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Since 2012, the Cycling Scotland Conference has brought together around 250 delegates from across Scotland to share knowledge and celebrate progress towards supporting more people to cycle for everyday journeys. Along the way, the national conference has come to various locations in Scotland, including Dundee, Perth, Stirling, Edinburgh and Glasgow.
For delegates, the Conference is a great chance to connect with experts and decision-makers involved in active travel at local, regional, and national levels. It’s also an important opportunity to share best practice, learn about new developments in the sector, and be inspired by speakers driving change to support cycling in Scotland and beyond.
Working towards a more cycling friendly Scotland
Numerous interventions are being made across Scotland around cycling. It's about making sure it's safe and accessible and young people have confidence to get on a bike and use it as their preferred mode of transport, whether going to study or later into the world of work.
Through the years, the Conference has welcomed politicians from a range of parties, hosted cross-party discussions on cycling and featured keynote addresses from Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers for Transport, who have shared national ambitions for cycling, highlighted regional and national success stories, and announced investments in active travel infrastructure to support continued change.
Stories of inspiring change
Over the years, we’ve heard stories of inspiring change taking place across the world, with international speakers such as Angela van der Kloof (Dutch Cycling Embassy) in 2018 who shared insights on ongoing improvements for cycling in the Netherlands, and Tjaša Ficko (Deputy Mayor of Ljubljana, Slovenia) in 2019, who spoke about Ljubljana’s success in prioritising walking, wheeling and cycling for everyday journeys.
In 2021, Amanda Ngabirano, former Vice President of the World Cycling Alliance, joined online to share perspectives on her work as an urban planner and the positive impact of street improvements in Uganda. Amanda explored the importance of designing streets for people rather than cars, sharing examples of redesigned streets across the capital Kampala, which are helping children to more safely move around and explore their local environment.
Professor Devi Sridhar addresses the 2023 Cycling Scotland Conference in Edinburgh
In 2024, Adrien Sartre, Advisor to the Deputy Mayor of Paris, addressed the Cycling Scotland Conference online on the impact of the exciting, transformational change taking place in the French capital to support everyday cycling – leading to numbers of bike journeys in Paris doubling since 2019. From reallocating space on Paris’ famously car-clogged boulevards for improved pavements and greenery, to the rapid investment in a network of separated cycle lanes, these improvements have helped to reduce road fatalities and dramatically reduce local air pollution.
At our 2026 conference in Perth, BBC foreign correspondent Anna Holligan, shared how cycling had become central to her life as a reporter and mother, after a decade living and working in the Hague, and her hopes that similar investment in infrastructure can unlock that same freedom for people across Scotland.
Expert knowledge and advocates for safer streets
Expert voices have also shared insights from their research, including Dr Rachel Aldred from the University of Westminster, who presented findings from the Near Miss Project to conference delegates in Dundee in 2018.
In Stirling in 2022, Professor Sally Kyd, head of Leicester Law School shared her research on driver offences and answered questions on offence monitoring, legal challenges to convicting dangerous drivers, and how we can make our roads safer. She spoke alongside Teresa Ciano, Partnership Manager for GoSafe in Wales, who shared learnings from Operation Snap and how third-party reporting has been instrumental in prosecuting dangerous driving in Wales and making roads safer for all users.
Slides shared by Amanda Ngabirano at the 2021 Cycling Scotland Conference, showing recent improvements for walking and cycling on streets in Kampala, Uganda
In Edinburgh in 2023, Professor Devi Sridhar, Chair of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh, gave a whirlwind tour of interventions to support increased physical activity in daily life around the world and the impact they’re having. Among the many examples shared from her research, were interventions to support everyday cycling that have led to significant health benefits for people of all age groups: reducing incidence of chronic disease, tackling respiratory conditions, and promoting better mental health.
As well as being a forum for celebrating successes and ambitions for the future, the conference has brought together advocates making the case for urgent change. Kirsty Lewin of Edinburgh-based cycling campaign group InfraSisters and road safety speaker Kate Cairns being recent examples of keynote speakers addressing the urgent issue of road safety, and the need to keep momentum towards prioritising walking, wheeling and cycling as convenient and safe options for anyone to get around.
Sharing, learning and connecting
Breakout sessions are always a central part of the Conference programme, offering a chance for delegates to delve deeper into topics, ranging from road safety, street design, active travel delivery and cycle training, to the role that cycling can play in helping to tackle climate change, reduce social inequalities and improve our health.
Chaired by experts, these sessions bring together representatives from a wide range of organisations including local authorities, road safety organisations, NHS Scotland, Friends of the Earth, Scotrail, Lothian Buses, Transport Scotland, Regional Transport Partnerships and social housing associations, as well as many community-based organisations having a direct local impact across the country.
Led tours of new cycling infrastructure, including a guided walk of Glasgow’s city centre ‘Avenues’ project and led cycle ride around Stirling’s brand-new cycling network, have provided a first-hand look at ongoing improvements to make it easier for people to get around by bike.
Some of our speakers over the years:
2026 - Perth
- Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport Stephen Flynn
- Eric Drysdale, Leader of Perth & Kinross Council
- Anna Holligan, BBC Foreign Correspondent and cargo bike reporter
- Paul McNamee, journalist, broadcaster and former Editorial Director of The Big issue
- Zara Mohammed, former Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain and volunteer cycle ride leader
2025 - Dundee
- Cabinet Secretary for Transport Fiona Hyslop
- Councillor Mark Flynn, Dundee City Council Leader
- Jillian Evans, Head of Health Intelligence & Learning Health Systems, Public Health, at NHS Grampian
- Rebecca Morris, Vision Zero Communications Director and road safety campaigner
- Glenn Lyons, Mott MacDonald Professor of Future Mobility at the University of West of England
- Brian Deegan, Director of Inspections at Active Travel England
2024 - Glasgow
- Cabinet Secretary for Transport Fiona Hyslop
- Deborah Paton, Head of Transport Planning and Delivery at Glasgow City Council
- Adrien Sartre, Advisor to the Deputy Mayor of Paris
- Kate Cairns, road safety speaker
- Cross party panel, politicians from Scotland’s five main political parties
2023 - Edinburgh
- Professor Devi Sridhar
- Minister for Active Travel, Patrick Harvie MSP
- Sally Thomas, Chief Exec of Scottish Federation of Housing Associations
- Daisy Narayanan, Head of Placemaking at the City of Edinburgh Council
2022 - Stirling
- Professor Sally Kyd, Head of Leicester Law School
- Teresa Ciano, Partnership Manager for GoSafe Wales
- Police Scotland
- Sustrans
- Kirsty Lewin, road safety and cycling campaigner, founder of InfraSisters campaign group
- Minister for Active Travel, Patrick Harvie MSP (pre-recorded message)
2021 - (Online)
- Minister for Active Travel, Patrick Harvie MSP
- Adrien Sartre, Advisor to the Deputy Mayor of Paris
- Amanda Ngabirano, former Vice President of the World Cycling Alliance
- Angela Leitch, Chief Exec of Public Health Scotland
- Active Nation Commissioner Lee Craigie
- Presentations from: Friends of the Earth Scotland; Transport Scotland; Sustrans; Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland
2020 - (Online)
- Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Michael Matheson MSP
- Jyoti Pande Lavakare, Co-founder of Care for Air
- Adrien Sartre, Advisor to the Deputy Mayor of Paris
2019 - Edinburgh
- Sue Flack, former Director of Planning and Transport at Nottingham City Council
- Cabinet Secretary for Transport Michael Matheson MSP
- Tjaša Ficko, Deputy Mayor of Ljubljana
- Bill Scott, Poverty and Inequality Commission
2018 - Dundee
- Angela van der Kloof, Dutch Cycling Embassy
- Cabinet Secretary for Transport Michael Matheson MSP
- Dr Rachel Aldred, University of Westminster
- Dundee City Council Convenor of Neighbourhood Services and cycling spokesperson, Kevin Cordell
2017 - Glasgow
- Humza Yousaf MSP, Minister for Transport and the Islands
- Cllr Anna Richardson, Glasgow City Council Convenor for Transport
- Police Scotland
