Annual National EuroVelo Coordination Centres and Coordinators Meeting: Celebrating 20 years of the European cycle route network

Transcription

1 Annual National EuroVelo Coordination Centres and Coordinators Meeting: Celebrating 20 years of the European cycle route network European Cyclists Federation Adam Bodor, Director of EuroVelo, Cycling Tourism and Regional Policy Ed Lancaster, Policy Officer 2 th June 2015 ECF gratefully acknowledges financial support from the European commission. Nevertheless the sole responsibility of this publication lies with the author. The European Union is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. Meeting Notes Date: Tuesday 2 nd June 2015 Time: 11:00 17:30 Location: Room KL, La Cité, Nantes, France Attendees: Christian Weinberger, ecoplus (Austria) John Roseman, Minsk Cycling Community (Belarus) Adam Bodor, ECF (Belgium) Ed Lancaster, ECF (Belgium) Jesus Freire, ECF (Belgium) Evgeny Apostolov, Bulgarian Cycling Association (Bulgaria) Darinka Jug, City of Zagreb (Croatia) Andrea Frkanec, City of Zagreb (Croatia) Mario Miličević, City of Zagreb (Croatia) Tena Šarić, Sindikat biciklista (Croatia) Daniel Mourek, Nadace Partnerstvi (EVC) (Czech Republic) Jens Erik Larsen, Foreningen Frie Fugle (EVC) (Denmark) Céline Lancery, Conseil général des Alpes-Maritimes (France) Camille Thome, DRC (EVC) (France) Agathe Daubidon, DRC (France) Francis Mons, AF3V (France) Marc Linsig, AF3V (France) Philippe Coupy, France Vélo Tourisme (France) Louise Bohler, ADFC (Germany) Burkhard Stork, ADFC (Germany Page 1/6

2 Sesselja Traustadóttir, Icelandic Cyclists' Federation (Iceland) Morten Lange, Icelandic Cyclists' Federation (Iceland) Colm Ryder, Cyclist.ie (Ireland) Giulia Cortesti, FIAB (Italy) Raffaele Sforza, Regione Puglia (Italy) Gust Muller, LVI (Luxembourg) Samantha Georg, LVI (Luxembourg) Eric Nijland, Fietsplatform (The Netherlands) Frans van Schoot, NVHPV (The Netherlands) Marit Espeland, Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Norway) Andrzej Zalewski, EuroVelo Polska (Poland) Radu Mititean, Romanian Cyclists' Federation (Romania) Boris Čamernik, Danube Competence Centre (Serbia) Ján Roháč, Ekopolis (Slovakia) Haritz Ferrando, Conbici (Spain) Kaethi Diethelm, Pro Velo (EVC) (Switzerland) Lukas Stadtherr, SwitzerlandMobility Foundation (EVC) (Switzerland) Feridun Ekmekci, ENVERCEVKO - Mugla (Turkey) Murat Suyabatmaz, Bisikletliler Dernegi (Turkey) Viktor Zagreba, AVK (Ukraine) Opening speech by Kaethi Diethelm (KD) and Adam Bodor (AB). Jens Erik Larsen (JEL) shared his memories of the first twenty years of the EuroVelo network. Updates from NECC/Cs Joint presentations from Départements & Régions cyclables (DRC), France Vélo Tourisme and Association Française de Développement des Véloroutes et Voies Vertes (AF3V) on the development of the EuroVelo network in France. DRC and AF3V presented new cycling maps of France both of which included the EuroVelo routes. The AF3V map is linked to an interactive website via a QR code. Haritz Ferrando from Conbici present the work that has been done to establish a National EuroVelo Coordination Centre in Spain. Following a question, he indicated that the economic figures for cycling tourism included in his presentation were based on the study into the topic commissioned by the European Parliament in Page 2/6

3 He also confirmed that, whilst currently behind the other two EuroVelo routes in Spain, EuroVelo 8 was starting to receive more attention and public bodies along the route had come together to form a route itinerary committee. Céline Lancery from Conseil général des Alpes-Maritimes presented the new cycling tourism package offers that have been created in her region in the frame of the ongoing EuroVelo 8 project supported by the European Commission. She was asked if it was hard to get support for cycling tourism in a region traditionally associated with the high end of the market. She explained that whilst she had shared this fear initially, in fact people had been very positive. Cycle tourists have already been visiting the region, so tour operators, hotels, tourism bodies etc. we all very open to the concept. Daniel Mourek presented the packages that had been prepared along the section of EuroVelo 13 Iron Curtain Trail in the Czech Republic, again as part of an ongoing EU-supported project. Louise Böhler from the ADFC presented the current status of the EuroVelo routes in Germany. She was asked who chooses the operator of their routes but indicated that it is dictated by the market the ADFC does not create products. Following further questions, Burkhard Stork (BS) indicated that the length of the EuroVelo network in Germany is probably bigger then currently estimated approximately 9,000 km of which 85% was in place (although very little is currently marketed as being part of the EuroVelo network). JEL proposed that a question about EuroVelo could be included in Radreiseanalyse to gauge how much awareness of the European network there is in Germany. Lunch Services for NECC/Cs Ed Lancaster (EL) presented an overview of the services that are available for NECC/Cs followed by more detailed presentations from AB on the recently adopted EuroVelo Usage Monitoring Manual and Jesus Freire on the recent updates to the EuroVelo websites and social media. Eric Nijland (EN) mentioned that market research (e.g. Radreiseanalyse) is also important. Christian Weinberger pointed out that temporary surveys can play a useful role. Marc Linsig emphasized the global reach of the EuroVelo website and social media following an article on EuroVelo.org on a tour they organized last year they received interest from China, New Zealand, Australia etc. Page 3/6

4 Evgeny Apostolov also had experience of this he was contacted by a group of American cycle tourists who wanted to cycle a remote section of EuroVelo 13 Iron Curtain Trail in Bulgaria, which they had heard about via EuroVelo.com. Development of EuroVelo routes EL presented opportunities for funding cycling projects from EU Funds. Agathe Daubidon asked if the intention was to update the scan and if so, when. AB replied that this was the aim but it would be useful to do it once all the documents had finally been adopted, which still was not the case! Morten Lange asked about the situation outside of the EU, as Iceland was eligible in some calls. AB confirmed that this was the case but the amounts available were likely to be much smaller and difficult to predict because in Interreg projects amounts were not specified per country (but per macro region which includes several countries or cross-border area of two countries). It was also asked how much of the 600 million that had been allocated to cycling projects during the previous period had actually been spent. However, it will not be possible to know this for sure at least until the end of 2016 because there are always an additional two years beyond the end of the financial period given to managing authorities to spend their remaining budgets. AB presented the process for adding/deleting/cancelling routes from the EuroVelo Network. Christian Weinberger (CW) indicated that he liked the process and pointed out that it would have implications for the national contributions. Following some concerned comments, AB emphasised that the process was aimed at provoking more to be done to develop the routes and not actually getting rid of sections. That would be a last resort. Radu Mititean (RM) felt that the process highlighted the fact that there was no long term strategy (beyond 2020) for EuroVelo. Whilst the western section of the network may be nearing completion, in eastern Europe there was still much to do and more routes may be needed to create a proper network there (e.g. Black Sea Cycle Route). AB promised to table the long term strategy of EuroVelo at next year s NECC meeting. EL presented the current status with the national contributions and apologised for the delay in sending the invoices out. Daniel Mourek confirmed that the national contribution from the Czech Republic can be paid in full in CW asked how the other NECC/Cs were raising the money? EN indicated that the amount was pretty reasonable and he had no problem raising the amount, especially since they are Page 4/6

5 no longer an associate member of the ECF. It was possibly a question of how the contribution was labelled maybe in Austria it would be better to refer to it as a membership fee. DM argued that tourism budgets, even in eastern and southern Europe, were still large and therefore it should be possible to pay the national contribution if you establish contact with tourism bodies. Gust Muller pointed out that the presentation was misleading because it did not mention the minimum contribution, which did effect Luxembourg nevertheless he thought that the amount was very reasonable. AB apologised for the oversight. Colm Ryder questioned some of the distances used to calculate the rate, which the ECF indicated was based on the information in the EuroVelo Overview Route Database (i.e. the NECC/Cs themselves). It is possible to revise the figures based on more accurate information. He indicated the importance of creating a NECC and sharing the costs. Following on from the presentation this morning, BS indicated that he already spends a lot of his member s fees on cycling tourism within Germany. Difficult to justify spending more, especially as they already make a significant contribution to ECF via the Membership fee. AB pointed out that following the AGM on the previous day, the ADFC`s ECF membership fee should go down, so there may be scope for the ADFC to transfer some of this towards the national contribution. He also highlighted that indirectly the ADFC Membership fee is currently contributing towards the central coordination of the EuroVelo network. BS said that all he could commit to at this stage was looking for any public money that might be available. Both Lukas Stadtherr and CW argued that it would be difficult to remove non-paying countries from the EuroVelo website but those that do pay the contribution should instead receive more. Coffee break and cutting of EuroVelo s 20 th birthday cake! EL presented an update on the current status of the EuroVelo Candidate Routes with inputs from Camille Thomé (on the proposed EuroVelo 17 Rhone Route) and ML (on the proposed extension of EuroVelo 1 in Iceland). AOB (KD) EL presented the Dutch organisation Europafietsers, who would like to work together with EuroVelo on some topics. JEL highlighted that Europafietsers do not strictly-speaking work on routes they are not so concerned about signage, dedicated infrastructure etc. EN pointed out that although they were Dutch they were not related to Fietsplatform and in fact, Europafietsers are more interested in cycle routes outside of the Netherlands. Page 5/6

6 Colm Ryder also asked about the current status with the European Long Distance Route Certification process. AB confirmed that the long version of the manual is now finished and should be available from EuroVelo.org shortly. A training event will be held in Brussels in the Autumn [probably early October] and all the NECC/Cs and potential NECC/Cs will be invited to attend. Feridun Ekmekci presented the All routes lead to Brussels project, which he is currently working on. More information here. RM announced that the legislation that prevents EuroVelo and other cycling signs being installed on public roads in Romania is due to be changed in two weeks time. It is the result of 17 years of lobbying and will help make Romania a more popular destination for cycle tourists. KD closed by looking forward to the next twenty years. [Please note that all the PowerPoint presentations are available to view here] The DRC very generously invited us for dinner at the local restaurant Nature et Fourchette where we sampled delicious local food accompanied by wines that complimented each dish. Page 6/6