Sharing Dutch cycling knowledge with the Global South: An interview with Iganga Foundation

We spoke with Alejandro Montes Rojas, Chairman of the Board of Iganga Foundation, about the foundation’s work, its connection to Goudappel, the importance of adapting Dutch knowledge to local contexts, and why young professionals could be key to driving future change. 

Could you tell us a bit about Iganga Foundation and what you do on the ground? 

Our mission is to share Dutch knowledge on sustainable mobility in countries in the Global South. We provide capacity building, organise workshops and webinars, and share our knowledge and expertise. 

Why does Iganga focus specifically on sustainable mobility and cycling? 

Iganga Foundation started within Goudappel, a mobility consultancy, as part of the company’s social responsibility activities. For this reason, we started with a focus on sustainable and active mobility. We are aware of the transformative potential of sustainable mobility: it can improve people’s quality of life, contribute to equity and provide much-needed accessibility.  

In the Global South, cities are often car-dependent, and we provide expertise to help make them more liveable. As someone from the Global South, I believe this approach aligns with the needs of numerous cities across the world. 

Tell us about a project you are currently working on. 

At the moment, we are collaborating with a Colombian foundation called Despacio. They are exploring the effects of what is known in the Netherlands as a “bromfietsdrempel”, or how we have called it in english “reversed speed bump”. In Colombia, there are safety problems related to the high speeds of motorcycles, which often use cycling infrastructure. This situation, we know is not specific to Colombia, and is also present for example in African cities.The Despacio Foundation wants to understand whether this type of speed bump could provide a solution by making it uncomfortable for motorcycles to use cycling infrastructure, while still being comfortable for cyclists. So, at the moment, we are conducting research to understand the experience of these speed bumps here in the Netherlands and see how we can translate them to the Colombian context.  

Although we are working with a local foundation and the project is initially focused on the Colombian context, we think it could be applicable and therefore useful for many other cities in the Global South. 

When working in cities that don’t have the same cycling culture or urban fabric as the Netherlands, how do you translate Dutch knowledge to those contexts? 

The first step is always understanding the culture and the reality of the place we are working in. So it begins with research: What does the city look like? How do people live there? What are the important economic, political and cultural aspects? Understanding the context is key to a successful outcome. Then, once you start working on the ground, we present what happens in the Netherlands, not to “copy and paste” the Dutch approach design, but to provide inspiration.  

Dutch examples are useful for extracting important principles that can be translated to other contexts, and they show the positive impact cycling can have on people’s lives. 

Is there one project that has particularly stayed with you? 

I would say Young City Shapers in collaboration with Doh Eain. A project focused on teaching  young professionals from Asia about sustainable mobility. It was a series of webinars where we gathered a group of around 15 students from different cities in Asia and gave them a series of three webinars on different topics related to sustainable mobility. They then worked on an assignment for their own city. It’s been really interesting for me to work with young people who are very involved in creating change in their cities, and the results are very impressive. This is an indirect way of creating impact, as these young professionals are the ones who will drive change in their communities one day. 

What do you see as the future of Iganga Foundation? 

What we want for Iganga Foundation is for people in the Global South to be able to find us. They can come to us with questions, and what we want to do is to share with them what we know. Our goal is to share the knowledge we have.  

What I hope the future looks like is that when people think about mobility in the Netherlands as an example to follow, they also think about how Iganga foundation could help them; whether it is through a webinar, a study visit or a tailor-made project.  

The base-line for future work is knowledge exchange, which for us is a key element to foster change in cities across the world.