CYCLINGEMBASSY OF DENMARKANNUAL REPORT 2015

cycling-embassy.org

WHAT IS THE CED?The Cycling Embassy of Denmark is a comprehen-sive network of cycling professionals from private companies, local authorities and non-govern-mental organizations working together to pro-mote cycling and communicate Danish cycling solutions and know-how.

Our mission is twofold: to contribute to the de-velopment of cycle cultures around the world by sharing our know-how and to work together to further develop the Danish cycle culture. This re-port gives an overview of the past year’s activities and results which we would like to share with our followers.

FURTHER DEVELOPING THE DANISH BICYCLE CULTUREThe CED has grown significantly this year and now counts close to 40 members; a token that the Danish bicycle culture is still growing stronger. The CED’s members represent the latest knowl-

edge of all areas related to cycling be it planning bicycle and people-friendly cities, creating syner-gy between cycling and public transport – and other modes of transport, building well-designed, safe infrastructure for cyclists like cycle tracks and bicycle bridges, developing successful campaigns that motivate people of all age groups to cycle, designing urban furniture like bicycle pumps, bike counters, and bicycle parking facilities, and much more.

Our members gain a lot from the network within the CED as they inspire each other to develop new projects and campaigns. To name a few accom-plishments this year, individual CED members have contributed with new knowledge about how we make more people bike and the link be-tween cyclists and shop revenue, a new project about bicycle playgrounds which will be built in 10 Danish municipalities over the next two years, the construction of a new iconic cycle bridge in Odense, the development of new bicycle parking solutions for cargo bikes, and much more.

But the CED also continuously seeks new inspi-ration from outside of Denmark. In September, a delegation of CED members went on a study tour to Southern Germany and Switzerland to study the solutions of the cities of Freiburg, Karlsruhe, and Basel.

KEY RESULTS 2015The Cycling Embassy of Denmark (CED) is expanding. With close to 40 members counting the most dedicated professionals working with cycle promotion in Denmark, the organisation plans to increase its activities even further in 2016 sharing Danish cycle expertise with cities, organiza-tions, authorities, and companies all around the world:

“Interest in the Danish cycle culture from abroad has increased significantly over the past years. For the CED in 2015, it has resulted in two masterclasses in cycle planning in Denmark, numerous presentations at international conferences, consulting jobs for our members in foreign cities, and much more. It is wonderful to see so many new upcoming cycle cities across the globe. being inspired by what has been done in Denmark. The CED and our members definitely look forward to continuing our work to promote Danish cycle know-how in 2016 as well.”

Marianne Weinreich, Chairman of CED

Cycling Without Age

Odense City Bridge/Thomas Mørkeberg

Bicycle Playground/Kristine Funch

Chairman, Marianne Weinreich

Winter cycling/MIkkel Østergaard

PRESENTAROUND THE WORLD

CyclingÊEmbassyÊofÊDenmarkÊ

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EXPORTING DANISH BICYCLE KNOW-HOWDanish cycle expertise is an increasingly sought-after commodity. The increasing urbani-zation creates massive challenges for cities across the world in terms of how they plan their mobility. Decision makers are looking to Denmark and es-pecially some of our greater cities like Copenha-gen, Aarhus, Odense, and Aalborg where they see cities where people, urban life, and livability are at the center of urban development.

Many of the CED’s members have experienced this tendency first hand and have had a busy year sharing their know-how and knowledge. They have acted as expert speakers at a number of con-ferences around the world from Seville to Seoul, and during the year, we have received hundreds of decision makers, journalists, and planners from across the globe travelling to Denmark to experi-ence our cycle solutions. The CED has also hosted two Bikeable City Masterclasses for groups from Australia/New Zealand/Singapore/Taiwan as well as Colombia/Chile/Argentina/Mexico.

This year, the CED also entered into collaborations with the Danish organization State of Green and further solidified our ties to our American friends in the organization People for Bikes coordinating no less than four study tours in connection with

their Green Lanes Project. The CED has also col-laborated with a number of the Danish embassies abroad who have sought our assistance in pro-moting the Danish bicycle culture worldwide.

VELO-CITYTrue to tradition, the CED made its presence felt at the Velo-city conference which took place in Nantes, France, this year. In addition to giving a number of presentations, we had the pleasure of meeting numerous fel-low cycle promoters at our stand at the exhibit not least during our Mayors’ Battle where Mr. Morten Kabell, Mayor for the Technical and Envi-ronmental Administration, City of Copenhagen, Mr. Paul de Rook, Alderman of traffic and trans-port, Vice-mayor of the city of Groningen, and Mr. Christophe Najdovski, Deputy mayor of the city of

Paris in charge of transport, mobility, roads and public space debated what it takes to become the world’s best city for cycling.

Mr. Najdovski was furthermore the proud win-ner – on behalf of the City of Paris - of the CED’s Leadership Award for Cycling Promotion which the CED gives out every year at Velo-city. Winning the award takes more than being an avid cyclist. It must be someone who works professionally with cycle promotion, has done something extraordi-nary to push the cycle agenda, and has vision, po-litical courage, innovative ideas, and an ability to get things moving and people working together. So, Mr. Najdovski was definitely a worthy winner.

LOOKING TOWARD 2016 – WHAT’S TO COME?2015 has truly been an exciting and rewarding year for the CED and our members. The CED has ex-panded our activities and collaborations both within Denmark and abroad. Thank you to all of our cooperators abroad and the many people who visited us here in Denmark. We look forward to con-tinuing our working relationships with you in the coming year. In 2016, the CED will proceed on our mission to share Danish bicycle know-how but work through a number of new channels in order to seek dialogue with new partners in markets and forums, thereby further increasing the export of Danish bicycle expertise. Finally, we want to say a warm thank you to the increasing number of people who follow us on the so-cial media. Thank you to all of you for your support and interest in our organization. We look forward to continue sharing our work with all of you in the coming year!

Executive Committee, Cycling Embassy of Denmark, December 2015

The Cycle Serpent/Ursula Bach

Handover of award

CED

Mikkel Østergaard

Rush hour/

Gottlieb Paludan Architects

The CED members