Maximizing Learning Through Study Visits: Insights From The Swiss Cycling Capital
Transition Readiness Program | Bern, Switzerland
In the past decade, the Swiss capital, Bern, has seen tremendous improvements in cycling, following a radical shift in the city’s mobility policy, also remarkable at a national scale. In 2015, Bern’s city council voted in favor of the Velo-Offensive, a comprehensive cycling strategy. In 2016, after multiple research and co-creation phases, implementation began. Behind this strategy is the ambition to strengthen Bern’s position as the bicycle capital of Switzerland by accelerating developments in cycling infrastructure, particularly parking facilities, creating more space for cyclists on the streets, and expanding the reliable bike-share program, PubliBike, launched in 2018, all while actively involving citizens in the process.
To share its political ambitions, exchange best practices, and inspire other cities to transition to cycling, the capital has been welcoming Swiss and international delegations of all sorts of experts and practitioners on study visits. In the words of Michael Liebi, a transport planner at the Pedestrian and Bicycle Traffic Department, “visitor groups often assume that implementing cycling measures in their cities is too difficult. Bern is the perfect example, people ask, How did Bern achieve this? They want to show that cycling is possible, even in a Swiss city." Study visits to the capital usually span from half a day to a full day and include lectures by local experts, Q&A sessions, bike tours, and panel discussions, delving into the city’s efforts in cycling policies, planning history, and the latest innovative infrastructure developments. The city came to us with several questions: How can we do more than ‘show and tell’? How can the time and resources we put into study visits help us learn, too?
We view study visits not just as an opportunity to show Bern’s best practices but, even more important, they are a chance for Bern to enhance its internal capacity to fast forward projects and policies within and between different departments and to learn from visitors.
Working together with the City of Bern, we gathered insights into the potential and challenges of organizing and hosting these visits, understanding the typical structure and content of the sessions, and identifying what visiting groups perceive as strengths and areas for improvement. As interest in Bern’s cycling policies grows, study visits hold potential to become more than simple show-and-tell sessions. Instead, they can serve as opportunities for deeper internal and external knowledge exchange, fostering a common vision for soft mobility.
How can Bern leverage study visits to advance cycling policy and program goals?
A key observation from our research is that while these visits are valuable, they have become increasingly resource-intensive - several civil servants are involved in planning and organizing for a single group. All the while, their “real” work (building bike infrastructure!) still needs to be done as well. Even though everyone we spoke with enjoyed leading study visits, they also acknowledged it’s a lot of work, and may not be sustainable in the long run without thinking strategically about them.
A first step in positioning study visits as a core internal competence is to establish learning and exchange as a common vision. Up to today, Bern’s study visits about their cycling policy have largely been treated as a delivery activity rather than a mutually exchange, an opportunity to learn from visitors, their feedback, and their expertise. Visitors can be actively encouraged to share the insights they gain during study visits with their colleagues back home. In parallel, the City of Bern is encouraged to routinely collect internal lessons from visitors regarding their perspectives on the projects they observed and discussed during the study visits.
Study visits were described as empowering by Bern officials we interviewed, helping them shift focus from future tasks to an appreciation of past achievements, and even reflection on “how things could work better”. This shows that study visits can serve crucial internal knowledge production processes and may enhance cross-departmental coordination.
So what does the future hold for study visits in Bern?
Following the previous six-month research exchange with the municipality itself, we are now pleased to enter the second phase of our collaboration, focused on optimizing study visits for deeper learning and impact. The next step? A follow-up workshop in late February with the same group of stakeholders. This session will build on Bern’s experience in hosting study visits and co-create a vision for learning.
Written by Louise Raclet, Researcher at Urban Cycling Institute.
This research and article has been commissioned by Stadt Bern. We are grateful for their partnership. Is your city interested in partnering with Urban Cycling Institute? Send us a message at partnerships@urbancyclinginstitute.org
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