From Tauragė, Lithuania to Utrecht: A One Day Study Visit

On 15 April 2026, the Dutch Cycling Embassy welcomed a high-level delegation from the Tauragė Region in Lithuania for a half-day study visit in Utrecht. The group of eleven participants, including mayors, municipal directors, and regional representatives, came with a clear ambition: to shift their region away from car dependency and toward more sustainable, cycling-friendly mobility, even in a predominantly rural, low-density context.

The afternoon opened at the DCE office with a welcome and introduction, before the floor was handed to Christien Rodenburg of New Urban Mobility. Drawing on her many years as a cycling expert at the Municipality of Utrecht, Christien walked the delegation through how Utrecht has transformed its approach to cycling over the decades, not just through infrastructure, but through changes in municipal organisation and behaviour as well. She framed the mobility transition around three interconnected components: infrastructure, organisation, and behaviour, and showed how Utrecht has worked on all three simultaneously as the city evolved. To make Utrecht’s story relevant beyond a major city context, she brought in examples from smaller settlements such as Houten and De Bilt, demonstrating that the principles are transferable to villages and rural areas, precisely the context Tauragė is working in. A interactive Q&A followed, with the mayors engaging closely on questions of governance and implementation.

After the presentation, the group mounted bikes for a two-hour guided cycling tour through Utrecht. The route took the delegation through the inner city and on to the Overvecht, offering a first-hand look at some of Utrechts most instructive cycling features. Highlights included cycling streets that prioritise bike traffic, well-designed roundabouts that balance safety and flow, and of course a visit to the bicycle parking facility at Utrecht Centraal illustrating what truly intermodal mobility can look like in practice. The tour also touched on connectivity as a design principle, a theme directly relevant to Tauragė, which already has some cycling infrastructure in place but is working to stitch it into a coherent network.

We thank Christien Rodenburg for her expert guidance and her ability to translate Utrecht’s cycling story into lessons applicable far beyond its borders. We also thank the Tauragė delegation for their curiosity, engagement, and commitment to building a greener region.

Would you like to explore Dutch cycling practice through a study visit of your own? Get in touch with us, we would be delighted to welcome you.