Slovenia

Cycling is fun, efficient and healthy! For those reasons it would be great if more Europeans would take the bike. In order to inspire people in different countries and cities to do so the Netherlands Presidency of the EU initiated the Cycling Festival Europe 2016, this started on the 14th of April and will continue until the end of June! Countries all over Europe are participating by showing their best cycling practices trough projects and initiatives. Slovenia is no exception, being Green Capital of Europe 2016 it has a lot of great initiatives and projects to show. Blogger and cyclist Mark Koghee followed all the events of the CFE2016 closely, read about his experiences: https://ljubljanees.com/

The Dutch Embassy in Ljubljana has prepared a truly rich program with various Slovene partners, experts in cycling. We are proud to announce that three Slovene national campaigns have joined the Cycling Festival Europe: Slovenia is Cycling, Safety on the Bike and Bring the Happiness to Work. A special welcome goes to the team of paracyclists of the Cycling Federation of Slovenia!

Join us at numerous cycling activities until the end of June!

Upcoming events:

Until 30 June 2016: Cycle2Heritage

Receive 2 tickets for 1 and an award by coming to the following museums by bike and taking a selfie:

City Museum Ljubljana , Idrija Municipal Museum, Posavski museum Brežice

More: https://www.facebook.com/events/1686898858228018/

Past activities:

14 April 2016: Opening of the CFE2016

Kids in elementary schools in the area of Ljubljana presented their views on safe cycling to the Dutch ambassador, sports celebrities, representatives of the municipality and important business stakeholders. Afterwards the Cycling Festival Ljubljana presented cycling from different angles by cycling clubs, cycling associations and non-governmental organizations dealing with urban mobility. Furthermore, the embassy and vice mayor registered for Bring the Happiness to work, the Slovene campaign of Bike2Work, where teams compete to make the most journeys by bicycle to work. Organized by the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia. Lastly, the city of Ljubljana has developed 4 thematic cycling paths which were opened and tested by the ambassador with vice mayor prof. Koželj as tour guide.

More: https://www.cyclingfestivaleurope.eu/index.php/countries/slovenia

https://www.facebook.com/events/596269003862012/

Media: https://www.citylife.si/dogodki/otvoritev-evropskega-kolesarskega-festivala-2016-v-ljubljani https://www.dnevnik.si/1042733893/lokalno/ljubljana/evropski-kolesarski-festival-v-ljubljani-na-kolo-in-zivljenje-lepse-bo

16 April 2016: Spring day of Sports. Location: Kongresni trg, Ljubljana

26 May 2016: Biscuit Picnic– Let’s go Cycling!

The traditional Biscuit Picnic organized by the Dance School Miki was colored in “oranje”this year. With a call Let’s go Cycling! all visitors were invited to come to this public event on their bikes, bike at the cycling polygon, test their cycling skills and join&enjoy in Dutch traditional games. The main aim of the event was to promote cycling in the municipality of Domzale and to raise awareness of this cheap, healthy and fun mode of transport at younger generations. The event was opened by the Deputy Head of Mission Paul van Oostveen and Vice mayor of the Municipality of Domzale, Ms. Renata Kosec.

27 May 2016: Sava Tour 2016 stop in Ljubljana

With more than 800 km long cycling path the Sava Tour 2016 is connecting four countries from the Sava river spring Zelenci in the North-West of Slovenia all way to the Serbian capital Belgrade, where the river joins Danube. In a nine days’ tour cyclers from Slovenia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia and Serbia are merging their efforts to revive the idea of the Sava river bike path connecting countries in the region and to celebrate 1st June, the Day of Sava River. Cyclists were joined by members of TD Rekreatur, Slovene Cycling Network and local cycling clubs.

6 - 11 June 2016: Franja Academy: International program for the exchange of best practices in the integration of cycling and cultural heritage. More: http://my.franja.org/

9 June 2016: Panel Discussion "Importance of cultural values at international sports events" ( https://www.facebook.com/events/1179225982129351/ )

10 June 2016: Lecture by Mr. Dorian Lohmann, Dutch Cycling Embassy at Franja Academy (https://dutchcycling.nl/news/114-franja-academy-in-ljubljana-slovenia )

10 - 12 June 2016: "Franja Maraton" Start/End: BTC City (http://www.franja.org/maraton_franja.html)

Maraton Franja BTC City is the leading three-day cycling event in Slovenia which in 2016 celebrates its 35th anniversary. Organized by Cycling club Rog with the support of the main sponsors and co-organizers Municipality of Ljubljana and the company BTC d.d., it is a unique sport spectacle. The marathon represents the best practice among cycling events with international participation in Slovenia and beyond. It is a platform for active and healthy living, socializing and new business opportunities. In 2015 this traditional cycling event has grown into a two year EU-funded project. "My sport is Franja" wants to spread the positive spirit and the marathon's values among the European community.

17 June 2016: Closing of the campaign Bring Happiness to Work

21 June 2016: Nijmegen supporters coming with bikes to Ljubljana to the support Green Capital Awards

More information:

Safety on the Bike

Safe cycling is promoted throughout Slovenia in the Safety on the bike initiative. This initiative is focusing on the safety of the young individual cyclist, the safety of the infrastructure and the promotion of cycling as a healthy activity. The main participators in this event are thousands of kids in elementary schools all over Slovenia. This initiative was designed by the Dutch company Butanplin and is supported by the Netherlands Embassy in Slovenia.

Award Ceremony Safety on the Bike: The Embassy had the honour to participate in a program where 2500 kids from all over Slovenia received their awards for their Safe Cycling projects. The main supporter of the project Dutch company Butan Plin has again successfully completed this annualy organized project, where school children all over Slovenia create projects on how to bike safely. Every year the project is getting bigger and bigger and is seen as a truly inspirational initiative by all! http://www.varnonakolesu.si/74-safe-cycling

Bike to work

Every year the Urban Institute for the Republic of Slovenia (UIRS) organizes a campaign from May till September to promote biking to work and thereby a healthy lifestyle. In 2015 the theme of the campaign was “Bring the happiness to work”. During these periods colleagues or friends of different companies can compete with each other in teams of three. Each team registers their journeys to work online and price are won by those making the most journeys by bicycle. The colleagues from the Netherlands embassy in Slovenia also teamed up during two of these campaigns and cycled to work on a daily basis.

Slovenian Cycling Network

Voluntary and non-profit association of organizations http://kolesarji.org/english

Bike train bike

An EU co-funded project that introduced bike-train-bike transport to cities with high car commuting. The aim of the initiative of the municipality of Borovnica is to underline the importance of intermodal transport, development of integrated policy and infrastructure. During the event on the 12th of May a Dutch smart mobility expert from Inno-V held a presentation presenting the best practices from the Netherlands.

More: http://www.borovnica.si/?m=fotoreportaze&id=4923 and http://www.bitibi.eu/

Journalism

Journalist Mark Koghee is a Dutch freelance journalist living in Ljubljana, who also covered Cycling Festival Europe 2016. More: https://ljubljanees.com/

Ljubljana

BEST PRACTICES
Slovenia, and especially its capital Ljubljana, has a long-standing biking tradition that dates back to the late 60s. Recently cycling is in the spotlights once again with the awarding of Ljubljana as European Green Capital. Motorized traffic in Ljubljana was limited in 2013 and the city is looking at more eco-friendly alternatives. Therefore cycling levels are now to be increased even further. The Netherlands Embassy in Slovenia supports this cycling spirit as it is a crucial aspect both for the freedom of mobility of European citizens and for sustainable development.

Cycling Infrastructure

The city of Ljubljana was recognized on multiple occasions for its eco-friendly means of transportation and sustainable mobility. Ljubljana won the European Mobility Week Award in 2003 and 2013. Furthermore, it was also ranked 13th on the List of the world’s most bike-friendly cities, according to the Copenhagenize Index. Currently Ljubljana is the European Green Capital, a title awarded by the European Commission who noticed the city’s great efforts in “raising environmental awareness amongst its citizens” and “its impressive transportation network”.

Bicikelj – The self-service bike borrowing system

Ljubljana has a self-service bike system which was introduced by the municipality in 2011. Currently one can find 31 stations with 300 bikes throughout the city. This bike borrowing system creates the ability for residents as well as tourists to move freely through the city. The system is available at all times and counted around 63,000 users in January 2015.