environmental awareness, and to help citizens to acquire healthy habits, to improve air quality and to reduce noise in cities. Thus, it was connected to the theme area of “Healthier City” and the conference's moto “The Cycle of Life”. Velo-city 2011 Expo The Exhibition during the Velo-city conference was an integrated part of the conference. The parties presented at the exhibition space were from the different fields of cycling policy, cycling infrastructure planning & expertise centers, bicycle industry and other cycling friendly businesses and networks. The Charter of Seville The Charter of Seville was launched during Velo-city 2011 in preparation for the International Transport Forum held in Leipzig, Germany in May 2011. The document aimed at the national and transnational level underlining the benefits of cycling as a daily mode of transport, citing improved health, reduced traffic congestion, significantly cheaper infrastructure, and lowered transport emissions among many other advantages. Rather than setting targets, it demanded an overarching and broad political commitment from recognizing the bicycle as a viable mode of transport. The charter specifically called upon all Ministers of Transport convening at the ITF “to promote cycling at international level and to invest substantially in cycling in their own countries during the years to come”. Velo-city Global 2010 The Velo-city 2010 was the first Velo-city Series conference in its global edition and it took place in Copenhagen, Denmark on 22 – 25 June 2010 at the Øksnehallen and CPH CONFERENCE. It was organised by the European Cyclists' Federation, the City of Frederiksberg and the City of Copenhagen. ECF celebrated the 30 years of the Velo-city Series by initiating the biennial global edition of the conference. The Velo-city Global 2010 gathered 1100 participants and highlighted the bicycle's potential to enhance the quality of life around the world and to solve global challenges such as congestion, obesity and climate change. It was connected with the brand of Copenhagen as the climate change city following the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference. The overall theme of Velo-city 2010 Copenhagen was “Different Gears, Same Destination” expressing the main idea of the conference that despite our differences, we are all heading in the same direction: people from different backgrounds, at different stages and different all share the same goal – getting more people cycling throughout the world. The different background of the participants from all around the world was seen by the organisers as a