VeloFinland 2024 – A Decade on the Road with Cycling

Finland’s largest event focused on cycling mobility and tourism, VeloFinland, took place this year at Porvoo’s Art Factory on September 26–27. The event attracted over 200 experts from Finland and across Europe to explore the hottest topics in cycling and cycle tourism. This year, Porvoo also provided the perfect backdrop for the 10th-anniversary celebration of the Finnish Cyclists’ Federation. 

VeloFinland has grown into Finland’s premier event for cycling enthusiasts and professionals, serving as an important platform where participants discuss cycling advocacy, address current challenges, envision future paths, exchange ideas, and showcase the latest innovations. This year’s main themes, *Cycling for All*, *Money, Power, and Decision-Making*, and *Sustainable Cycle Tourism*, featured seminar presentations, workshops, guided bike tours, and a compact exhibition for vendors. 

The “Bike Across the Baltic – Improving Bicycle Tourism around the Baltic Sea” (BAB) project also joined to learn about current discussions and connect with others advancing cycling and cycle tourism. The Finnish Center for Cycling Tourism, a partner in the BAB project, presented on “Harnessing Cycle Tourism for Sustainable Mobility.” Despite being one of the fastest-growing and most sustainable travel segments, cycle tourism currently faces bottlenecks in travel chain integration and bike transport on public transit. Addressing these issues requires a broader vision and extensive collaboration, similar to France’s newly adopted national cycle tourism strategy. 

Henk Swarttouw, Chair of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), highlighted the significance of the European Cycling Declaration signed in the spring, which defines priorities for cycling development within the EU. The declaration emphasizes that cycling is one of the most sustainable, accessible, inclusive, low-cost, and health-promoting forms of transport and recreation, holding a central place in Europe’s community and economy. This declaration serves as a strong foundation for the continued development of cycling and cycle tourism across Europe.   

Cycling Makes a Real Difference 

Cycling plays a major role in improving public health. Minttu Korsberg, Secretary-General of the *Finland on the Move* program, spoke on Finland’s sedentary lifestyle and cycling’s potential as a solution. Cycling promotion is also crucial in tackling climate change: Anna Huttunen opened Friday’s session with an insightful keynote on the European climate-neutral cities initiative (NetZero Cities – EU Mission Platform for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities). She emphasized that significant change requires systemic transformation and broad collaboration; in transport, this means advancing cycling through deep partnerships, a holistic approach, and effective metrics. Future visions are fully achievable, illustrated by founding member Otso Kivekäs of the Finnish Cyclists’ Federation. He shared Helsinki’s transformation into a cycling-friendly city, with changes on Hämeentie and the Baana bike corridor standing as examples of how ambitious plans can become reality, paving the way for similar progress across Finland. 

One of the more engaging parts of the event was the showcase of location-based solutions for cycling, such as assessing demand for bike-and-ride parking (Pasi Haapakorva: *Method for Assessing Demand for Bike-and-Ride Parking at Public Transport Stops*) and analyzing cycling flow on routes (Ruiwei Chen: *A Method for Swift and Cost-Effective Cycling Flow and Route Analysis*). For cycling tourism, bike-and-ride facilities and secure bike parking innovations, like bike lockers (e.g., Knoxy), are essential when considering tourism’s potential. Transporting bicycles on trains, another central concern for cycle tourism, was explored in workshops and highlighted in seminar presentations. 

Exploring New Perspectives Through Bike Tours 

A staple of VeloFinland is the bike tours in the seminar city. Participants could start the event with a group ride along the scenic EuroVelo 10 route from Helsinki to Porvoo in beautiful autumn weather — and return along the same route in a fierce autumn storm. In Porvoo, tours featured the city’s cycling infrastructure along with guided downhill biking and gravel rides on scenic rural trails, reflecting the rising popularity of gravel cycling. 

VeloFinland 2024 marked the 10th anniversary of the Finnish Cyclists’ Federation, but above all, it was a celebration of cycling itself. As Executive Director Janne Paananen noted, it will be fascinating to see which of this year’s innovations and ideas will become everyday practices over the next decade. While there is still much work to do, the shared direction and vision are clear — and efforts to embed these into decision-making processes are already underway. 

You can access the VeloFinland presentations here.

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