ECF: Scientists for Cycling 

January, 15-16^th  2010, the European Cyclists` Federation (ECF) organized a colloquium „meeting at the fireside“ at the Protestant Academy Bad Boll, Germany, to support the development for “ECF scientists for cycling network”. In an informal atmosphere participants from 8 different countries – academic researchers, scientists, consultants – freely expressed their views and discussed topics linking science and cycling. The questions and issues discussed ranged from general themes like benefits of cycling, deceleration (“should people be addressed with the story of cycling the fastest way to move in the city or should them be shown the concept of slow mobility?”), energy (“what are the impacts of peak oil and post-fossil energy-use in behalf of cycling?”) , how to communicate cycling (“what officials and responsible authorities should know to achieve a more sustainable cycling policy”) to specific questions like “which sciences may focus on cycling”, “target groups and scientists for cycling network”. 

Some statements of the attendees: “right of mobility as part of social inclusion”, “combine the question of environment with the question of justice: bicycle is a survival program for poor people”, “prepare the (mobility) change in developing a communicative city (public transport, cycling, walking), in looking on emerging countries and with the awareness that to drive a car will be more expensive than ever”, “make experience of cycling and walking (cycling and walking are most normal means against stress)”, “not own a car, but share a car”, “what are attractive models for a sustainable life-style”, “what are win-win-situations?”, “we are in an age of transition between fossil and post-fossil mobility and renewable energies will not be able to substitute oil-decline in a correspondent way”, “human powered mobility is not a relict but it is an everlasting task to reassure the preconditions of human powered mobility”, ”the forces of economic shortages will force changes in our attitudes – what are the impacts of a diminishing labor force and growing unemployment e.g. in a shrinking car industry?”, “how to get cycling into the mainstream?”, “Scientists in cycling network  in context of a market-place function, as a brain trust, a think-tank in behalf of cycling, with advisory function”; “hard and soft science as  two parts of knowledge production”, “research in cycle-traffic mostly is done - important is implementation, at best some research in interdisciplinary context may be interesting”

The meeting in Bad Boll has to be seen as a preparation for a session at the Velo-City Global 2010 conference in Copenhagen in which ECF will present a strategy to set up a scientists for cycling network. MOVILIZATION member Walter Vogt attended the colloquium and will stay in touch with the network. For more information about the network contact f.boschetti@ecf.com.