PIARC World Congress
The PIARC quadrennial World Road Congress serves as the governing body’s central vehicle to drive its strategic mission, as well as its integral calibration mechanism at the end of each four year research cycle to refocus, adjust and grow each technical committee, as desired and required.
It provides an environment where Ministers, governments, the broad ranging private sector, road and transport administrators and organisations, academics, product and solutions’ providers, experts and practitioners can all cross connect across the globally important fields of road planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance.
The overarching conclusions for PIARC and other international organisations included:
- The presence and contribution from 42 transport ministers, more than 5,000 attendees from 144 countries, 7 key note speakers, more than 500 paper presenters and over 100 formal speaking platforms and senior bi-lateral meetings;
- A large range of technical sessions delivering the research of the last four years of groups of approximately 30 committee members including a pivotal first time focus on gender impacts on transport and disability inclusivity;
- Technical advances in the areas of designing new assets, operating and maintaining assets, preserving and repairing old assets, pavement materials development, asset management and data capture;
- Strategic direction updates from a range of working groups showing the importance of transparency, verification, stakeholder engagement and communication and delving deep into 5 special project sessions showcasing exemplary practice, key learnings and potential pitfalls;
- Faced up to global obligations of sustainability, anti-corruption and health & safety and exploring what still needs to be done;
- Poster presentations on the acknowledgment and warnings on the threats and risks of data saturation, governance, funding, finance and climate change and pavilions from 26 countries forming a global community of ideas exchanged and business deals done.