An exciting year for ECF’s members full of advocacy successes, cycling events, and new initiatives is drawing to an end. Here is a look at the highlights of the past six months as well as an overview of the events and projects our members can anticipate in 2019. A recap of the first half year can be found here.

In September, FUB achieved a major triumph when the French Prime Minister, Édouard Philippe, announced France’s new ambitious cycling masterplan. This announcement marked a huge victory for the “Parlons-Velo” (Let's Talk Bicycle) campaign, in which FUB and its partners urged the government to create a national cycling fund, support the development of a bicycle culture, fight bike theft, and create a sustainable mobility package of € 400 per year available to employees and civil servants. Eager to ensure its implementation, FUB will continue to stay mobilized in 2019 and stimulate the involvement of local communities so that the cycling transition quickly becomes reality!

Between 17-21 September, the 25^th Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress with the slogan “Quality of Life” was held in Copenhagen – this year with a strong emphasis on the crucial role that cycling plays for the future of mobility. Christophe Najdosvki, ECF President and Deputy Mayor in Paris, delivered an informal speech in which he emphasized the importance for cyclists of “Safety in numbers”. On the 18^th, the Danish Cyclists’ Federation, German ADFC, Dutch Fietsersbond, and the ECF gathered all cycling advocates and experts attending the Congress at a special network reception focusing on active and sustainable mobility in urban settings.

In October, Biciclistas de Corella (Spain), Green Schools/Cyclist.ie (the Irish Cycling Advocacy Network), and Frie Fugle (Denmark) had their first LTT (Learning/Training/Teaching) event of the 3-year Erasmus+ project “Sustainable mobility, sustainable community”. In collaboration with the Lithuanian youth association LAG Suduva and the Spanish high school Alhama, our three members strive to combine social inclusion, intergenerational relationships, community building, and sustainable mobility in innovative ways. Plugging into Velo-city taking place in Dublin in June 2019, the collaborative project will have its second LTT event, in which youngsters and adults from different backgrounds will continue to inspire and learn from each other.

Throughout the year, FUB, Fiestsersbond, Syklistenes Landsforening, Sindikat Biciklista, and FIAB have continued their active involvement in the Mobility and Time Value (MoTiv) project, which addresses emerging needs and perspectives on Value of Travel Time (VTT). The project will soon be launching their MoTiV smartphone app that combines and integrates features from a multi-modal “journey planner” and an “activity/mobility diary”. The project’s goal is to contribute to advance research on VTT by introducing a conceptual framework for the estimation of VTT through European-wide data collection. 

Running on its sixth year, ECF’s Leadership Programme continued to provide extensive training to participating members on organisational development, political campaigning, strategic planning, fundraising, and coalition building for stronger national advocacy. On the 7^th and 8^th of December, FUB hosted a workshop in Paris attended by 20 of the most active cycling advocacy leaders from Estonia, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bosnia, and France. Joining the series of trainings, workshops, and exchange of best practices were also FIAB (Italy) and Sindikat Biciklista (Croatia), who have already successfully completed the programme. While Paris was burning outside because of the Gilets jaunes, the programme progressed with Christophe Najdosvki presenting the work and vision for Paris. Undeterred by the protests, we continued with a lovely bike tour through the Parisian streets, where Christophe showcased the good measures the city has already taken.

Finishing off this great year, Gipuzkoa presented an award on sustainable mobility to Bizikume and Kalapie on December 13, for their initiative to promote cycling among women. 

Coming up in 2019

Although 2018 proved to be a busy year for our members, things are not likely to slow down in 2019. On the 17^th and 18^th of May, ECF’s Annual General Meeting will take place in Brussels.

Following the AGM, the Cycling Embassy of Denmark continues its successful Bikeable City Matersclasses with another one coming up on the 20^th to 24^th of May. The masterclass targets urban planners, decision makers, and others who want to acquire knowledge and concrete tools on how to promote cycling or improve conditions for cyclists in their country or city.

• Velo-city in Dublin (25-28 June)
• Eurpean Parliament elections campaign
• National Energy and Climate Plans campaign