Edinburgh Napier's Merchiston campus awarded Cycling Friendly

Edinburgh Napier University's Merchiston campus has received a Cycling Friendly Campus award in recognition of the support they offer to its cycling community.

Presented during the University’s Sustainable Travel Fair at Merchiston this week, the award – which is delivered with funding from Transport Scotland – sees Merchiston join Edinburgh Napier’s Sighthill campus in being accredited. The University also holds a gold Health Working Lives Accreditation.

The University’s Merchiston campus provides 100 bike storage spaces, with 14% of staff based at the campus using their bikes to get to and from work, and has the highest number of staff and students travelling on foot and by bike out of the University’s three main campuses.

Overall, 66.8% of Edinburgh Napier staff and students either cycle, walk or take public transport when travelling to the University – something that Edinburgh Napier is committed to improving even further in the months ahead.

Kerry Dewar, Director of People and Services at Edinburgh Napier, said: “We are delighted to receive this award and would like to thank all of our staff and students who have shown a commitment towards sustainable travel. We hope to build on this by continuing to support our cycle to work agenda and aim to have even more people cycle to work in the future.”

Jamie Pearson, Environmental Sustainability Manager, said: “The support we receive from organisations such as Cycling Scotland is absolutely fantastic. Their resources and funding help the University to identify and develop better facilities on campus for current prospective cyclists. We will use the recommendations highlighted within the assessment to work with our community and plan our next steps. Thank you to everyone at the University that has contributed towards gaining this award.”

Valentin Jeanjean, Development Officer from Cycling Scotland who heads up the campus programme, delivered the award and said: “With two-thirds of Edinburgh Napier students and staff travelling by bike, on foot or by using public transport, the University has worked hard to support its community to make sustainable transport choices. Having installed cycle storage, ran promotional events over the last four years and developed successful partnerships with external organisations such as Sustrans and Bike for Refugees, to name just a few, we’re very pleased to recognise the University with this well-deserved Cycling Friendly Campus Award.”

Find out more about the Cycling Friendly Campus programme here.