The year 2017 is breakthrough for cycling in Belarus. Many things to which the Minsk Cycling Community has been striving for the last several years have happened. The activator of these processes was the project "Urban cycling in Belarus" which is financed by the European Union and implemented by the Minsk Cycling Community in cooperation with the Center for Environmental Solutions.
Expert work
The country began developing standards for bicycle infrastructure, the rules of traffic regulation began to be revised, a project of the bicycle path on the roadway was created.
Great interest in the development of cycling have belorussian local authorities. In Minsk in 2017 the Council for Сycling was established. It includes the Minsk Cycling Community. Following the example of Minsk similar councils are being created in other cities - Grodno, Brest, Mogilev, Orsha, Soligorsk… Specialists from Minsk Cycling Community are invited there as consultants.
January 11, 2018 in the country officially adopted the national concept of cycling development. The Minsk Cycling Community was included in the working group on its development and many proposals of the experts of the Minsk Cycling Community are considered. To support local authorities MCC developed proposals to regional executive committees to create regional plans for the implementation of the national cycling concept.
Also in 2017 the Minsk Cycling Community developed a strategic plan for Minsk until 2020.
To make expert work more sustainable in 2017 was created a site about bicycle infrastructure rovar.info. There are concrete examples how to create a bicycle infrastructure in cities and also information about each city.
Events
In 2017 Minsk Cycling Community organized 28 public events, including the biggest of them - bike parad "Viva Bike", Veloslet, European Mobility Week, Car Free Day. The number of participants of these events increases markedly, and it is gratifying that it involves more and more foreigners. It is also important to note that many events in Minsk are "copied" by other cities and similar events are held there.
Research
In 2017, it was conducted a sociological study, which helped to count the number of cyclists and bikes in the city, as well as to evaluate the potential development of cycling in Minsk. It turned out that 40% of adults have bicycles, but not often ride them. That means the potential is large.
Also in 2017 the team of the Minsk Cycling Community conducted a study if hotels and hostels are friendly to cyclists.
Campaigns
In 2017, MCC launched a campaign "Without kolautorkvalak". The aim is to creatу more convenient bicycle parkings near public buildings - shops, banks, post offices.
Also in 2017 MCC launched a campaign about urban cycling "Bicycle and style" (#minskbikestyle) . The idea is to show that bike can be a good addition to the image, in spite of the status and income of a person. For cycling on business we do not need special clothes or special equipment. The first heroes of the photo project became known Belarusian journalists, photographers, community leaders, local authorities and leaders of Belarusian enterprises. The campaign is also supported by other cities - Gomel, and Grodno with using their own tags #gomelbikestyle, #grodnobikestyle.
Volunteer projects
On base of Minsk Cycling Community there are two volunteer project - School of Cycling and Bike Kitchen.
With the help of cycling school in 2017 more than 100 people learned to ride a bike.
The activities of the Minsk Cycling Community from 2017 is supported by the European Union within the framework of the project "Urban cycling in Belarus."
