Presentation of the PIARC (World Road Association)

PIARC (World Road Association) is a non-profit association established in 1909 after the first World Road Congress held in Paris in 1908. The Association has held consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations since 1970.

In 2023, the Association has personal and collective members, regional authorities in 144 countries and 127 member governments.

The Association's action is supported at country level by National Committees that are currently active in 50 countries.

Goals

PIARC aims to develop international cooperation and promote progress in the fields of road and road transport, by:

• Being a leading international forum for analysis and discussion of the full spectrum of transport issues related to roads and related transport;
• Identifying, developing, and disseminating best practice and giving better access to international information;
• Fully considering within its activities the needs of developing countries and countries in transition; and
• Designing, producing, and promoting efficient tools for decision making on matters related to roads and related transport.

PIARC decided in November 2022 to make gender inclusion and diversity a value of the organisation and adopted a Gender inclusion and diversity strategy. 

Knowledge acquisition and transfer

To achieve the above goals, PIARC carries out the following activities:

1. Technical committees: establishment of international technical committees or task forces, which analyse an discuss a wide range of topics related to road and road transport.
2. Special projects: outsourcedstudies on current topics in order to respond quickly to the expectations of the Association's members
3. World Congresses: organisation every other year of a World Road Congress and of a World Winter Service Congress.
4. International Seminars: organization of international seminars to develop exchanges with low- and middle-income countries, and to disseminate information on the Association's activities in these countries.
5. Publications: publication of a wide range of documents, technical reports and others, and of the quarterly "Routes/Roads" magazine; they are available online in the virtual library of the site, free of charge.

For more information: www.piarc.org