Promoting Walking and Cycling to Sports Venues

Active mobility involves travelling from one place to another by physically active means. The two most common forms of active mobility are walking and cycling.

Whilst there are many similarities between walking and cycling in terms of what they can achieve, they are often used for different purposes and have quite different infrastructure requirements.

Sports stadia should consider promoting active mobility as part of their matchday transportation strategy as walking and cycling have great potential for improving access to your stadia.

Given that transport plays such an essential role in the matchday experience of fans, staff, and volunteers, it is important to ensure that everyone has efficient and cost-effective means to access sports stadia.

Walking and cycling can improve public health by increasing levels of physical activity and reducing rates of non-communicable diseases, whilst also cutting congestion and carbon emissions and improving air quality.

Promoting active mobility to sports stadia therefore provides a combination of health, environmental and logistical benefits to sports stadia and stadium users whilst also helping to support the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

To launch our updated Active Mobility guidance in May 2021, Healthy Stadia organised a webinar featuring prominent speakers from across the public health and sport sectors.

Colleagues from the World Health Organisation (WHO), International Cycling Union (UCI) and KAA Gent Foundation detailed their respective work programmes around Active Mobility and the benefits of walking and cycling to society and their organisations.

Healthy Stadia provided a brief overview of the aims of the our new guidance and what we hope it can help achieve.

Founded in 1900, in Paris, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the worldwide governing body for cycling. It develops and oversees cycling in all its forms and for all people, as a competitive sport, a healthy leisure activity and a sustainable means of transport, but also as a way to have fun.

The UCI have produced new guidelines which aim to provide simple and practical information on key aspects of sustainability. It is a tool that will help National Federations, Event Organisers, Teams, and other cycling stakeholders navigate this subject’s complexities and start their journey toward developing effective sustainability programmes.