The recent World Road Congress demonstrated once again that PIARC is part of a rich and dense ecosystem. We welcomed our partner organisations, who chose to join us in Prague and organise sessions or associated events as part of our Congress: the Transportation Research Board (TRB, United States), the China Highway Transportation Society (CHTS, China), the International Transport Forum (ITF/OECD), the United Nations Inland Transport Committee (UNECE), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Latin American Bank (CAF), the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP), the International Road Federation (IRF), the Infrastructure Ecology Network Europe (IENE), the European Road Federation (ERF), the European Concrete Pavement Association (EUPAVE), the European Association of Directors of Roads (CEDR), the European Network of Cities and Regions for Innovation in Transport (POLIS), and others. In the words of the Asian Development Bank: The Congress brought together all the components of the road and all the subjects related to the road.

They all face similar challenges, whether in terms of the resilience of transport systems, the management of natural disasters, equality and inclusion, the ecological transition and electrification, or the financing of these upheavals. This undeniably calls for large-scale collaborative work, whether in terms of silo-free knowledge sharing or the joint identification of priorities. For several years now, PIARC has made this policy of sharing part of its strategy.

This policy is paying off every day. For example, shortly after the Prague Congress, the United Nations Inland Transport Committee involved us in its work on resilience, as did the International Maritime Association (PIANC), and we will probably soon be participating in a road safety programme in Senegal, with funding from the United Nations. Similarly, at a time when our Association is setting up its next international Technical Committees, which will be working over the period 2024-2027, we have called on our partner associations and bodies to join our committees, and to come and work alongside the experts appointed by our member governments. As you can see, the road is undeniably the leading social network!