Monitoring/Policy
Cycling Scotland Conference 2017 - the highlights
24 November 2017
The Cycling Scotland Conference was in Glasgow at the University of Strathclyde’s Technology & Innovation Centre for two days of study tours, events, workshops and speakers.
The Conference brought together over 200 professionals, campaigners, volunteers and national and local politicians to share experiences, learn from each other and network to help support cycling in Scotland and beyond.
On day 1, delegates took to the streets of Glasgow (and Paisley) to experience first hand and learn about some of the great projects across these two cities to help more people to travel actively.
Study tours visited projects such as Soul Riders in the south of the city, Sighthill regeneration and infrastructure improvements along the canal network in the north of the city and to Free Wheel North’s base in Glasgow Green to see their amazing adapted bikes for accessible cycling. A tour on foot took delegates to Paisley to hear about their plans as part of the Paisley 2021 City of Culture bid.
Day 2 presented a packed programme with speakers from Inverness to Indianapolis.
Minister for Transport and the Islands, Humza Yousaf MSP addressed the 200 strong audience covering the doubling of the active travel budget in the recent Programme for Government and highlighting the importance of cycling for mental as well as physical health.
Cllr Anna Richardson followed with details of how Glasgow City Council hopes to tackle air pollution and boost active travel for all in the city.
Cycling Scotland Chair, Maureen Kidd, was next up and outlined Cycling Scotland’s strategy for the period to 2022.
Maureen was quickly followed by our international speaker, Kären Haley from the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. She demonstrated how the trail has benefitted both the tourist and local economies and increased active travel among the city’s population.
The afternoon was filled with breakout sessions and discussions around making cycling more attractive with presentations from Police Scotland and Connswater Community Greenway in Belfast.
All in all, a great conference with some great projects being highlighted, inspiring us all to think about how we can improve our towns and cities by enabling more people to travel actively.
97.76% of the post-conference survey participants said they would attend the conference again.