Lars Strömgren is vice president & acting president of the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF). ECF brings together more than 80 organizations from 45 countries, with the goal of encouraging more people to cycle, more often.
Lars Strömgren studied urban planning at Stockholm University and has a Master of Science degree in Business and Economics from The Stockholm School of Economics. He has a background in management consulting, urban planning and PR, and is a frequent lecturer and speaker on urban planning and policy making at conferences around the world.
Besides promoting bicycle use in general, Mr. Strömgren focuses more specifically on the importance of taking cycling into consideration in urban planning. He sits on several expert panels at the Swedish Transport Administration and serves on advisory boards for various transport, climate change and urban policy research programs. Mr. Strömgren frequently appears in the media, where he is an importing voice on bike-related issues.
Lars Strömgren is also president of Cykelfrämjandet (The Swedish Cycling Advocacy Association) and Svensk Cykling (Swedish Cycling).
The latter is a national umbrella organization encompassing all aspects of cycling—from urban planning, sports and environmental issues to questions concerning the cycling industry and retail.
Cykelfrämjandet promotes cycling for transportation and recreation. In the past few years the organization has undertaken reforms to improve contact with politicians and decision-makers at local, regional, national and international levels through its involvement in ECF.
As a national organization, Cykelfrämjandet has been instrumental in developing the Swedish national cycling strategy, which aims to increase ridership across all age groups and improve safety for cyclists. Cykelfrämjandet has initiated and supported the development of this strategy by virtue of its extensive network of contacts within Swedish politics and the government.
During 2017 the well known Vision Zero initiative turned 20. Mr. Strömgren was one of the initiators of the campaign Moving Beyond Zero, which takes Vision Zero a step further where health and environmental aspects are also included in the work to reduce the number of overall traffic fatalities and injuries.
