Highlights from the Inspiring Action LAC Workshop in Santo Domingo

In a region where walking and cycling are often overlooked in planning processes despite being essential to daily life, building capacity and fostering collaboration among practitioners is critical. From June 2-3, 2026, the Inspiring Action in Latin America and the Caribbean project brought together 23 participants from across the Caribbean in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, for a dynamic workshop focused on strengthening walking- and cycling-inclusive policies. 

Inspiring Action in the Caribbean

Developed by Walk21 and the FIA Foundation, in close collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of the National District (ADN), CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, with support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), this two-day session marked the first Inspiring Action LAC training event held in the Caribbean. It was designed as a practical platform for knowledge exchange, bringing together participants from Barbados, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Dominican Republic to explore the eight-step process for formulating effective active mobility policies, share local success stories, and identify pathways for tangible progress.

From Challenges to Solutions

The workshop agenda was grounded in the reality of the region and sub-region. Walk21 shared the project’s preliminary findings, which reveal that 72% of the 140 national policies found across LAC promote walking and cycling in some form. In the Caribbean, 53% of the 38 policies identified in the sub-region promote walking and cycling. However, these policies often have gaps in monitoring and evaluation frameworks and financing mechanisms, limiting their potential for effective implementation and long-term impact. .

Participants engaged in presentations that unpacked a comprehensive framework for understanding walking and cycling, centered on the people, places, and processes dimensions. They also explored the six measures for a successful policy evaluation framework: activity, safety, security, comfort, accessibility, and satisfaction. These measures provided a shared language for diagnosing challenges and identifying opportunities, helping participants see how their own contexts measure up and where targeted interventions can make the greatest difference.

Local Projects and Inspiring Walkshops

Participants also highlighted their local walking and cycling initiatives that demonstrate the region’s commitment, including:

• The Barbados Trailway: A project aiming to transform a 26-kilometre former railway corridor into a national walking and cycling network to boost physical activity and combat NCDs.
• Keep Moving Sundays (Trinidad and Tobago): A community-driven initiative that closes a road corridor to create a safe space for walking and cycling, born from a tragic accident.
• Downtown regeneration project (Dominican Republic): A comprehensive regeneration of Santo Domingo’s historic downtown area, showcasing how thoughtful urban design can promote walking while preserving cultural heritage. 
• Salvando Vidas (Dominican Republic): A road safety initiative in Santo Domingo focused on lowering urban speed limits and implementing traffic calming measures.

The learning extended beyond the conference room through two impactful walkshops. On the first day, participants visited the regeneration project, observing firsthand how street interventions improve the walking and cycling experience. On the second day, they visited the Malecón to see a newly implemented traffic calming project that included raised crosswalks and a safe speed limit to reconnect the city with its waterfront and protect pedestrians and cyclists. 

Turning Learning into Action

The pre- and post-workshop surveys demonstrated a clear and significant increase in participants’ knowledge and confidence across all areas assessed. The average knowledge score rose from 2.8 (out of 5) before the workshop to 4.0 afterward, reflecting the value of the tools, knowledge, and experiences shared during the two days. The walking and cycling initiatives presented during the workshop will be featured in the final project report, ensuring that the good practices reach a wider audience across the Caribbean. 

Participants left the workshop with concrete action plans, from strengthening school safety environments in Santo Domingo to integrating walking and cycling into land-use planning in Santiago de los Caballeros, and from strengthening the Barbados Trailway project to advancing walking and cycling infrastructure and expanding the Open Street initiative to other communities. 

The momentum generated in Santo Domingo is set to continue. With the Inspiring Action LAC report expected to be published in July 2026, the project continues to cultivate a powerful community of practice committed to ensuring that walking and cycling get the recognition and investment deserved.