Conference News: March 2012

Our Call for Proposals is now closed after an overwhelming response. Program announcements will begin in early Spring 2012. Here is a program preview based on the responses we received:

About the Conference

The 17th Pro Walk/Pro Bike® conference will convene in Long Beach, California, September 10 to September 13. Pro Walk/Pro Bike® will be attended by an expected 1,000 walking and bicycling professionals from the United States and abroad. The conference is the premier venue for presenting work and meeting peers from the fields of transportation planning, engineering, health, advocacy, public policy, research, and more. The National Center for Bicycling & Walking, a program of Project for Public Spaces, established the conference in 1980.

For 2012, the conference theme is Pro Walk/Pro Bike: Pro Place. Walking and biking are community-building tools; community is built around place. Throughout the four-day conference, during poster sessions, panel presentations, and plenary sessions, conference participants will be challenged to think of themselves as Placemakers. The Pro Place theme will be explored in upcoming editions of CenterLines and the conference newsletter.

Sunny Long Beach, California will host our conference in 2012. A city of more than 400 thousand, in the shadow of the Los Angeles megalopolis, Long Beach has quietly embraced walking and bicycling as tools to improve its economic vitality, its quality-of-life, and as a way to ensure all residents are connected to a just and equitable transportation system. Diverse in demographics and land use, the city serves as a living laboratory about what is possible when bicycling is made convenient, walking is made safe, and transit is made connected to where people live, work, and play.

Conference Contact

For questions about the program, or for more information on becoming a sponsor, please contact:

Mark Plotz
Conference Director
mark@bikewalk.org
(202) 223-3621