On 2 October, hundreds of cyclists convened in cities across Greece for demonstrations organised by the Hellenic Urban Cycling Federation. The demonstrations invited cyclists to take to the streets and claim their right to safer infrastructure, signage and rules by pressuring the government to implement its long-awaited national cycling strategy.

The strategy was first initiated by the Greek Ministry of the Environment three years ago and announced in a press release in September 2020. A study from the Ministry of the Environment was then handed over to the Ministry of Transport, recognising the strategy's competence. However, the latter has failed to act on the strategy in the last 11 months and patience is now wearing thin amongst Greek cycling organisations and activists.

"In today's era of economic, energy and climate crisis, the bicycle is one of the solutions that within the urban fabric reduces the cost of movement, requires zero resources for its movement, does not burden the environment and has multiple health benefits," the Hellenic Urban Cycling Federation states in a memorandum to the Greek government. "All of us who have gathered and come here today with our bicycles, responding to the call of the Hellenic Urban Cycling Federation, represent the urban cyclists from all over Greece who have organised bicycle demos in their cities and are claiming for the rightful place of the bicycle in the mix of urban mobility."

Demonstrators meet at Syntagma Square, Athens (Source: Hellenic Urban Cycling Federation)

In Athens, the bicycle demonstration started in Syntagma Square, with hundreds of cyclists of all ages participating – many of them parents with their children. It then ended at the Ministry of Transport, where the memorandum of demands was delivered. A stop was made at Maximou Megaron, the official office of the prime minister, where the cyclists also delivered the memorandum.

The Hellenic Urban Cycling Federation’s key demands to the Greek government are:

• To commit immediately and publicly declare that the bicycle is the priority means of transportation for Greek cities.
• To commit immediately and publicly declare that it intends to adopt a national cycling strategy in Greece by the end of the year.
• To cooperate immediately with the Hellenic Urban Cycling Federation, which states that it will assist in this effort within the framework of its capabilities.

Memorandum is handed over to Ministry of Transport (Source: Hellenic Urban Cycling Federation)

A national cycling strategy is a strategy text that foresees overall measures and goals and covers all areas of interest for cycling (education, incentives, infrastructure, implementation goals, proposals to amend the highway code, etc.). It generally functions as a coordinator in the effort to spread cycling, and is typically adopted by countries that are genuinely interested in increasing cycling levels and want to avoid building disjointed and irrelevant "facade" projects or measures.

In 2021, the European Cyclists’ Federation published a report on the state on national cycling strategies across Europe. In the report, Greece is marked yellow, which means its first national cycling strategy is under development due to the initiative of the Ministry of the Environment that happened three years ago. However, if the Ministry of Transport continues to take no action, Greece will likely lose its yellow status and will be marked as country without a national cycling strategy in the next report. Besides the national request of these demonstrations, local action groups have also expressed their demands to their local authorities.

Demonstrations pass by the Dromeas (The Runner) statue in Athens (Source: Hellenic Urban Cycling Federation)

The full letter to the ministries can be found here.
Read "The state of national cycling strategies in Europe (2021)" here.
Learn more of ECF Membership here.

Cover photo: Big numbers turn out for the demonstration in Corfu (Source: Hellenic Urban Cycling Federation)