Knowledge International Children’s Cycling Manifesto 17 January 2024 General The International Children’s Cycling Manifesto is being launched today, Wednesday 17 January 2024. This manifesto promotes the importance of youth voices for cities in need of safer, fairer cycling cultures. It is a call to action for urban populations to put children first, and build a future in which we can all move freely. The manifesto is launched parallel to a global programme of youth cycling stimulation, coordinated by BYCS and implemented in 4 Global South cities by the following cycling advocacy groups: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Egre Menged Bengaluru, India – Urban Morph Istanbul, Turkey – Chain Breaking Women Quito, Ecuador – Amanda Padilla These groups, with financial support from the Urban Movement Innovation Fund, are using the Bicycle Heroes programme framework, developed by BYCS in the Netherlands and piloted in Europe, to adapt to their context and empower children to use their voices for cycling good. BYCS has been developing the Bicycle Heroes programme since 2018, leading to European and now global expansion. In 2022 BYCS launched the Netherlands Children’s Cycling Manifesto, calling for a national refocusing on the decreasing numbers of children cycling. To read the full manifesto visit: bycs.org/childrensmanifesto Supplementary facts on children and cycling: Researchers found that more than three-quarters of children who engaged in active mobility continued to do so two to four years later, while few newly took it up by the time of follow-up if they hadn’t done so before. Children who actively commuted to school at baseline were seven times more likely to actively commute two to four years later compared with children who didn’t actively commute at baseline. https://www.rutgers.edu/news/young-children-who-walk-or-bike-school-are-more-likely-continue-habit-they-age 4 hours after arriving in the classroom, concentration levels of children who are cycling or walking to school are 8% higher than for those who are getting a lift by car. (Masseeksperiment 2012, Denmark as cited in https://ecf.com/resources/cycling-facts-and-figures) Students who participated in a cycling class for at least three days a week, for a minimum of 6 weeks were found to have a more positive outlook on life. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/10/18/1206583788/bike-riding-in-middle-school-may-boost-mental-health-study-finds Children in the Netherlands are ranked the happiest in the world, with cycling credited as a major factor https://news.un.org/en/story/2013/04/436712