The Active Travel Network is Holding its Final Conference in Weiz, Austria, on 6-7 November

The Active Travel Network, led by the city of Weiz (Austria), brought together eight other cities from across Europe: KFU-Graz (Austria), Ljutomer (Slovenia), Norderstedt (Germany), Novara (Italie), Riccione (Italie), Sebes (Romania), Serres (Greece), Skanderborg (Denmark).

Together, these cities identified and worked on three main challenges:

• raising awareness for cycling and walking as a means of transport in cities, so that planning of measures are a fixed task, with a fixed annual budget;
• showing that sole infrastructural measures are not sufficient to make people walk or cycle, and that information and promotion are required (mobility management);
• putting forward that these soft measures of mobility management (information, organisation, promotion, awareness raising activities etc.) are to come pair to pair with infrastructural measures.

The key focus point of the Active Travel Network hindged on the fact that both walking and cycling are means of transport which the majority of people can carry out. They are free of charge, non-polluting, space efficient and do not use any fossil fuels. Moreover they are tangible concrete solution to the numerous traffic problems faced by many cities in Europe; traffic jams, noise and air pollution.

The Active Travel Network worked - in line with the European Union "Action Plan to improve Energy Efficiency in the EU" - to change the transport habits in small and medium sized cities in Europe.

A key moment for the Active Travel Network: the Final Conference in Weiz, Austria, on the 6-7 November 2012!