The third day of Velo-city 2015  Nantes was more than fascinating, we are providing you the highlights of this Thursday's main events and happenings of the conference.

The third day of Velo-city 2015 in Sunny Nantes has included some hot cycling related topics and lively discussions. We have, for example, learned more about how to promote commuting by bike, how to secure cycling investments and how cycling tourism can encourage everyday cycling. The program of the day truly had something for everyone!

To keep you up-to-date on all the most relevant news from the world’s largest cycling convention, we will be writing you one news section with daily highlights each day during Velo-city 2015. This is a news digest – click on the links if you’re looking to follow the action more closely or follow us on our special Live Page and, naturally, on social media.

Here is a selection of what’s been happening at #velocity15 on Thursday, 4 June:

• Bike to Work and a Decade of Cycling Promotion
• Where is the Money for Investments in Cycling?
• Cycling Tourism: From Recreation to Transportation
• Delivery Services and Shopping by Bikes
• Cycling Cinema

Bike to Work and a Decade of Cycling Promotion

In the "Bike to Work" session on Thursday the participants were presented with a large and varied set of actions that can be used to promote cycling for commuting including kilometric allowance, contests, business area planning, training etc. to mention a few. In this session the speakers revealed the wide scope of possibilities to encourage cycling among commuters.

The session "10 Years of Cycling Advocacy Towards Companies in Nantes" presented a case study -example of what the Velo-city 2015 host has done in terms of increasing cycling to work. For ten years, Nantes Métropole has promoted cycling among employers by using mobility plans, training, communication, bike challenges, call for poject etc. Nantes Métropole has diversified its mobility management measures to attract and convince more and more companies to get into cycling. Several companies joined this session to give an overview of a decade of cycling promotion in Nantes.

Where is the Money for Investments in cycling?

Flickr/Andras Csore

An extra-plenary called "Where is the Money for Investments" took a look behind the curtain of investments, looking at European, national, regional and local public funding as well as innovative approaches to co-financing to change modal split and increase the share of cycling. The main question of he plenary was :what funds are available, and how can we access them?

Cycling Tourism: From Recreation to Transportation

How to get people who only cycle for recreation, tourism or sport to use their bicycle for everyday transportation was the topic of a well-attended dynamo presentation "From Recreation to Transportation" this morning.

Ed Lancaster from the ECF opened this discussions with the ECF’s view that recreational and touristic cycling can play an important role in converting both non-cyclists and leisure cyclists alike into every day cyclists. For people who don’t cycle at all, trying it on holiday can be a fantastic introduction into the fun side of this transport mode while local users can take advantage of any investments in infrastructure for recreational routes, such as the well-developed route of EuroVelo 6 in the heart of Budapest.

Ed was followed by Louise Böhler from the ADFC who spoke about the growing market for city tours in Germany. As well as being for tourists, some of these tours are also being developed for new residents, where they are shown the quickest route to their new workplace; useful short cuts and back routes; and cycling parking locations, as well as the local touristic sites. The development of the Loire à Vélo as a touristic route along the River Loire in France has also had benefits for the local community who can take advantage of new services, such as a dedicated bicycle train, as Catherine Le Bars from Région Pays de la Loire then explained.

Next to contribute was Chris Peck who set out the work that the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is doing to turn to the inspiration, enthusiasm and political influence of their sports events into concrete benefits for everyday cyclists. Finally Jean-François Pronovost, Vice-president Development and Public Affairs of Vélo Québec, described the development of his organisation in Canada since the 1960s, which caters for all types of cyclists. However, he was keen to stress that cycling is not an exact science and you need to adjust the approach taken to the individual circumstances.

There then followed an interesting group discussion amongst the audience. The concluding message, which everyone agreed on, was that cycling is fun whatever the purpose of your journey!

Delivery Services and Shopping by Bikes

Delivery services by bicycle were an abandoned market for a long time. But the blooming of e-mobility has re-positioned it as a real potential nowadays. One of Thursday's session called "Heavy Goods - Light Vehicles" showed the relevancy of cycling for goods transportation. Delegates and speakers highlighted conditions to boost and support delivery by bicycles and e-bikes.

Another session on the third day titled "Shopping by Bike" took a closer look at the usage of bikes for shopping trips. Speakers in the session provided shared their experiences on how to encourage shopping by bike.

Cycling Cinema

On Thursday evening Swedish director Fredrik Gertten's film "Bikes vs Cars" was screened at Velo-city 2015. The film shows a world tour to see the changes in behaviour and use of bicycles with activists' testimonials in Sao Paulo, Toronto and Los Angeles. The film's screening was followed by a presentation and discussion with the audience in the presence of the director himself.