Cyclists without borders: Nadace Partnerství from the Czech Republic. Photo (c) Jitka Vrtalova

In November, it's the Czech's turn in our Member of the Month series. Read on to learn about Nadace Partnerství's quest to get more Czech people cycling, including turning the Iron Curtain into a cycling route, getting the national government to support cycling, and more...

Exactly 24 years ago this November, people in Prague - then still the capital of Czechoslovakia - went to the streets to eventually topple the communist dictatorship. Yet few of those gathering on Wenceslas Square in support of freedom and democracy in 1989 would have thought that one day the Iron Curtain, the deadly frontier cutting Europe in half that they wanted gone, would one day be turned into a cycling route. 

But Nadace Partnerství, our ECF member of the month, helped make it a reality.

Since 1992, shortly before the Czech Republic and Slovakia parted ways to become separate countries, Nadace Partnerství has been promoting community-based environment projects with grants, education, and expertise. "We are not the classic cycling federation, but cycling is a big part of our work promoting sustainable development", says Daniel Mourek, responsible for Nadace Partnerství's Greenways project and also Vice-President of ECF. "So that we have been an ECF member for 6 years now is only logical."

EuroVelo 13: a dream come true

Daniel Mourek and one of the brand-new EuroVelo signs. Photo (c) Jitka Vrtalova

Indeed, nothing better illustrates Nadace Partnerství's commitment to cycling than the Greenways project, which is also the national coordination centre for the EuroVelo network. Indeed, the Czech Republic is criss-crossed by EuroVelo routes 4, 7, and 9, as well as EuroVelo 13, the Iron Curtain Trail. This route follows the whole former Iron Curtain for over 10 500km from Finland to Romania. 500km of the trail is in the Czech Republic.

EuroVelo 13 is one of Daniel Mourek's favorite cycling projects in the Czech Republic. "The first 100km have already been signposted in South Moravia", he explains. "Part of these signposting projects are unique info panels explaining e.g. the stories of people who escaped Czechoslovakia during communism."

"It's a real pleasure to work on these projects with our long-term partners in Austria and Bavaria, in addition to signposting the Iron Curtain Trail in the Czech Republic with international symbols along the entire route."

Nadace Partnerství has also developed a "bed and bike" certification scheme for bike-friendly accomodation along the routes. Since its launch in 2006 more than  1.000 businesses along the main long distance cycle routes have been certified in 3 categories. And by the end of the year, the national EuroVelo website (www.eurovelo.cz) will go online, providing detailed information on all EuroVelo routes in the Czech Republic in 3 languages-. 

Turning the Czech Republic into a cycling nation

Nadace Partnerství's work, however, goes far beyond cycling tourism. Indeed, one of the biggest successes for Czech cycling came in May this year when the government adopted the Czech National Cycling Strategy for 2013 - 2020, which Nadace Partnerství helped elaborate as a major partner.  The strategy focuses on making it easier for municipalities to act in favor of cycling and make cyclists' lives easier.  It proposes rules on how to invest efficiently, contains suggestions to change legal standards, and provides for the exchange of know-how.

In cooperation with other cycling advocacy organizations, there is a well-established bike to work campaign with 5000 participants going into its third year. In Prague, Liberec and Olomouc, Nadace Partnerství has been running a Shop by Bike campaign funded by the SRAM Cycling Fund in Brno. To make the list complete, the organization has been supporting car free days in Prague and launched a website promoting the first Czech-made cargo bicyle as part of the CycleLogistics project.

"The Czech Republic is not a cycling country as much as the Netherlands or Denmark," Daniel Mourek concludes. "But we are doing our best to change that." 

To be sure, this wouldn't be the only change in the Czech Republic since the Iron Curtain disappeared. Only this time, there will be a lot of bikes involved.

With the participation of Daniel Mourek
Homepage photo: Flickr / Irumiha

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