Plenary 3: Changing gears towards a greener economy and sustainable tourism

Day 2 kicked off with a plenary session about the crucial role of cycling tourism and the bicycle industry in the transition towards a greener economy. Mentioning this summer’s various climate catastrophes, Philippe Crist set the stage by underlining the urgency of the transition. Matthew Baldwin called for more data about cycling and walking and reminded everyone of the EU’s binding climate laws: “It's no longer a question of whether we do it, it's how we do it.”

The green transition bodes extremely well for the bicycle industry – the “industry of the future,” in the words of Gil Nadais. In only a few years, Portugal has become a major bicycle-manufacturing hub in Europe, and global trends only point to the continued growth of this industry. Turning the conversation to the topic of tourism, Aragon’s José Luis Soro praised cycling tourism as a tool in the fight against depopulation in rural areas, as it offers new revenue streams to local communities.

Due to Portugal’s geographic location in Europe, it will always depend on tourists arriving by plane, said Luís Araújo. However, tourism in the country can be improved to become more sustainable, notably by making Portugal’s more than 15,000km of cycling routes more connected and coherent. This includes cycling infrastructure in cities, which is important not only for residents but also for tourists – who Alessandra Priante calls “temporary citizens,” reminding us that tourism is an integral part of most people’s lives.

Tuesday's session highlights

Is last year’s cycling boom truly sustainable? ECF’s Holger Haubold and leading experts from Europe’s bicycle industry took to the Blue stage to share their perspectives, grounding their answers in concepts such as bikenomics, the economic benefits of cycling, national cycling strategies, bike sharing, industry collaborations and – most importantly – recycling. For the latter, the industry’s ambitious goal is to create the first truly carbon-neutral bicycle production facility.

At the Yellow stage, the audience for “The evolution of cycle highways in Europe” was struck by the similarities between cycle highway networks in Barcelona, Brussels/Leuven, Copenhagen, Hamburg and Utrecht. From the stage, speakers called for cycle highways to join forces and become a bigger family in Europe as well as to create common standards across countries – similar to the international conventions that exist for road traffic.

Meanwhile on the Red stage, experts from Copenhagen, Portugal, Strasbourg, Szeged and Vancouver shared best practices on how to increase the number of people cycling to work. Highlighting a wide range of benefits for both employers and employees, each speaker discussed the importance of bike accessibility, while emphasising the need to put pressure on local governments to implement cycle-to-work schemes and bicycle-friendly urban policies.

From curbing congestion to tackling climate change, “cargo bikes answer many of the world’s most complex urban mobility challenges,” said ECF’s Anna-Karina Reibold from the Green stage, where representatives of the City Changer Cargo Bike project discussed effective measures to foster the uptake of cargo bikes, ranging from subsidy schemes to safe parking facilities.

Later, Valencia’s Giuseppe Grezzi urged cities not to be afraid of making mistakes when searching for the best ways to create more space for walking and cycling. At another session about the 15-minute city and neighbourhood revival, the discussion ranged from technical innovation to political contexts, with each speaker presenting their own cities’ experiences and the role of cycling in implementing 15-minute cities. “You cannot call a city functional unless it has the most functional bike facilities in the world,” said Helsinki’s Oskari Kaupinmäki.

Spotlight session: The route to cycle tourism success

At the afternoon’s Green stage session, EuroVelo Director Ed Lancaster moderated a talk about the key milestones that are necessary for cycle tourism success. Featuring Sandro Araújo, Riccardo Palma, Jan Oršič, Michael Maier and Camille Thomé, an important point of discussion was how best to develop recreational cycling, notably in rural areas. Riccardo Palma highlighted the role of historic infrastructure for good tourism experiences, adding that “the possibility for intermodal connections between cycleways and active rail lines provides a good opportunity, especially in mountainous regions.”

The boost in dedicated space for cycling in cities such as Ljubljana has further improved the tourist experience and helped decentralise and disperse tourist flows. To avoid over-tourism, however – which is very important – communication efforts should ensure that people are made aware of the many cycling destinations that exist.

To the question of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted cycling tourism in their countries, several panellists pointed to the increase in bicycle sales, which has led to increased levels of cycling tourism and a promising change in people’s attitude towards active mobility.

Plenary 4: Active and inclusive cities – building the future with the citizens

Plenary 4 rounded off day 2 of Velo-city 2021 Lisboa with discussions on how cycling contributes to better equity in cities. Frederico Lopes’s keynote stressed the importance of integrating children’s perspectives in urban planning processes, as low levels of mobility independence for children is a serious problem in many contemporary societies. Talking about play as “one of the most important ways for children to participate in community life,” Lopes stressed that children must learn to use and take part in public space from a young age to eventually become active political citizens.

During a lively panel discussion moderated by Sir Graham Watson, WHO’s Francesca Racioppi talked about the role cycling played for mental health during the first COVID-19 lockdown, while Lucy Saunders explained that involving different stakeholders in creating a shared vision for a more liveable city is key for achieving change. The session underlined the immense importance of grassroots movement and leadership for enabling more cycling, from Cantal Bakker’s Pikala Bikes project in Morocco to Rosa Félix’s academic research and cycling advocacy in Lisbon.

The best of the rest

On the Garden stage, numerous innovative and market-ready tech solutions were presented at the Smart Pedal Pitch semi-finals, which took place during lunchtime. The technologies featured better mapping, smarter parking and locking systems, cycling dashcams and even mobile phone games! This was followed by a brief unveiling of the EuroVelo Barometer, which ranks each route of the cycle route network by its usage data, as provided by Eco-Counter. With a 20% boost in users, brand-new data showed that EuroVelo 17 - Rhone Cycle Route was the route with the biggest cycle traffic increase between 2019 and 2021.

Fun zone

COMING UP ON DAY 3...

• What are the latest innovations in urban mobility? Day 3 kicks off with a plenary session on the prospects of a high-tech and connected urban mobility future.

• At “Not another gender session,” ten speakers from the Women in Cycling network will take centre stage for a discussion about how to achieve change on a structural level. This is followed by a special networking event.

• BIKE PARADE! Starting outside the venue at 18.30 and finishing in downtown Lisbon, don’t miss the traditional Velo-city bike parade!

FURTHER READING AND DIGITAL ACCESS

• Velo-city 2021 Lisboa: Monday Daily Report – Cycle diversity and climate crisis take centre stage.
• Velo-city 2021 Lisboa: Wednesday Daily Report – Women in Cycling and a Bike Parade through Lisbon.
• Velo-city 2021 Lisboa: Thursday Daily Report – The annual world cycling summit wraps up, heralding cycling as the new normal.
• Digital access: purchase digital tickets to get exclusive access to the full four days of content, including 50+ sessions and 250+ speakers in HD quality!