Investing in cycling projects is a key aspect of developing active mobility. The European Cyclists' Federation (ECF) together with the Romanian EU Presidency and the Interreg CHIPS project held a high-level meeting on the 3rd of April to raise awareness for the funding aspect of cycling. Moreover, if more people are going to cycle more often, cycling also needs champions in the European Parliament. The European institutions decide on a whole range of issues relevant to cycling and our representatives in the Parliament ought to be passionate about cycling. Through its campaign for the European Parliament elections in May 2019, ECF will be standing strong and making sure cycling is an issue on the agenda of MEP candidates, leading a Europe wide campaign to highlight cycling as a top policy priority for politicians. With its Campaign Manifesto, ECF calls on the EU to commit to shifting the paradigm of transport and mobility policies.

As a topic at Velo-city, funding is a centerpiece in all conference themes: ‘Technology, Intelligent Transport Systems and Data Analytics’, ‘Health and Social’, and ‘Environment and Infrastructure’.

The ‘Cycling & Economic Development’ session features lectures from different countries around the globe on how cycling contributes to economic and social development. Presentations focus on cycling and social equity, improving children’s health through cycling, cycle logistics, and tax incentives that can boost cycling. Speakers include Alexander Quayle (Sustrans), Kimberly Price (The Specialized Foundation), Daniel Guth (Aliança Bike), and Holger Haubold (European Cyclists’ Federation).

Come along to ‘Cycling & Funding’ and join the discussion on the importance of funding for cycling development. How many investments do we need? And which sources can we tap? Policymakers and their priorities have a critical role in this debate. Fabian Küster from the European Cyclists’ Federation will be speaking about the 6 billion campaign, which is pushing for a larger slice of the cake being allocated to cycling. He will be joined in this session by Julian Baker (Kontextplan AG), Pete Mills (Cycling Scotland), Emilia Sternberg (Cykelfrämjandet).

‘Public Bike Sharing in Dense Mega-Cities’ discusses how will the future look like for densely populated areas and mega-cities? Mobility systems in cities will progressively be under strain due to the rise in population numbers. Together with challenges come opportunities and this session will look at bike sharing and its place in this emerging urban context. Alfonso Diaz del Rio (Ferrovial), Aris Moro (C40), Mario Delgado Padilla (BKT Bici Publica), and Mariel Figueroa (Tembici) will be speaking in this session.

During ‘Cities, Cycling, Climate-Cash - UN HABITAT’ you’ll find out more about how promoting cycling ensures the growth of just, environmentally friendly and sustainable cities. In many cities across the world accessibility is becoming an issue more and more.  Limited funds allocated to cycling by local and national governments are linked to lacking or inadequate footpaths and cycle lanes. Still, funding cycling infrastructure has many positive outcomes for cities when taking into account all socio-economic and environmental benefits that bicycles can bring to a city. So how can we support local and national governments in their efforts to access large loans from financial institutions – and access climate financing opportunities?

Interested? Register here to join the discussion at Velo-city Dublin.

For more information on the Velo-city Programme, Exhibition and Registration go to: https://www.velo-city2019.com 
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