About us

History

The International Federation of Pedestrians (IFP) was founded in 1963 as the umbrella organization for national pedestrian advocacy groups. Over the years IFP has organized many international meetings dealing with various aspects of improving the pedestrian’s lot, including conferences in NL-The Hague (1972 and 1979), London (1975), Amsterdam (1975), N-Geilo (1976), Paris (1978), S-Goeteborg (1981), F-Perpignan (1983). After these conferences occasional and informal meetings have taken place.

For some years, IFP has published a quaterly newsletter, Pedestrian International, and an occasional series of more technical material under the title of The Voice of the Pedastrian.

With the start of the yearly Walk21-conferences (http://www.walk21.com) in 2000, the activity of organising meetings stopped and the exchange of information on paper been replaced by the Internet. Yet, a new start for the Federation, based on the new communication technologies has become necessary and possible! Where Walk21 is concentrated on organising one big conference a year, the IFP on the other hand wants to be a network for all pedestrian specialists, supporting those who can’t or don’t want to travel to conferences every year.

The old logo has just been renewed. The children, the elderly and the handicapped are still important groups for our activity.

From 1963 to 1985 IFP concentrated its efforts on the problems of pedestrians in the industrially advanced countries. Since 1987 it has moved increasingly to a concern with pedestrians in developing countries, where the levels of motorization have been rising sharply, accompanied by an alarming increase in the number of traffic deaths and injuries.
One reflection of the new emphasis was IFP’s co-sponsorship of ICOTS 91, the International Conference on Traffic Safety, held in January 1991 in New Delhi, India, on the theme “The Vulnerable Road User”. IFP helped to organize the Pedestrians Association of India in early 1991, and is now offering help to found new pedestrian associations elsewhere in the world.

Since the 1990ies IFP is representing the pedestrians in the Working Party on Road Safety (WP1) of the UN-ECE at the United Nations in Geneva.

In 2005 IFP was re-organised with the support of the Swiss Pedestrian Association and a private Foundation. It is now a growing network of pedestrians associations ant other institutions and persons interested in walking.