The EuroVelo General Meeting 2024

The EuroVelo General Meeting (EVGM) is the moment where all National EuroVelo Coordination Centres (NECCs) – the organisations that manage EuroVelo in the respective countries – meet with the EuroVelo Council and the EuroVelo Management Team to get updates about the network itself, accept new members to the network, elect their representatives and share successes and challenges. It undoubtedly is the highlight of the year.

In 2024, we met again in Viborg, Denmark, hosted by Viborg Municipality. The EVGM took place just before the EuroVelo & Cycling Tourism Conference, the professional event about EuroVelo, cycling tourism and cycle route networks.

Participation record for the third year in a row!

40 people were in the meeting room and 20 people joined online, for what was once again the largest EuroVelo General Meeting. The meeting was chaired by ECF President Henk Swarttouw and EuroVelo Council Member Pinar Pinzuti.

Together with the 24 NECCs, responsible for the development and promotion of EuroVelo in their own country, the EVGM is open to observers – organisations from countries that do not have an NECC just yet. In 2024, we were happy to welcome observers from Montenegro, Poland, Romania and Sweden, and we hope that these countries will become part of the NECC network in the coming years.

A new principle for EuroVelo GPX tracks

Ever since GPX tracks of the EuroVelo network have been collected and shared with users via the EuroVelo website and route planner, the license of these tracks was a matter of discussion. Until now, there was no common license for GPX tracks downloaded from EuroVelo.com – only a “disclaimer” limiting the download and to personal and non-commercial purposes. The EVGM 2024 voted on the principle that should regulate EuroVelo GPX tracks, which are updated at least once a year based on the information provided by NECCs and made available to the public by the EuroVelo Management Team.

After a survey among all NECCs and several consultations with the EuroVelo GIS Subgroup, the proposal of adopting an open data principle with the OdBL license was presented to the assembly by Florence Grégoire and voted. This means that everyone is now free to share, adapt and produce other works from EuroVelo GPX tracks, as long as any public use of the tracks is attributed and shared alike, with the same open data license!

Germany and Italy upgrade as National EuroVelo Coordination Centres

Two of the most important countries for EuroVelo route kilometres and cycling tourism in general – Germany and Italy – have upgraded from National EuroVelo Coordinator to National EuroVelo Coordination Centre!

While the former means that one single organisation is responsible for EuroVelo route management and promotion, the upgrade is a significant step forward as a consortium of organisations will now take over the coordination. The application to become a National EuroVelo Coordination Centre was presented to the general assembly and voted on.

In Germany, ADFC and BALM – the Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility, which manages the German cycle route network – presented an excellent joint application to form a National EuroVelo Coordination Centre. Michael Maier (ADFC) and Jacqueline Lacroix (BALM) introduced their plans to the assembly.

In the case of Italy, it was Alessandra Tormene of FIAB who presented their proposal to step up the coordination of EuroVelo in Italy, involving regions and/or provinces and possibly other stakeholders in a new ambitious structure – led by FIAB – that will see the light in the upcoming months and will certainly be beneficial for the development of cycling tourism in Italy.

Danish Cycling Tourism: about EuroVelo in Denmark

It is a tradition that the NECC of the EVGM hosting country makes a presentation about their activities and the progress of EuroVelo. It was, therefore, the turn of Danish Cycling Tourism Federation, headed by Jesper Pørksen.

Jesper highlighted that the Danish Cycling Tourism Federation is a member-based organisation responsible for knowledge and implementation, dissemination and advocacy related to cycling tourism in Denmark. They are responsible for the ruter.dk website and database, and have recently launched a recreational node network. EuroVelo 3 – Pilgrims Route, along which Viborg is located, was the first route of the network to be developed in Denmark, and the rest of the development is undertaken together with the Danish Road Directorate and tourist boards. Jesper also shared data about the growth of cycling tourism in Denmark, its economic impact and numerous benefits for society.

Re-election of three EuroVelo Council members and Chairperson

After the implementation of the EuroVelo Governance in 2021, the first mandate of three EuroVelo Council members – Marie Sécretant, Jesper Pørksen and Frank Hofmann – was coming to an end in 2024. Despite very high-quality applications from four other candidates, the assembly re-elected the three for a second three-year mandate.

In their speeches, Jesper mentioned his willingness to continue making the network stronger, improve exchanges between NECCs and deliver the EuroVelo 2030 strategy review; Marie stressed the goal to make cycling tourism accessible for young people and non-daily cyclists; Frank highlighted his willingness to work on getting more funds for EuroVelo and a Europe-wide cycling tourism survey, which will serve as a powerful argument with decisionmakers.

Jesper Pørksen was also re-elected as EuroVelo Council Chairperson.

Sharing is caring

One of the best moments of the EVGM is when all NECCs have two minutes to share their successes and challenges in the current and previous year. This lively exchange allows us to further bond as a EuroVelo family, as, in the end, we are all on the same pedalboat!

While funding is a challenge for many NECCs, there has been good news related to cycling in many countries: the appointment of a new governmental agency for active travel in England, the continuation of NECC coordination in Belgium and the Netherlands, the creation of a EuroVelo route manager in Ireland, the national cycling tourism strategy in France and the new federal cycling law in Switzerland. Countries such as Austria, Finland and Croatia highlighted the efforts to survey EuroVelo routes, while route improvements were carried out notably in Italy, Portugal, Spain and Serbia.

We were particularly happy to welcome Elena Rapti, Greek Deputy Minister of Tourism, to the EuroVelo General Meeting. Mrs Rapti mentioned that cycling tourism is a priority for the government and that EuroVelo is a ‘holistic tourism product inviting people to discover Greece all year long’. A major success is that, following a survey on EuroVelo 8 and 11, EuroVelo signage will be put in place in Greece; a challenge is to actively involve local communities in cycling.

Rendezvous in Balatonfüred in 2025

The next EuroVelo General Meeting will take place in Hungary, specifically in Balatonfüred, along Lake Balaton and EuroVelo 14 – Waters of Central Europe, on Wednesday 24 September. The Hungarian NECC will be involved in the organisation of the EuroVelo General Meeting and the EuroVelo & Cycling Tourism Conference 2025.

Article by Jessica Casagrande