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On 17 June IMBA Europe hosted an online summit that brought together industry experts and policy makers. The 2021 summit was organised with the aim of looking into how both the IMBA and experts could improve people’s lives through mountain biking.
A number of keynote speakers and panellists were involved. The IMBA Europe summit was split into three panels. These were:
- Panel One: Working towards a diverse and inclusive mountain biking community in Europe.
- Panel Two: The preconditions to allow for sustainable growth in mountain biking.
- Panel Three: Investing in mountain biking friendly places.
The Keynote Speakers were; Peter Fischer, Policy Officer Green Sport; International Sport Cooperation; European Commission, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC), Sport Unit and Thomas Larsen Schmidt, Consultant for DGI and President of IMBA Europe.
You can watch the entire recording, or go to the parts that interest you below.
Panel One
PANEL ONE DISCUSSION – HOW DO WE BECOME A MORE DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY?
Sport has a unique ability to bring people together from all walks of life. Why has the mountain bike community never been able to do the same and, why is our culture, image or composition such a big obstacle for marginalised groups to join our sport?
Within our culture there is a perception that it is a hard sport, through its representation in the media. We need to tackle this perception and open it up to all communities, and think about aspects like affordability, we don’t all have to have the best of the best. Access is key. Thinking about where do trails start from, how accessible are they to all users? Thinking about motivation as a limiting factor, how are people motivated to get into this sport? Are they seeing themselves represented in the media, on magazine covers, in advertisements? We are at a good place, and the fact we are even having this conversation today is superb. We have to work together to change the narrative.
Aneela McKenna
Looking holistically at what being inclusive means and what we have focused on is having the conversation about everything we do. I feel that as long as I have been in cycling, I have to be fighting for women, as the industry and the sport is not as welcoming. We also have to look at how we can welcome communities of colour in to the same space who might feel even less welcomed.
Brook Hopper, Liv Cycling
Panel Two
PANEL TWO DISCUSSION – WHAT ARE THE PRECONDITIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN MOUNTAIN BIKING?
Growth in sales in mountain bikes, in particular emtb, reflects new ‘mountain bike users’ on trails. It is therefore in part the responsibility of the industry, along with land managers, to invest more into the infrastructure of preexisting trails, as well as the development of new trails to allow for sustainable growth in the industry.
What we saw in the data from March 2020, the start of the lockdowns across Europe, was an explosion in participation. The interesting point to make here is that this level of participation has been consistent since that first lock down. We are seeing a lot of new users but also a lot of old users, who appear to be riding more. I would say that the behaviour of users is different, and that the well-built blue trails have had the highest usage from the new users. The other interesting thing to point out is that new users are traveling more, exploring more trails and different areas.
Morton Kamp Schubert – Founder & CEO of Moutainbike United
Panel Three
PANEL THREE DISCUSSION – INVESTING IN MOUNTAIN BIKE FRIENDLY PLACES.
The foundations for a flourishing MTB tourist destination starts with a strong, active mountain bike community who share a love and understanding of the sport, and actively work together to build, manage and maintain their trail networks.
Since the pandemic started, we have seen the people have begun to understand more the importance of connecting with local culture and the heritage of the place they are visiting, having a more responsible view of the resources, and also exploring the destinations more. The roadmap to the survival of tourism is sustainability.
Diana Garcia Trujillo Master in Sustainable Tourism Destinations and Regional Planning
You can see more of the main takeaways from the panels here. The IMBA Europe Summit will return in 2022. Head to the IMBA website for more.
Related Stories:
IMBA Statement On Mountain Biking And COVID-19
Upside Down Bikes on the Trail, Do You Know What It Means?
British Cycling Have Big Plans for Mountain Biking
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