Belgium
BelgiumWhat we do
Origin of johanna.be
On July 25, 2003, Johanna and some friends were hit by a car during a trip in the Ardennes on a small road without pedestrian infrastructure. A number of people subsequently joined forces to campaign for safer pedestrian traffic, both for short daily journeys and for recreational applications.
Purpose of the non-profit organization
Johanna.be vzw takes and supports initiatives around active road users (pedestrians and cyclists, but also users of public transport) and liveable streets. Road safety is high on the agenda.
The basic principles are the right not to be endangered as an active road user and the need to create a public space that invites the use of sustainable mobility modes, where the status quo should not be a negative argument.
Our Mission and Vision
Johanna.be encourages every positive initiative, aiming at giving slow traffic users, like pedestrians and bicyclists, their own space.
In the early years (2003-2012), the focus of johanna.be was on safeguarding or reopening local roads in Belgium, mainly paths for active road users. In the meantime, wonderful work is being done in that domain by Trage Wegen and Tous à Pied (formerly sentiers.be).
In the meantime, a very strong commitment was created in the International Federation of Pedestrians , to put almost all energy into this international work from 2012 onwards. We even launched our “continuous streets” project via the IFP, and worked together with the Pedestrian Movement and sentiers.be for the implementation in Belgium. The number of signs indicating continuous streets (for pedestrians and cyclists) in Belgium can now be estimated at over 10,000.
Since 2021, we have been working with new impetus on some new projects, such as the I ♥️ bru=30 project and the livable streets scans, which you can read more about on this website.