Representatives of the European Cyclists' Federation have thrown their support behind an initiative to create a World Cycling Alliance (WCA), a worldwide network of non-governmental organisations that will advocate for cycling before international institutions such as the United Nations, the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Bank.
Additionally, WCA will promote and support the worldwide exchange of knowledge, expertise and co-operation of cycling associations and organizations.
“The World Cycling Alliance fills a gap in the promotion of cycling at the highest institutional level. This comes as a logical step as ECF has been active on the field for years, by organising the annual world cycling summits Velo-city conference series” said ECF President, Manfred Neun.
At the same time, ECF has been participating in top international fora, such as the UN’s Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Program, UN-Habitat’s World Urban Forum events and the International Transport Forum, linked to the OECD.
Recently, ECF signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UN-Habitat. “I am enthused by the recognition of ECF role by the UN-Habitat to further develop cycling worldwide through the World Cycling Alliance”, said ECF Secretary General, Bernhard Ensink.
All ECF members, which include organisations from India, Russia, Taiwan, Canada, Thailand and Australia, will be founding members of the Alliance. WCA will be governed by a Steering Board which in its final form will comprise the elected president of the ECF and members from different continents. The first Steering Board will be presented in Velo-city Global 2014 in Adelaide, Australia, where the WCA network will be officially launched on May 30th.
