This year’s General Annual Meeting of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), was held in Utrecht, the Netherlands, on May 16 and 17. Representing the Center for Environment, as a member of the ECF network, were Tihomir Dakić, Dragan Kabić, and Igor Uletilović, along with many friends from Europe and the region.
The ECF member organizations from our region, including the Center for Environment (BiH), are: Biciklo.me (Montenegro), Sindikat biciklista (Croatia), and the Institute for Urban Mobility (Serbia) – which was represented by several organizations that found it up, namely: Novi Sad Cycling Initiative, Streets for Cyclists, and Safe Paths. In addition to the aforementioned, new member organizations whose membership was confirmed at this Assembly are the Maribor Cycling Network (Slovenia) and HerzegovinaBike (BiH).
At this Assembly, new members of the board of directors were also elected, and architect Slađana Lazarević was elected following a vote by delegates from across Europe. Slađana is the first board member of the ECF from Southeast Europe. Lazarević is originally from Bar, an associate professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Design at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), and her participation on the board will help strengthen cooperation with organizations in Europe when it comes to sustainable urban mobility policies.
In addition to the assembly session itself, representatives of organizations had the opportunity to examine examples of good practice in terms of cycling infrastructure and signage, both in Utrecht—where data shows that the share of cycling traffic during peak hours is as high as 50% (video – peak hour in Utrecht)—and in Amsterdam (video – continuity of cycling infrastructure).
