Cycle4Climate
Cycle4Climate (C4C) is an international research project that aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from urban transport by encouraging more people to choose the bicycle instead of the car.
Cycle4Climate is a unique project that addresses the need for sustainable urban planning and transportation. By testing and evaluating different methods to increase cycling in urban environments, the project aims to create a toolbox of effective and feasible measures that urban planners and policy makers can use.
Project participants with bicycle on site in Gävle
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Upcoming activities of the project
- March 2025 - first annual seminar (of four) in Espoo, Finland
- April 2025 - travel habit survey
- April/May 2025 - first phase of implementation (physical and/or social) interventions
More about the project
Cycle4Climate will run for three and a half years, starting in June 2024. The aim of the project is to implement and evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of physical and social behavioral interventions aimed at getting people to switch from car trips to bicycle trips in four transport areas in four different cities.
The project is divided into three focus areas, all of which aim to increase understanding of which measures work best to promote cycling and reduce car use.
Focus areas
Measuring and analyzing traffic
Data on bicycle and car traffic is collected and analyzed to estimate changes in CO2 emissions over time. It also includes surveys to understand when and why road users choose cycling over cars.
Behavioral interventions
Practical measures are implemented to make cycling easier and more attractive. These can be minor interventions in the physical environment of cycling infrastructure, competitions or campaigns to encourage cycling.
Knowledge sharing and toolkit
The project collects and shares experiences from the different cities to create an evidence-based toolkit for sustainable urban planning, which can be used by other cities and municipalities.
Different challenges in different cities
Project participants in the selected area in Gävle on Sörby Urfjäll
Cycle4Climate is being implemented in four cities: Gävle (Sweden), Espoo (Finland), Pärnu (Estonia), and Riga (Latvia), with one transport area selected in each city. The project combines both physical and social behavioral interventions to create lasting changes in travel habits.
As the participating cities have different conditions and challenges, the interventions will look different depending on the location. In some cities, the focus may be on improving bicycle parking facilities, while other cities will focus more on social initiatives such as creating a strong cycling culture through group activities and competitions.
Expected results and impacts
CO2 emissions
Estimates of CO2 emissions from traffic and travel over time in the selected transport areas
Toolbox of measures
A toolbox of proven measures to promote cycling, adapted to the conditions of different cities.
Increased knowledge
Increased knowledge of how different types of measures affect travel habits and traffic patterns.
Project staff member University of Gävle
Karl Samuelsson
Project manager for Cycle4Climate
Marita Wallhagen
Project officer responsible for the work package on behavioral interventions
Gabor Horvath
Administrative Manager
Sara Skoglund
Project Manager of the Communication Team
Facts about the research project
Full project name: Cycle4Climate: Co-creating Sustainable Cycling Solutions for Reducing CO2 Emissions in the Central Baltic Region
Participating universities: University of Gävle, Metropolia in Finland, University of Tartu in Estonia and Riga University of Technology in Latvia.
Participating cities: Gävle (Sweden), Espoo (Finland), Pärnu (Estonia) and Riga (Latvia):
Project leader: Karl Samuelsson, University of Gävle
Funding: Interreg Central Baltic Programme
Time period: 240601-271231
This page was last updated 2024-12-11