Deutsche Bahn award: Eurobike stands out with compelling sustainability concept

Frankfurt am Main – The world's largest bicycle trade fair took place at Messe Frankfurt from June 21 to 25, 2023 with more than 1,900 exhibitors and around 66,000 trade visitors and bicycle fans. With the relocation to Frankfurt last year, Eurobike introduced a new and comprehensive sustainability concept for the major event. All the hard work paid off, with Eurobike taking first prize in Deutsche Bahn's Climate Mobility Challenge 2023.

"The award is great testimony to our work and we hope to inspire many more major events to shape their mobility concepts in a sustainable and forward-looking manner," says Stefan Reisinger, Managing Director of fairnamic and Eurobike organizer, expressing his delight at winning the Climate Mobility Challenge.

In spring 2023, Deutsche Bahn called on companies and organizations for the second time to enter the Climate Mobility Challenge by submitting their concepts for sustainable employee and event mobility. The prize aims to highlight exemplary role models of climate-neutral mobility that create incentives, have a tangible effect on participants and encourage other companies to promote positive change in their organizations.

A top-class jury of seven experts singled out four from the 50-plus submitted projects for prizes in four categories. The prizes will be presented at the Ninth Mobility Symposium on June 29 in Berlin. Together with various partners, non-cash prizes worth in excess of six figures were on offer.

In the Event Mobility category, the sustainability concept of the world's leading trade fair Eurobike convinced the jury with its planning, communication and tangible effects on participants. The event team received special praise for restructuring the event with the relocation and inclusion of the City of Frankfurt in the mobility concept.

"The relocation from Friedrichshafen to Frankfurt in 2022 opened up new opportunities for changing the way people get to and from the trade fair. Mobility of the participants accounts for 70% of CO2 emissions at major events. This is why we have focused squarely on shifting the daily journeys of our exhibitors and visitors onto public transport and encouraging them to cycle or walk," is how Katja Richarz, the project manager responsible for Eurobike, explains the reasons behind the change. Joint initiatives with DB Connect, Deutsche Bahn, the Rhine-Main Transport Association (RMV), SteigUm.de and the City of Frankfurt involved designating cycle paths, setting up supervised bicycle parking spaces with charging stations, and providing discounted DB long-distance tickets and day tickets for local transport as well as free rental bicycles from DB Call a Bike.

Data analysis showed that over 70 percent of the trade fair audience came to Eurobike by bike, on foot or by public transport over the five days in 2022. The aim is to persuade even more Eurobike participants to switch to public transport, (e)-bikes and walking in the coming years. In addition to the Eurobike mobility concept, e-mail provider Posteo, health and pharmaceutical company Roche Diagnostics and online marketing agency Projecter received awards in other categories.

The 32nd Eurobike will take place on the grounds of Messe Frankfurt from Wednesday, July 3 to Sunday, July 7, 2024. Festival Days: Saturday and Sunday.

About Eurobike:

Eurobike is the central platform of the cycling and future mobility universe. Together with visionaries from politics, business, society and the mobility industry, it creates space for communication, new ideas, change of perspective, and strong partnerships for innovative mobility solutions and new business models. With Eurobike, the booming and rapidly changing bicycle and future mobility industries have found a common platform. It sets new standards and identifies key topics in the areas of sports, leisure, health and mobility, makes continuous progress and brings the global community together live.

About fairnamic GmbH:

With the founding of fairnamic GmbH, the trade fair companies Frankfurt and Friedrichshafen are sealing a partnership focusing on innovative mobility. The market position in the future markets of bicycles, e-bikes, light electric mobility and general aviation is strengthened by pooling expertise and market knowledge, global positioning, brand strength and speed. The joint venture focuses on the Eurobike and AERO brands and their satellites. The objective is to expand and further develop the two flagship trade fairs.