At times during 2021, one could be forgiven for feeling that the worst of global pandemic was behind us. Vaccination drives had been remarkably successful in numerous countries, live sporting events had returned with crowds of fans in attendance and Europe tentatively re-opened to travel and leisure. Caution ensured that, when possible, events were still to be conducted in a remote fashion and this was especially true during the first half of the year.

The ECF team were undeterred, however, holding multiple online sessions that brought together experts from across the world of cycling and showcased the latest knowledge and case studies with regards to cycling themes on equality, intermodality and sustainable development.

As the year draws to a close, let’s take a look back on some of the highlights from 2021!

Launching the Women in Cycling network

The first significant event of the year kicked off with the launch of the Women in Cycling Network, which saw over 550 participants convene online. The initiative from the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), Cycling Industries Europe (CIE),Velokonzept,Mobycon and the Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry (CONEBI) aims to connect women within the cycling world so that they can be more visible and better able to secure roles within the industry for the benefit of all.

The launch event saw key women in cycling share their stories, including Bonnie Tu, Chairperson of Giant and CEO of Liv, who gave a compelling opening address and Monika Sattler, an endurance cyclist and first woman to cycle La Vuelta, who called for more women to not only ride their bikes “but to push boundaries, to push limits and maybe to do something that seems impossible.” The new Expertise Portal will serve to put a spotlight on female mobility experts and thereby facilitate a greater female presence on boards, panels and at conferences.

You can check out the full recorded event here.

Celebrating Cycling Cities: Sharing Europe’s Best Practices

“The bicycle is our secret weapon,” exclaimed Dutch State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management Stientje van Veldhoven, during our online webinar hosted in partnership with the Dutch Cycling Embassy as part of European Green Week in June 2021.

Celebrating Cycling Cities brought together city cycling experts from across the continent and was moderated by CEO Jill Warren alongside Lucas Harms of the Dutch Cycling Embassy. Over the course of an action packed two hours, attendees were treated to stories from cities such as Valencia, Helsinki and Dublin.

Keynote addresses from EU officials Daniel Mes and Matthew Baldwin reflected the growing prominence of cycling as a solution to many of the urban problems our societies are facing. Indeed, Deputy Director-General of DG MOVE Matthew Baldwin beseeched the attending city officials to apply for EU recovery funds for cycling and to continue to apply pressure on their national governments to implement more cycle-centric policies.

Later, attendees were even given sneak preview of the upcoming CIVITAS Handshake self-assessment tool that enables better collaboration between cycling cities and those attempting to embark on the path to more cycling for all.

The event recording is available to view online here.

Cyclists love trains: How bike-friendly are Europe’s rail companies?

2021 saw the publication of “Cyclists love trains,” a report into the bike-friendliness of Europe’s rail companies, coinciding with the European Commission’s announcement that 2021 was the European Year of Rail. The report analysed 69 railway companies and services from across the European Union and beyond and set the benchmark for intermodal travel on Europe’s railways.

The publication launch event, hosted by ECF, took place in July and included high-level attendees such as European Year of Rail rapporteur and MEP Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg, Belgian Deputy PM Georges Gilkinet and figures from the rail industry itself.

The report itself highlighted some best practices from a select few rail operators but also exposed the disjointed rail ecosystem across Europe, especially with regards to high-speed cross-border services. The event ended with ECF President Henk Swarttouw calling for such natural allies, the bicycle and train, to work more closely together in pursuit of our common goals on climate and sustainability.

We have since seen a major announcement from the Belgian government that all new trains will have eight bicycle spaces starting in 2025.

You can watch the entire event online here.

Velo-city and EuroVelo conferences make a welcome return to the in-person calendar

For much of the year, the teams behind Velo-city and EuroVelo were forced to cross their fingers and hope for the best. The initial signs were promising, and it seemed that the annual ECF conference would be able to go ahead as planned, in person and on location in our host city of Lisbon. Soon after, the biannual EuroVelo cycling tourism conference was held in Barcelona at the AXA auditorium.

Velo-city 2021 Lisboa took place at the start of September with the running theme throughout being “Cycle Diversity.” This was without doubt the most successful Velo-city to date and a welcome return to in-person networking and events, but also with a hybrid venue that allowed even more people to tune into proceedings online. Subthemes varied from “Economy and Tourism”, “Community Building, Co-creation and Inclusion” to “Reshaping Cities and Politics” with five stages hosting speakers across four action packed days in the Portuguese capital.

The world cycling summit was a truly inspiring event that underscored the current opportunities for cycling and the positive direction being taken by policy makers around the world. After thanking our hosts, CEO Jill Warren stated that “we cannot afford to lose the opportunity and momentum for cycling that is right here, right now. But we could lose it, if powerful and entrenched interests continue to prevail and get more than their fair share in all the mobility budgets and plans that really matter.” Looking forward to next year, we are eager for Velo-city 2022 Ljubljana and preparations are already well underway.

ECF CEO Jill Warren’s final address to conference can be found here and access to online content can be purchased here.

EuroVelo and Cycling Tourism Conference 2021 most well-attended in its history

The EuroVelo and Cycling Tourism Conference 2021, held biannually, followed hot on the heels of Velo-city and was another categorical success. The central theme throughout the event was that the cycling sector can take the lead in helping tourism to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. This message was reinforced by sessions explaining the ways in which cycle tourism can address the challenges faced by society. Challenges varied from issues such as depopulation, climate change and seasonality within the tourism sector.

Director of Sustainable Development at the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Dirk Glaesser stressed the importance of being able to measure the positive impact cycling has on global activities. ECF’s partnership with Eco Counter is one such example of attempts to measure cycling’s impact and recent data has suggested a 12% increase in cycling on the EuroVelo Network at weekends. Stories and knowledge of best practice from across the tourism sector were shared, along with extensive plans for cycle tourism in the host region of Barcelona itself.

In December, an momentous announcement was made that a new Memorandum of Understanding between ECF and UNWTO had been signed to ensure the two organisations work more closely together in promoting more sustainable tourism. The conference itself can be viewed online here.

The best of the rest

Aside from our own events, the ECF team have been busy representing the voice of cyclists across a whole spectrum of international fora and conferences. While ECF has spoken at hundreds of conferences, events and webinars, here is a short highlight reel for 2021:

In February, ECF CEO Jill Warren spoke at the launch of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Mobility Atlas, which can be viewed online here. Warren also gave an extended interview as part of the Mobycon Webinar Series, available here.

In May, ECF was well represented at a number of sessions as part of the Fifth High-Level Ministerial Conference of the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP), speaking on subjects such as road safety and financial incentives for cycling. All sessions can be found here.Warren was also invited to speak at a plenary session of the 2nd UN Global Sustainable Transport Conference that took place online and was hosted from Beijing. The proceedings are available online here.

ECF President Henk Swarttouw spoke at the UCI Power of the Bike event held in parallel to the COP26 events in Glasgow in a session that focused on cycling in cities transforming the lives of urban residents. The fascinating discussion is available to watch again here.