This year’s VELOFORUM International Conference was held on October 6-8 in Mykolaiv/Ukraine, bringing together more than 100 participants from 24 Ukrainian cities and 8 European countries under the motto “Cycling as a catalyst for urban changes”.

VELOFORUM is an annual interdisciplinary conference bridging between transportation policy, sustainable development and civil society. During the last years, it has established itself as Ukraine’s main conference on cycling, bringing together cycling advocates, local authorities, urban planning and transport engineers, but also businesses operating in the cycling sector.

This year’s edition was held in Mykolaiv, a city undergoing heavy structural change that exemplifies how cycling can be a driver for sustainable urban development when supported by the local administration and enthusiastic advocates from civil society. The increased representation of local administrations, traffic police, planning consultancies and small businesses at the conference shows that, even though the road (or cycle path) ahead still is long, cycling is steadily gaining importance as a mode of transport and as an economic factor in the whole of Ukraine.

Another focus of the conference was the development of national cycling strategies. Examples were presented by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, and by ECF Vice-President Lars Strömgren, who described the process leading to the adoption of the Swedish national cycling strategy. Representing the European level, ECF gave insights into the content and the development process of the Recommendations for an EU Cycling strategy.

All in all, the conference has once again proven the great work that Ukrainian cycling associations are delivering to make cities more liveable and to fill the country’s current transformation processes with life. The organisation behind the conference, Kyiv Cyclists’ Association, has been supported in their endeavours by ECF’s Leadership Programme, giving an impressive example of what can be achieved with the guidance and support provided through this scheme.