[photo credit: Carlos Martin Ruiz, Bikefriendly Group]

A successful in-person meeting was held last week (3/10/19) at the ECF Office in Brussels, among members of the Cycle-Friendly Employer Consortium , who came together to discuss, share, and brainstorm for the advancement of the Cycle-Friendly Employer Certification Scheme.

The Cycle-Friendly Employer Certification Framework establishes a European standard for bicycle-friendliness in the European workplace.  In its first eighteen months of operation, the CFE Consortium has expanded its representation across Europe, welcoming four new members in 2018 and two more already in 2019. The certification is currently being implemented in fifteen countries across Europe, with a total of more than 200 employers already certified as Cycle-Friendly. Implementation of the CFE Certification Framework is managed by national coordinators -members- with the support and guidance of the CFE Consortium.  

The meeting was attended by Matt Mallinder and James Palser from Cycling UK, Henk Hendricks from Fietsersbond NL, Francesco Barconcini from FIAB, Dieter Snauwaert from Fietsersbond Belgium, Carlos Martin Ruiz from Bikefriendly Group Spain and Froso Christofides from ECF & CFE Secretariat.

An overview was presented on the activities of the consortium so far and each member was invited to give a presentation on their activities in each country, their successes in terms of certified companies so far and shared any challenges they face in the road to certification. Open discussions were held on what is next for the consortium, brainstorming on new activities and opportunities and of course planning the next meeting with more members for Velo-city 2020 Ljubljana!

The day after, our members from Belgium and Spain participated in the Active Mobility for Active Cities Workshop organised by ECF for the PACTE Project, where they got the chance to promote the CFE Scheme to a wider audience, particularly in discussing the role of business and private sector in promoting active mobility.

Stay tuned for more before the end of the year, and if in one of these countries – contact our members now to get more information on how to certify your organisation.