUTLINE INTEGRATED MASTER PLAN FORMAT

MED PROJECT TITLE:

CYCLO

Contents List of tables List of figures Introduction

SECTION 1: SUMMARY Mission Statement, Goals and Objectives of the Master Plan SECTION 2: MAPPING – CURRENT SITUATION ANALYSIS 1. General inventory of existing Municipality/City Transportation Infrastructure 2. General inventory of existing bicycle facilities/ Infrastructure 3. Past conditions which prevailed at the Municipality/City 4. Potential Funding Sources and Uses of Loans 5. Recording future Projects / Proposals 6. Inventory of Best Practices / Master Plans for Cycling Infrastructure in: A) Countries - Cities B) E.U. Countries – E.U. cities 7. Mapping existing Cycling Networks and potential Actors SECTION 3: PROMOTION & AWARENESS A. Target Group/ audiences’ Research 1. Joint - targets (people, young car drivers, representatives of collective interests, representatives of local authorities) 2. Potential size of the target groups 3. Strategies and public media approach B. Designing Promotion and Awareness activities 1. Benefits from the use of bicycles (Social, environmental, economic, health) 2. Strategies to Attract social actors/ information activities (Meetings, events, seminars) 3. Public Relations

4. Creating Informational material 5. Estimated Costs SECTION 4: RESEARCH AND DESIGN STRUCTURE 1. Construction Projects 2. Technical Research (Research Technical Feature) 2.1. Developing Cycling Routes/Road Design 2.2. Surface and Paving Construction Materials 2.3. Signalling 2.4. Points for Cycling Parking/ Parking Facilities 2.5. Points of friction with highways 2.6. Points of friction with pedestrian streets 2.7. Social Safety and General Safety issues for cyclists 2.8. Means for Tourism Development 2.9. Combined with other forms of infrastructure/ Inter- Modality 2.10. Maintenance 2.11. Implementation and Control Issues 2.12. Provision of Information - Information Kiosks 3. Estimated Costs 4. Investigation of efficiency of creating a Cycle Path Network SECTION 5: DISADVANTAGES & POTENTIAL PROBLEMS 1. Overview of Potential Problems 1.1. Conflict with shop owners 1.2. Conflict with private owners 1.3. Problems arising from existing roads 1.4. Bicycle Safety 2. Technical barriers and other obstacles 3. Alternatives / suggestions SECTION 6: FINANCIAL ISSUES

1. Financial Forecast of potential design / construction 2. Sources and Use of loans / Funding 3. Financial Planning 4. Stages of Project Financing 5. Feasibility Study and Viability SECTION 7: TIME TABLES 1. Time Table and Objectives of a Campaign to encourage cycling or/and Cycling Infrastructure 2. Closing Dates of a Campaign to encourage Cycling or/and Cycling Infrastructure 3. Time Value of actions / activities of a Campaign to encourage cycling / or Cycling Infrastructure Sources Bibliography Appendices

Annex 3 – Power Point Presentations (attached zipped folde r) Annex 4 – Attendance sheets signed (attached zipped folder )