SLOCAT is delighted to welcome BYCS to our growing global Partnership. Their work placing cycling and community-led change at the centre of urban transformation is a natural fit with our collective push for equitable, healthy and low-carbon mobility.
BYCS is an Amsterdam-based global NGO working to get more people cycling, particularly those who have the most to gain and who face the biggest barriers. Their starting point is that cycling improves health, builds equality and helps create fairer, more connected communities, and that the conditions for it have to be built deliberately rather than assumed.
Through research, practical programmes with local partners and a global network of city leaders, BYCS creates those conditions. They work with communities, civil society organisations and local leaders to improve access to cycling, build local capacity and support community-led urban change. Their Bicycle Mayor Network, now active across cities on every continent, gives local advocates a recognised platform and a route into the decisions that shape their streets. Alongside it, their work with women, children and grassroots organisations addresses the barriers that keep cycling out of reach for the people who would benefit most from it.
That combination matters. Cycling policy is often written as infrastructure and measured in kilometres of lane. BYCS treats it as a question of who gets to move, who is heard when streets are redesigned, and who is trusted to lead that process locally.
“Joining SLOCAT is an exciting opportunity for BYCS to connect our work on cycling and community-led urban change to a broader global movement for equitable urban mobility. We look forward to exchanging knowledge, strengthening collaborations, and helping make the case for cycling as an essential part of healthier, more inclusive and fairer cities for everyone.” Maud de Vries, CEO, BYCS
“Active mobility is not a nice-to-have at the edge of the transport transition; it is one of the fastest and fairest levers we have. BYCS has spent years showing that the barrier is rarely the bicycle; it is who holds the decision and who was asked. That is exactly the kind of expertise our Partnership needs.” Carly Gilbert-Patrick, Secretary General, SLOCAT Partnership
Bringing BYCS into the Partnership strengthens our capacity to connect global ambition with the streets where it is delivered. As governments set out what the UN Decade of Sustainable Transport will mean in practice, the case for walking and cycling needs advocates who can speak credibly at both ends of that chain. BYCS can.
We look forward to working with them to make active mobility central to how cities are planned, funded and shared.
