The sixth edition of the Winter Cycling Congress, held this year February 8-11 in Moscow, was the largest-ever gathering devoted to year-round cycling. Organized by the Russian cycling advocacy group Let’s bike it! together with the Winter Cycling Federation and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, representatives of ECF joined 700 participants from 30 countries to discuss the opportunities and challenges of encouraging winter cycling.

Adam Bodor, ECF’s director of advocacy and EuroVelo, presented on cycling’s positive economic impact, and how bicycling delivers not just direct economic benefits to society but even indirect benefits in the form of improved health and impacts on climate goals.

The economic benefits of cycling tourism were also a theme in MEP Michael Cramer’s presentation on his own efforts to promote and support the EuroVelo project, and especially route 13: the Iron Curtain Trail. Speaking on a similar theme, Burkhard Stork discussed the keys to success in cycling tourism, and how even tourism can benefit from increased winter cycling. According to a recently published study, 87% of those who use a bicycle during their vacation also use bicycles for everyday transportation.

Also from the ADFC, Stephanie Krone shared wisdom from her substantial experiences from public relations and provided excellent and valuable insights to participants for promoting winter cycling.

Acting ECF president Lars Strömgren was impressed and inspired by the four-day event, especially the final day’s bicycle parade of 3000 cyclists through car-free streets past the Kremlin and other sights.

“Let’s bike it! with Nadia Zherebina, Vladimir Kumov and their team have done a fantastic job with this conference! It was inspiring to hear so many positive stories from around the world, and to be able to share our own ideas with others.” Lars enthused 

According to Lars, a message that was met with particular enthusiasm at the conference was the Moving Beyond Zero campaign, ECF’s initiative with the Swedish Cykelfrämjandet to further develop the vision zero concept to focus not just on injuries and fatalities in traffic, but to encourage increased active mobility that addresses the growing health threat of our sedentary lifestyle.

To see the Russian version of Moving Beyond Zero animation film follow this link

and for the English version please visit click here

Lars also explained:

Only five percent of adults achieve the recommended daily minimum of physical activity. During the past 30 years children’s cardiovascular health has decreased by 15% as a consequence of inactivity. Policies that encourage cycling and other forms of active mobility can help reverse this troubling trend.”

Sweden is held by many to be a role model for traffic safety, and politicians and traffic authorities were anxious to discuss Moving Beyond Zero with Lars after his presentation, to learn more about how to encourage active mobility and contribute to public health while improving traffic safety.

The Winter Cycling Congress was started by the Finnish Winter Cycling Federation, with the first congress being held in Oulu in 2013. The goal of the congress is to “normalize winter cycling” by providing a forum where areas with challenging winter climate can share experiences to help develop approaches that encourage year-round cycling.