Introduction and Background

Would you like to help Dublin Cycling Campaign by joining one of our new Working Groups?

No matter what skills or experience you have, or indeed don’t have, we hope there is a Working Group (WG) for you. We would love to have you on board and contributing your energy to our mission. The main skills we need are enthusiasm for campaigning and a willingness to learn. The more people we have helping out, the quicker Dublin will become more bicycle friendly for all.

We have WGs for each of the four Dublin Local Authority areas: Dublin City, Fingal, South Dublin and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown. They advocate and campaign in their local areas looking for improved provision for cycling and walking. They also represent the Campaign on various Local Authority committees - e.g. the Strategic Policy Committees (SPCs for short). These WGs also work closely with our Events group to celebrate cycling by organising family-friendly social cycles and participating in events during Bike Week.

Closely related to the Local Authority groups is our revived “Bus Connects” WG. This group will have an exciting year ahead of it with the advancement of plans on the Bus Connects bus priority and cycle route schemes. And tied in with this is the Consultations WG which coordinates submissions to various Local Authorities on other cycle and traffic schemes.

We also have busy WGs covering our current Campaigns, the various Community Events we run and the active domain of Communications and engaging with the media.

Finally, like most other non-governmental organisations, we have dedicated groups covering Membership and Volunteer Recruitment, and also Finances and Fundraising.

All in all, we have something for everyone! You can read more below about each of our Working Groups (and note that this text will be updated over the coming period). And you can “sign-up” for any of the WG’s here. We look forward to hearing from you soon and if you have any questions, just drop us a line.

Our Working Groups - More Details

1 - Dublin City Council WG
At the very core of our work are our engagements with Dublin City Council. These take place in various ways, but include interactions via its SPC and its sub-committees and further meetings with elected Councillors, the City Manager, Directors of Services, Senior Engineers, the Cycling & Walking Officer and other staff members. Much of the work involves supporting our reps on the committees, suggesting items for agendas, and providing feedback to our reps on agenda items and supporting docs circulated before meetings.

2 - Fingal County Council WG
As per WG1 but with a focus on the Fingal County Council area.

3 - South Dublin County Council WG
As per WG1 but with a focus on the South Dublin County Council area.

4 - Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council WG
As per WG1 but with a focus on the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council area.

5 - BusConnects WG
BusConnects is the National Transport Authority’s programme to improve bus services in Irish cities and this includes a cycling strand. The NTA intends to progress the submission of the planning consent applications for all of the twelve Core Bus Corridors during 2022, so this means that the Campaign will be spending time examining plans and making submissions on these. We need all the help we can get with this work, particularly from those with a more technical bent and with experience of scrutinising drawings and assessing the quality of cycle schemes. Crucial, of course, is local knowledge to inform our submissions.

6 - Consultations (except regarding Bus Connects) WG [shared with Irish Cycling Campaign]
A core part of our advocacy work is providing informed submissions in response to consultations on various traffic and transport schemes. The experience and expertise in doing this is housed in our Consultations WG, which is a shared group with the national body Irish Cycling Campaign. See here. In this group we share our knowledge and expertise, and respond to the most important consultations that have a bearing on the cycling experience for existing and potential cyclists. This WG also connects closely with our four LA groups above.

7 - Campaigns WG
We have run many successful and influential campaigns over the years and this WG captures our experience in this domain. One example here is our Avoid the Thief campaign. We welcome volunteers with any type of experience, skills and ideas to this group!

8 - Events / Community Building WG
This group does what it says on the tin! It is all about planning and running fun events - both outdoors and online. In particular, we organise events during National Bike Week in the various Local Authority areas. We warmly welcome volunteers with enthusiasm for our mission to this group!

9 - Communications / Media WG [shared with Irish Cycling Campaign]
An increasingly important part of our advocacy work involves engaging with the public through both traditional and social media. This group advances our work in this domain. It connects closely with the work of the national organisation, Cyclist.ie, in this space - particularly with Cyclist.ie having recently developed a new Communications Strategy. We particularly welcome volunteers with experience in marketing and communications into this WG.

10 - Membership / Volunteer Recruitment WG
Dublin Cycling Campaign has approx 1000 members but it should be far higher, when we compare ourselves to campaigning organisations from comparably sized cities abroad. This WG is all about growing the membership and bringing new volunteers on board.

11 - Finances / Fundraising WG [shared with Irish Cycling Campaign]
We have a long standing ambition to further professionalise Dublin Cycling Campaign and Cyclist.ie so as to better serve and support our members, and so as to make a bigger impact on cycling policy and on conditions on the ground. To do this, we need a stronger funding base - and we need your help to make this happen! All skills and ideas appreciated here, but particularly those with business / fundraising experience. We are especially keen to grow our list of Business and Organisation members. And if you work in a company with a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) scheme, then we would love to hear from you.

Note again that you can “sign-up” for any number of the WG’s here. We look forward to hearing from you soon!