Velo-city Global 2014 is just around the corner! Here at ECF we are getting more and more excited about all the fun, interesting, and enlightening events offered at this year's conference in Adelaide. We've spoken with three participants to ask them which sessions they’re looking forward to attend.

Burkhard Stork, CEO of ADFC, the German Cyclists' club:

Creating livable cities is the best argument for cycling subsidies. Cycling advocacy needs data, research results and exchange of international experiences. So I look forward to many very interesting lectures – and to the coffee breaks where I can meet my colleagues from all over the world.

ADFC wants to make more people bike more often. It’s not a lifestyle, it's not a religion – it is an intelligent and useful mode of transport, one that is good for our cities. Cycling is for everyone - but what infrastructure can attract more people to cycling? And how do we ensure people from ages 6-86 feel safe and secure cycling? This is something we have to work on here in Germany. On that note I look forward to the session Facilities and infrastructure making bikes the easy option (on Wednesday, 11:35 Hall D). We have to re-start the discussion about separation in Germany. Is it a solution or a blind alley?  I'm curious about Jonathan Daly's lecture: Is separation the answer to, or cause of, the difficult relationship between cyclists and other road users? (Tuesday, 13:40, Hall D).

And finally I look forward to hearing Florian Lennert from Berlin at the Closing Plenary (Adelaide Town Hall, 10:45 on Friday). He will show that there are great ideas and plans for Mobility in Future Cities in German research.

Herbert Tiemens, Bicycle Program Manager for Council of Municipalities region, Utrecht:

My main interest for this conference is to learn more about the changes in cycling navigation by Simone Kennett: Revolutions in cycling navigation (Wednesday 14:10, Hall C), as well as new techniques to track cyclists: The role of apps and maps in the growth of urban cycling by Andrew Leunig (Wednesday 16:15 hall E). Apart of that I want to catch up with friends from all over the world, and I am really curious how the earthquake disaster of Christchurch will give the advantage to build a cycling city: Will Christchurch be rebuilt as a cycling city - progress and reflections three years on from the earthquakes by Simon Kingham (Thursday 9:00 hall C).

Ceri Woolsgrove, ECF Road Safety Policy Officer:

As someone who deals with road safety for ECF I will be looking forward to the Friday session A safer system by design (8:30-10:05, Adelaide Town Hall). It looks like the session will be looking at both the actual risks by cyclists but also the perceived risks; these are both important in making cycling safer but also getting more people to do it. It might be interesting to see if the session looks into the complex “safety in numbers” phenomenon.

The session on Thursday Pedaling toward a better quality of life (11:05-12:40, Hall C) looks interesting. There is a perception that life without a car is simply impossible for many people. These subjective perceptions need to be seriously tackled if we are to reduce much of our motorised transport within cities.

Perhaps bringing these two threads together will be the session on The interplay of infrastructure, behaviour and mode choice; the relationship between perceived safety and the reality of concrete and tarmac! (Thursday 9:00-10:35, Hall B)