The awards will take place for the third time at the annual world cycling summit, Velo-city 2024 Ghent, on 18 June. Over the past months, momentum for cycling has continued to build, with new infrastructure being implemented all over the globe, new funding opportunities emerging, and cities, advocates, and industry alike pushing for progress. On the European level, cycling has soared to new heights with the signing of the historic European Declaration on Cycling, marking the first inter-institutional cycling policy at the European level.

ECF and its sponsors wish to celebrate a selection of stand-out success stories from the past months across five distinct categories of bicycling excellence. These are:

• Cycle-Friendly Employer Award, sponsored by JobRad
• Cycling Improvement Award, sponsored by Eco-Counter
• Road Safety Award, sponsored by Geveko Markings
• Cycling Infrastructure Award, sponsored by Verhofsté
• Best Active Mobility Initiative Award, sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management

The ECF awards aim to showcase triumphs in cycling progress. We want to catalyse further action and underscore the importance of cycling in addressing global climate, health and equity challenges.The winner in each category will be selected by an ECF jury of cycling experts. Explore the award categories below!

Cycle-Friendly Employer Award – Sponsored by JobRad

The Cycle-Friendly Employer (CFE) Certification Framework, established in 2018, set a European standard for bicycle-friendliness in the workplace. Since then, it has rapidly expanded and is now being implemented in 15 countries across Europe, with a total of over 750 employers already certified, representing well over 700,000 employees.

The Cycle-Friendly Employer Award is sponsored by JobRad, a leading company for getting more people on bikes by enabling employees in Germany and Austria to have a company bicycle. The Cycle-Friendly Employer Award honours employers that encourage and facilitate their employees to cycle to work through promotional campaigns and by providing bike-friendly facilities such as bike parking and changing facilities. In 2023, the award went to the City of Essen and in 2022 to R+V Versicherung AG.

Cycling Improvement Award – Sponsored by Eco-Counter

Even cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen have not always been paradises for cyclists. Not too long ago, their streets were predominantly car-oriented and unwelcoming to cyclists. Creating bicycle-friendly environments requires both popular and political support, along with deliberate efforts to create bicycle-friendly spaces. It's these initiatives that we want to recognise with the Cycling Improvement Award.

The Cycling Improvement Award is sponsored by Eco-Counter, a human-sized company that specialises in pedestrian and bicycle counting solutions. Previously, the award recognised the City of Heidelberg in 2023, a city with a 40% modal split for cycling and whose cycling counters recorded a 17% growth rate in 2022 compared to the previous year, and the City of Paris in 2022, whose phenomenal cycling improvements are well known.

Road Safety Award - Sponsored by Geveko Markings

Between 2010 and 2020, cyclists were the only type of road user that did not experience a decline in fatalities. Apart from the tragedy of these fatalities, poor cycling infrastructure discourages cycling. The Road Safety Award celebrates the most effective measures that have been recently implemented to promote cycling as a key component of improving road safety.

The Road Safety Award is sponsored by Geveko Markings, a top provider of road markings solutions in any size, material, colour, or form. In previous years, the awards recognised Oslo, a city that achieved Vision Zero in its city centre in 2019, and Brussels for reducing the number of road fatalities by 50% in 2021.

Cycling Infrastructure Award – Sponsored by Verhofsté

Building infrastructure that caters for more cycling induces a number of significant benefits, ranging from economic boosts to fewer road deaths and improved health. To celebrate this, the Cycling Infrastructure Award honours an outstanding example of cycling infrastructure implemented in recent years.

The Cycling Infrastructure Award is sponsored by Verhofsté, specialists for canopies, shelters, bicycle parkings, lift shafts, street furniture and staircases. In 2022, the Cycling Infrastructure Award went to Rathdown County Council for its exemplary cycling and public realm project, and in 2023, to the City of Helsingborg for its magnificent Varvsbron Bridge.

Best Active Mobility Initiative – Sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management

For the first time this year, we have added a new award, the ECF Best Active Mobility Initiative award. The Best Active Mobility Initiative Award recognises an outstanding initiative, presented at Velo-city and chosen from amongst the accepted abstracts, that contributes to promoting and supporting active modes of transport - whether through reshaping public spaces, community engagement efforts, or advocacy campaigns.

The ECF Awards will take place during the afternoon plenary on Tuesday 18 June at Velo-city 2024 Ghent. Interested in attending? It’s not too late to purchase your tickets, available here! We hope you can join us to celebrate some of the most important developments in cycling promotion in Europe in the past year.