Irish Cycling Campaign (formerly Cyclist.ie) has been an active member of the European Cyclists’ Federation for many years – and really first going back to the mid-1990s when Dublin Cycling Campaign was the initial contact point with ECF before our own national body was formed. For the last 15 years (plus), we have attended the ECF AGM, and this year Damien Ó Tuama flew the ICC flag at the gathering. In this article, he shares some reflections on what was a fruitful and enjoyable trip.
Back in Zagreb
It was great to be back in Zagreb, a city I first visited back in 2008 when on a camper-van adventure with a good friend and with two old single speed foldable bikes on board. Zagreb is a friendly city, and it’s an easy place to move about in on their distinctive blue trams and on foot. It’s also easy enough to bike around the city and I elaborate on this below. I was delighted to be in the Croatian capital again and this time reconnecting with my ECF colleagues, including those I worked with closely during my time on the ECF Board from 2016-2021.
The Formal AGM
The ECF AGM was held in the quite beautiful “Journalist Building” which is close enough to the centre of the city. The building was funded by the Croatian Journalists’ Association, one of the oldest professional associations in Croatia (established in 1910), and it is still owned by it. It’s the meeting point for Croatian journalists and media workers, but also a venue for different cultural, literary, scientific and artistic events. It was a perfect size for our posse of around 60 participants, with a lovely view from the curved balcony as shown here.
The formal part of the AGM took place over two days – a full day’s business on the Friday and a further half day of debate and discussions on the Saturday morning.
ECF AGM delegates plus ECF staff – Photo kindly provided by ECF
The CEO of ECF is Jill Warren (@JillWarrenECF), and she has been at the helm of the organisation since 2020. Jill gave a great overview of what has been another effective year of advocacy work for ECF. Probably the highlight of the last year came in the last few months when the European Council, Commission and Parliament signed the European Declaration on Cycling, marking the official adoption of the first inter-institutional cycling policy at the European level. Amongst other benefits, this Declaration can be referred to by national organisations all around Europe as it shows the direction that transport policy needs to take over the coming years. Another work area that Jill highlighted were the significant lobbying efforts made to reshape the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive which now sets, for the very first time, European minimum bicycle parking norms for virtually all types of buildings, both residential as well as non-residential – see here. Huge credit is due to all of the staff here, but particularly Fabian Küster who has been working on this topic for well over 5 years.
Overall, ECF is in good shape, with a wide portfolio of funding sources underpinning its day-to-day functioning and enabling it to employ 20+ super committed and knowledgeable staff members.
Some of Jill’s highlights of ECF’s work in 2023-2024
Elections for the board took place on Day #2 after the candidates had introduced themselves on Day #1. There was a very healthy interest in the process with a total of 16 candidates applying in February for four available board positions. I was part of a three person Nominations Committee, along with (current board member) Camille Thomé and (former board member) Raluca Fiser, that had the job of encouraging potential candidates to apply, analysing applications, interviewing candidates and producing a short-list of recommended candidates for the election itself – not an easy job with so many good applicants vying to be on the ECF Board!
Electronic voting underway in the ECF Board Elections
In the end, Henk Swarttouw (@copenhenken) from The Netherlands was re-elected as President of the Board (the only applicant for this position), with Sidsel Burk Hjuler (Denmark) and Graham Waston (UK) both re-elected for a second three year term, and with the final vacant position going to Siliva Casorran from Barcelona. They join the four existing board members Francesco Baroncini (Italy), Camille Thomé (France), Jan Vermeulen (Belgium) and Angela Francke (Germany). All in all, it’s a strong board with a decent gender mix and a reasonably good geographical representation, although it is missing someone from the eastern part of the Continent.
L-R: Tena Šarić Rukavina and Ema Tarabochia Veršić from Sindkat Biciklista
There was plenty of good debates at the AGM, particularly in regard to the mid-term review of the ECF Strategy and in response to the panel discussion on “How to make cycling an election issue?” In that session, ECF moderated a discussion with members on the strategies, tactics and messages needed to make cycling a relevant issue during election season, and how election campaigns focused on cycling can reach political incumbents and candidates from across the political spectrum. It was nicely moderated by Philip Amaral (@AmaralPhilip), ECF’s Director of Policy and Development, who is also ECF’s contact point for the European elections. These discussions will feed into Irish Cycling Campaign’s own plans ahead of the Local and European elections – see https://cyclist.ie/2024/04/asks-for-local-elections-candidates/.
Philip Amaral, ECF’s Director of Policy and Development
Some conclusions from the Croatian cycle campaigners on how to make cycling an election issue
Jens Peter Hansen (Danish Cyclists’ Federation) spoke on his work of quantifying motor vehicles’ close passing of him on Danish roads.
Getting About in Zagreb / Cycling Trips
All of the AGM delegates has access to Zagreb’s Nextbike bike sharing scheme for the duration of the AGM and over the weekend, but I also took the tram quite a bit as it was super easy and convenient. Just 53c for a ticket if bought in advance (or 80c if bought from the tram driver). The trams themselves span a mixture of older ones going back to the 1950s (the ones common to much of Eastern and Central European cities – as shown below) to much bigger and slicker brand new ones (shown further below).
Hats off to local ECF Member group and the AGM hosts, Sindikat Biciklista (@cyklofil), for organising a really entertaining and informative city bike ride for all of the ECF participants! We started and finished at the Croatian National Theatre and got a great insight into the city’s history and culture – and its topography!
Shared running of trams and bikes in the centre of Zagreb
ECF on tour in the old town!
Janko and Zvoni from Sindikat Biciclista, the Croatian Cycling Campaign
A sculpture by Ivan Meštrović showing Nikola Tesla, one of the most famous sons of Croatia (or of the Austrian Empire as it was then)
Sindikat Biciklista also organised a special cycle trip on the Sunday morning, where we explored the southern part of the city including the extensive sports campus in which cars are being systematically removed so as to reduce road dangers and encourage more walking and cycling.
The Sunday morning cycle crew. Back row, L-R: Stefan (Montenegro), Hugo (Switzerland), Damien (Ireland), Sladjana (Montenegro / Norway), Blazo (Montenegro), Igor (Bosnia & Herzegovina), Dejan (Montenegro), Dragan (Bosnia & Herzegovina); Front row, L-R: Silvia (Spain), Marko (Serbia), Robert (Croatia) – Photo kindly provided by Dragan!
One of Zagreb’s self-service egg vending machines
In terms of the quality of the cycling infrastructure in the city, it’s fair to say that it’s a real mixed bag. There are many cycle tracks positioned directly alongside footpaths on the main avenues, and people on bikes lose priority on a regular basis at side roads. There are also plenty of examples of ridiculously narrow cycle lanes – narrower than the width of one’s shoulders – which are squeezed in by removing space for pedestrians, while the main carriageways remain dominated by often multi-lane fast moving cars (as shown below). That said there are plenty of quieter streets where cycling is the perfect way to get about – particularly in the old town.
Both parked and fast moving cars dominate much of Zagreb’s public space – with super narrow cycle tracks squeezed in here and there
Social Events
As important for catching up properly with colleagues from other ECF member groups are the social events organised as part of the AGM. We were very impressed to have the official ECF AGM 2024 dinner taking place at Dverce Palace, at the invitation of the City of Zagreb, with a welcome address by Mayor Mr. Tomislav Tomašević (shown below).
L-R: Jill Warren (ECF CEO), Henk Swarttouw (ECF President), Mr. Tomislav Tomašević (Major of Zagreb), Janko Večerina (President of Sindikat Biciclista, the Croatian Cycling Campaign) and the staff of the Mayor
The rest of the ECF AGM delegates!
And following the grandeur of the Mayor’s palace, we meandered down a narrow lane and slipped into a slightly hidden and much more informal jazz bar with a fine beer garden out the back for further catch-ups with colleagues.
In Summary
As always, when meeting up with the ECF gang, it’s a lovely friendly affair. One is reconnecting with friends and colleagues, all of whom are campaigning hard in their own countries – and/or at an European level – to improve conditions for cycling and to make places more liveable. I’m particularly grateful to the hosts from Sindikat Biciklista (pictured below), who ran a brilliantly organised and most enjoyable AGM. They brought us to some fine formal venues, but also some very decent bars for music and chat – it’s so good to have that expert local knowledge guiding us in the host city! Hats off to Janko and his team for a fine job.
Personally, it was also great spending time with cycling campaigners from the Balkans – not only from Croatia, but also from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia (with their new e-biking organisation) — and getting a sense of how they are campaigning in their cities and towns. My most memorable conversations though were with the cycling advocates from TUBIDEF in Turkey. Of their group, Serafettin is from the city of Antakya, which was pretty much completely flattened in the earthquake of early 2023 – see here – including his entire district and apartment buildings which he showed me in recently captured videos of his area. It was quite unfathomable how obliterated his city was, and the massive death toll experienced there. My heart goes out to him and his people as they embark on a long journey of dealing with so much grief and rebuilding the city.
As always, it was a rich and enjoyable experience attending the ECF AGM and spending time with other campaigners who are properly clued into what is happening in their local and national political contexts, and who enjoy a chat and a beer. The next AGM of ECF will take place in Brussels in 2025 and, all going well, we will have a mini-delegation from Irish Cycling Campaign attending, including some new faces on our side.