Highlights from Cycling Scotland Conference 2026

Keynote speakers

We were delighted to welcome the newly appointed Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport, Stephen Flynn to open the day with a ministerial address.  

Mr Flynn linked his personal experience cycling as an MP in Westminster and as a parent in Aberdeen, with recent opportunities where he has seen first-hand how investment in everyday cycling is having an impact. He talked about meeting a family in Dunbar where recent improvements to the railway mean a young boy is able to “cycle to the station with joy”, as well as school children in Glasgow using cycle lanes allowing them to “get around and enjoy their city in a different way”, and remarked on the “transformational” impact of the record number of primary schools delivering Bikeability cycle training.  

Delegates then had the opportunity to ask questions to the Cabinet Secretary on multiyear and revenue funding, modal shift from cars to bikes, linking cycling and public transport, and support for local authorities.  

Councillor Eric Drysale, Leader of Perth & Kinross Council then welcomed delegates to Perth, talking about the region’s ambitions to support everyday cycling.  

In the past decade, the city has seen completion of new infrastructure developments including the Destiney Bridge linking communities on the west and east banks of the Tay, with major improvements in development for walking, wheeling and cycling. Recently, positive increases in cycling have been recorded on several key routes into Perth, indicating a strong appetite for active travel in the city.   

After morning coffee and networking, BBC Foreign Correspondent and cargo bike reporter Anna Holligan delivered an inspiring keynote speech. With her roots in Scotland and now based in the Hague, Anna brought her perspective on the lessons Scotland can learn from the Netherlands, underpinned by her own experience of how central her bike is to her personal and professional life.

Journalist, broadcaster, previous Editor of The Big Issue and a self-titled “not a cyclist”, Paul McNamee then brought his perspective on how the active travel sector engages with those ambivalent or even hostile to cycling. With his decades’ experience working in social justice, Paul talked about the importance of community consultation, underlining the importance of “meeting people where they are”, finding common links and building trust.

Continuing this challenge to meet people where they are, our final keynote Zara Mohammed spoke about learning to ride a bike as an adult, and the freedom and joy this has brought. As former Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, and the first woman and youngest person to hold the role, Zara led critical work inspiring a new generation of leaders during a tenure that experienced the Covid-19 pandemic, rising hate crime and international conflict.  

Cycling, she said, was her escape: giving her “a sense of calm, peace and freedom… space to breath”. Answering questions on specific barriers for Muslim women and girls, safety in urban and rural locations and access to bikes, Zara closed the conference with an inspiring reminder: “When you’re cycling isn’t there a wonderful togetherness from being part of a tribe? A new community to belong to, one that’s in this room and beyond.”

“You should give cycling a try and never give up”: voices of young people from Perth

We were delighted to welcome some very special guests to the Conference: pupils from Riverside Primary School. Earlier that morning they’d cycled ten minutes from school along the river to the Perth Concert Hall to see the ‘world premiere’ of a video we shot with them earlier in the year.  

The young people had talked to us about what they like about cycling, how it makes them feel and the difference that cycle training has made – and it was a real joy to hear how much they enjoyed being a part of the Conference day.  

Breakout sessions

Afternoon breakout sessions gave delegates a chance to dive deeper into key topics, with workshops, panel discussions and study tours. Experts covered topics including:  

• Safer, healthier and more connected places: focusing on improved road safety, air quality and equity, and public transport. Speakers included Jill Belch MBE, from University of Dundee, and Scott Wilding, Principal City Planner with Transport for London.
• Roundtable discussions exploring inclusive cycle training, communicating data and climate adaption facilitated by Scottish Climate Intelligence Service, Visibility Scotland and Cycling Scotland. 
• Helping more people to access cycle storage, parking and bikes, a panel discussion sponsored by Grease Monkey. 
• Walking and wheeling study tour highlighting plans for new infrastructure in the city centre.
• Cycling study tour, a chance to get out on bikes and showcase local initiatives to make everyday cycling more accessible

Thank you

A big thank you to all our speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors and all our delegates who joined us to take part – we look forward to welcoming you to future conferences.