ECF members arranged workshops that reached into local and federal governments in 2012, bringing government officials and administrators together with cycling experts and campaigners. The workshops guide participants through key steps of developing cycle promotion schemes, using materials from the EU funded project LIFECYCLE that ended in 2011.

Czech Health Minister HEGER shows what kind of transport he prefers
SOURCE: www.cyklostrategie.cz

A very sucessful workshop supported by the Minister

The workshop in Prague was the highlight of the year for ECF’s LIFECYCLE knowledge transfer workshops. The Czech Health Minister Leos Heger invited ECF member Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation Nadace Partnerství, to hold the workshop at the ministry. The Health Minister was on hand to introduce the workshop and noted that he’d asked several of his staff to take part. They participated enthusiastically in all aspects of the workshop, exchanging experiences and ideas with cycle campaigners & experts.

“It is necessary to encourage appropriate physical activities and active lifestyle” said Minister Heger in his speech. He wants to see cycling promotion on the national scale, because “Exercise is a vital part of both the prevention and treatment of chronic non-infectious diseases.”

The minister has long been a cycling advocate. “For him cycling is the most normal thing, nothing extraordinary. This was an exceptional opportunity for us to bring together his staff and some of our experts on cycling,” said Mr Daniel Mourek from Nadace Partnerství, who organized the workshop. “The minister wants to promote cycling, and we do too, so this was an ideal circumstance for all of us.”

Learning how to promote cycling

“We’ve been delivering these for a few years now, but 2012 was a milestone” said Dr Randy Rzewnicki, the ECF Policy Officer who leads the workshops. “Our members brought together some key figures who wanted to know how to promote cycling. Their interest and their expertise about local conditions make the work of promoting cycling much easier. All we had to do was share the experiences, both successes and mistakes, that others have had. And let people work together with each other and the materials.”

In Poland, ECF Member PSWE arranged a Lifecycle workshop in city where the mayor wants to promote cycling. The mayor of Skarzysko-Kamienna used the event to cement his reputation as a leader in the region. The mayor and several of his staff as well as a Traffic Police commander participated in all aspects of the workshop. They developed a basic plan for promoting cycling to shops. “We have a new tool to work with” said Rzewnicki, “Our main handbook was translated into Polish, because we’ve wanted to be doing some extra work in that country.” The LIFECYCLE Intervention Manual, is a handbook detailing the development of cycle promotion schemes. Please contact ECF or PSWE for information on how to obtain a copy.

LIFECYCLE workshops in a nutshell

In total the series consisted of 6 LIFECYCLE workshops at 5 different venues: at the  Volunteers of Cycling Academy , in Vienna, Brno, Prague, Murowana-Goslina, Skarzysko-Kamienna. In total over 110 persons participated including health ministry staffers, cycling advocacy campaigners, local & regional public planning authorities, a mayor & city staff, city traffic engineers, police,  school & university staff, employers & entrepreneurs, family & women’s’ organizations, & organizations for the elderly. The plans developed during the workshops focused on cycling promotion schemes for children, families, schools, university students seniors, Bike to Work, Bike to Shop, leisure cycling & touring… If you are interested in hosting such a workshop in 2013 please contact Dr Randy Rzewnicki.