Vuelta Fietshub and legacy

How did staging the Vuelta help set up and implement the programme?  

The arrival of the Vuelta in Utrecht was the impetus behind the project. SportUtrecht saw this event as a means to reinforce its mission (more Utrechters on the move). The momentum of the Vuelta contributed to making the project possible by, among other things, connecting its partners and giving visibility to the project and SportUtrecht as an organisation. 

Which partners were directly involved? 

More than 40 collaborative national and local partners contributed, from both public and private sectors. Partners played a role in a variety of ways, for example by providing funds and equipment, but also substantively through involvement in programming or communication related to the project. For more details, see also https://vueltafietshub.nl/partners. 

Which parties from the business community had a role in making this happen? 

Nice examples are KWS Infra (Amsterdam-Utrecht branch), Wallaard B.V., Het Bureau van Grafisch Lyceum Utrecht, De Fietskoerier Utrecht and the International Security Agency (ISA). Many of these companies have lent their support to the project on the basis of content or social commitment by making (financial) resources, network, knowledge, etc. available. In some cases, in combination with a Social Return assignment with the Municipality of Utrecht. It was also precisely the combination of various partners alongside a good match between the needs of the project and the strengths of the partner concerned that made the collaborations successful. 

Which social issues were tackled and solved? 

In order to steer actively on the social impact of the project, a number of issues were highlighted and a separate approach was developed during the project to actually manage the desired short and long-term impact. Monitoring was then carried out during implementation and follow-up programming will be developed using the outcomes from autumn 2022. Examples of issues: 

• Promote social cohesion between (vulnerable) target groups in a specific neighbourhood: by organising one of the events on the site of the Asylum Seekers’ Centre (AZC) in an Utrecht neighbourhood, an attempt was made to promote cohesion between residents of the AZC and residents from the surrounding neighbourhood. 
• Sustainability / circularity: This theme was applied in concrete activities (clean-up actions, a mini recycling factory, mobile BMX track made of recycled plastic, etc.) in order to use sport as a tool to raise awareness about these issues. 
• Making cultural offers accessible to all: various offers in the field of art and culture were organised and the need for follow-up activities identified. 
• The question of whether and how it is possible to focus on social impact and how to make better use of major elite sporting events in the future was a common thread running throughout the project and has been incorporated and set out in the aforementioned approach. 

Was there cooperation between municipalities? 

Yes, both within and outside the province of Utrecht. Within the province; by organising a number of events in “Vuelta arrival municipalities” as well as with municipalities in the province of Brabant (via La Vuelta Holanda). There was also exchange of knowledge and experience regarding activation programmes including with the municipality of The Hague/Rotterdam (Olympic Festival and bid Tour Start 2025) and the Belgian city of Leuven around the 2021 World Cycling Championships. 

How can and will this programme be followed up in the future? 

The question about the follow-up of the Vuelta Cycling Hub project ran as a thread through the preparation and execution of the project. Thus, a follow-up step was worked out for all activities, materials, collaborations and knowledge that was acquired during the project. As a result, the activation period runs directly into the regular activities of SportUtrecht and its cooperative partners. Important factors to actually enable this follow-up are also relevant for other activations and organisations. Namely: clear vision and steering before and during project implementation, an organisation where the follow-up can be established and preferably continues with additional funding (in order to realise it’s social impact aims). For SportUtrecht, the aforementioned approach has led to a broadening and deepening of activities, visibility in the city and region and therefore more impact on sports and physical activity in the short and long term. 

For more information, please visit: www.vueltafietshub.nl or www.sportutrecht.nl 

Contact: laurens.hitman@sportutrecht.nl