Initiating change <\/strong><\/p>\n Chris Boardman MBE is synonymous with cycling in Great Britain – as an Olympic and World Champion with a glittering international cycling career, and a passionate campaigner now with a vital UK government mandate.<\/p>\n Boardman opened this special CityAccord session with the moment that changed his working life forever: \u201cMy youngest daughter asked \u2018can we ride to the park?\u2019. I said \u2018no\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThe park was 574 metres away. I didn\u2019t feel I could keep my daughter safe for a journey of about three minutes – on our roads, with my background in the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I started to campaign and I realised what a sturdy soapbox this is. Pick a crisis and this activity speaks to it. Cost of living – cheap way to get to work. We\u2019re not spending money on oil. It is the fastest, cheapest way to take action on de-carbonisation. Health accessible to a population\u2026it goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n Boardman is now Commissioner of Active Travel England – the UK government\u2019s executive agency responsible for making walking, wheeling and cycling the preferred choice for everyone to get around – and also Chair of Sport England, whose role is to build the foundations of a community sport system.<\/p>\n Forming a nation\u2019s health<\/strong><\/p>\n Boardman emphasised the key to creating emotional connections to effect real change.<\/p>\n \u201cActive Travel England is part of the UK Department of Transport, whose job it is to get 50% of all journeys cycling or walking by 2030. I recently asked my team what does this really mean,\u201d said Boardman.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s 3.36 million more people active everyday. It\u2019s 3.5 million fewer GP (doctor) visits. It\u2019s 2 million fewer sick days. Then you start to realise how the wider impact of just moving around under your own steam forms a nation\u2019s health.<\/p>\n \u201cImportantly, we\u2019re not selling the activity of cycling. We\u2019re selling transport independence for our children. We\u2019re selling the choice to unshackle parents from the school run.\u201d<\/p>\n Copenhagen – the bike city<\/strong><\/p>\n In stark contrast to the UK, and many countries around the world, Copenhagen has long had a \u2018consensus across the political spectrum on being a bike city, on wanting the bike,\u201d explained Tine Eriksen Green, Head of Major Events for the City of Copenhagen. \u201cThere is a continual political will.\u201d<\/p>\n Fifty five per cent of Copenhageners now use their bike every day to school and work.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Copenhagen it is part of life, because it\u2019s the fastest way, it\u2019s convenient, it\u2019s fun. It\u2019s also why we need to constantly manage and evolve the city to make sure we link new districts with new bike trails, to constantly make it the fastest way,\u201d underlined Eriksen.<\/p>\n Eriksen spotlighted the importance of moving in step with the community. \u201cWe don\u2019t understand why people decide to move out of our beautiful city,\u201d she smiled. \u201cBut if they do move to the suburbs, they now have a longer bike commute – we need to make sure they stay on their bike.\u201d<\/p>\n E-bikes have been lent to people living further away from the city and bike-only \u2018super cycle highways\u2019 have been built – \u201cso we\u2019re actually linking the suburbs with the city centre. You get a short cut – the simplest and fastest route only for bikes.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.sportaccord.sport\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/CityAccord-24-2girls-on-a-bike_web.jpg\")
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