On 19^th May the European Cyclists’ Federation launched a think tank comprising of several stakeholder groups to gather ideas on an EU Roadmap for Cycling. There were many issues discussed at the meeting with participants actively engaging in the brainstorming sessions too. ECF is pleased to see the great interest in cycling from all interested bodies and parties.  

The European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) made a big leap forward on 19^th May: we launched a think tank with the aim of creating an EU Roadmap for Cycling. The first high-level meeting of the think tank was attended by participants from several advocacy groups, city networks representatives from local and regional authorities, the European Commission, European Parliament, European Council, the World Health Organisation and businesses who filled up a big room which showed great interest in cycling in EU policies. Topics which were touched upon at the groundbreaking meeting were transport, environment, health, sports, tourism, regional and urban development, jobs creation and growth for example. Challenges and barriers to increase cycling mode share were also discussed, whereas the problems such as air pollution, fuel dependency, climate change were mentioned during the speeches and working group sessions. In addition, other key measures such as data collection, transparency and education were also given space to discuss. The EU Roadmap for Cycling is an ECF initiative to raise the awareness for cycling on the political agenda. It has the unique potential to activate all relevant stakeholders, both at European and national level, to grow cycling. At this point, too many barriers still exist that need to be removed if cycling is to achieve its full potential.

For photos on the event please click here.