European Cyclists’ Federation announces winners of ECF Awards at Velo-city 2024

GHENT – The European Cyclists’ Federation nnounce the winners of the third edition of the ECF Awards, which recognise outstanding achievements in promoting and enabling cycling.

Winners were selected in five categories and unveiled in a plenary session on the first day of ECF’s annual flagship conference, Velo-city, which is being hosted this year from 18-21 June by the city of Ghent, Belgium. The award ceremony was hosted by ECF President Henk Swarttouw and ECF CEO Jill Warren in front of a record number of over 1,600 delegates in Ghent’s iconic “Kuipke” Velodrome.

The winners of the 2024 ECF Awards:

• The European Parliament for the ECF Cycle-Friendly Employer Award, sponsored by JobRad
• The City of Bologna, Italy for the ECF Road Safety Award, sponsored by Geveko Markings
• The Metropolis of Lyon, France for the ECF Cycling Improvement Award, sponsored by Eco-Counter
• The City of Quelimane, Mozambique for the ECF Best Active Mobility Initiative Award, sponsored by the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management
• The City of Ghent, Belgium for the ECF Cycling Infrastructure Award, sponsored by Verhofsté Group

Commenting on the awards, ECF CEO Jill Warren said, “Our annual flagship event, Velo-city, is where the global cycling community unites under one roof. So this is the perfect occasion to spotlight some remarkable achievements in cycling and active mobility promotion.”

ECF President Henk Swarttouw added, “Through these ECF Awards, we aim to inspire, spread innovative ideas, and share best practices that benefit all categories of cyclists. All the winners are to be commended for their successes and the impact they are making for cycling in their communities and beyond.”

Warren and Swarttouw extended their thanks to all the sponsors who helped make the ECF awards possible.

The next edition of the ECF Awards will take place at Velo-city 2025 in Gdansk, Poland from 10-13 June 2025.

About the winners

The European Parliament for the ECF Cycle-Friendly Employer Award

• As the first EU institution to attain Cycle Friendly Employer certification, the European Parliament is a shining example of how an employer can encourage and enable their employees to cycle to work. Their approach includes everything from providing service bikes, free bike maintenance and state of the art bicycle parking, and they organise annual promotional events like the Vélomai in the month of May, with lectures, workshops, bicycle tours and trainings.

The City of Bologna, Italy for the ECF Road Safety Award

• Bologna is a city that has been making incredible progress in cycling and the first major Italian city to impose a bold new 30 km/h speed limit on most streets, citing safety and liveability. This has helped to increase cycling by 29% within the first months of implementation, while making it safer and more inviting for cyclists of all ages and abilities. Not only this, Bologna implemented its speed reduction initiative against the backdrop of a particularly difficult political climate for such changes yet stayed the course.

The Metropolis of Lyon, France for the ECF Cycling Improvement Award

• Grand Lyon is pursuing an ambitious cycling strategy to create a fully bikeable city by 2030. Its EUR 500 million 2024-2030 plan includes an aim to ensure that 99% of its citizens are within 10 minutes of a high-quality bike lane by 2030. Their efforts are already generating measureable improvements. For example, a 6.7% increase in the number of cyclists was recorded just over the past year. Grand Lyon is definitely on the right path!

The City of Quelimane, Mozambique for the ECF Best Active Mobility Initiative Award

• Known as Africa’s cycling city, Quelimane stands out for enabling active mobility. As the site of the first cycle lane in Mozambique, Quelimane now has a modal split of 40% walking and 35% cycling. Mayor Manuel Araujo is a cyclist who leads by example, and his city is leading the transition to sustainable mobility by making active mobility a pillar of its climate resilience strategy.

The City of Ghent, Belgium for the ECF Cycling Infrastructure Award

• Ghent has become a showcase city for cycling, with a wealth of infrastructure that caters to its cyclists. This includes over 500km of cycling infrastructure and more than 60 cycling bridges and underpasses to connect cyclists to where they want to go. The ribbon cutting for the latest piece of major infrastructure for cyclists, the Annie Vande Wielebrug bridge, will take place during the Velo-city conference. The new bridge will accommodate over 3,000 cyclists and pedestrians a day and is a major link in the completion of the bicycle highway, the “Westerringspoor’”, connecting Ghent-Sint-Pieters train station with the neighbourhoods Muide, Wondelgem, Mariakerke and the Brugse Poort. The bridge also perfectly represents the chosen theme of this year’s Velo-city conference, “Connecting through cycling.

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