The Fall in Love with Wroclaw, Choose Cycling campaign aims to promote cycling as the most convenient means of transport in the modern urban environment. Over the last seven months, the campaign has been negotiating Western standards with the realities of Wroclaw to meet the City Office's ambitions laid out in the local Cycling Policy. One of these ambitions is to increase the share of cycling in the local residents' travelling habits to 15% by 2020. Another aim of the campaign was to address stereotypes which affect cycling and cyclists.
Fall in Love with Wroclaw, Choose Cycling is Poland's first campaign to promote cycling for daily purposes. The campaign was carried out by the Akcja Miasto Association, a grass-root initiative aiming to improve the city for its residents. "New cycling lanes are necessary, but we also must encourage the residents to change their travelling habits. We should and we want to raise the awareness of how to use a bicycle and cycling facilities correctly," says Wroclaw's Cycling Officer Daniel Chojnacki. He also hastens to add that, for many years now, similar actions have successfully been carried in a number of European cities.
Wroclaw's cycling campaign combined promotional and educational activities. These included competitions for businesses and universities as part of the European Cycling Challenge or non-standard actions such as the Stylish Cyclists' Parade.
One of Wroclaw's cycling faces
"Not all of you can immediately switch to cycling, but it's worth endorsing all of those who are planning to do so," says the campaign's Creative Director Ewa Bałazińska. "That's why we have developed a practical guide with a 21-day motivational newsletter. This is a starting package to all of those who do not know how to begin. We have also organised lessons to teach how to cycle safely in urban traffic."
"Besides education, we have also focused on competitions between businesses and universities as part of the European Cycling Challenge and non-standard actions such as opportunities to cheer cyclists or the Stylish Cyclists' Parade We've also been raising awareness with unusual ITS slogans, original spots in local radio stations, competitions in the media and visually attractive adverts on public transport vehicles.
