by Luca Aterini, Greenreport.it
Because of the crisis, but also - hopefully - a renewed attention to the issues of sustainable mobility, Italians have long bought more bicycles than cars. But the economic data of the sector recently released by Confindustria-Ancma give an important additional element.
In 2013, the sector managed to guarantee a balance of trade surplus of 165 million euros, with a cutting edge in terms of bicycles for children and young people. According to Ancma, in fact, Italy remains the leading European producer of bicycles, above all for youth vehicles up to 20 inches: out of a total of 2, 700, 000 bicycles produced in 2013, 1, 100.00 are in the child segment.
Considering the data in a broader panorama, it can be said that one third of all children's bicycles in Europe are Italian.
These are the exceptional numbers flogged by Fiab, the Italian federation friends of the bicycle, to launch in great style the race that brings us closer to the National Bicycle Day, called by the Ministry of the Environment on the second Sunday of May to raise awareness and promote initiatives in favor of an ecological and sustainable mobility .
On that occasion, the 15th edition of Bimbimbici will also be back, promoted by Fiab and sponsored - among others - by Confindustria-Ancma.
More than 200 cities across Italy will be members of Bimbimbici which, between Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 May, will see more than 70, 000 children, young people and families engaged in safe cycling along urban routes.
Bimbimbici - underlined by Fiab - is, in fact, a fun opportunity to spend a day with the family and to share the experience of riding a bicycle in your city, discovering all the advantages for health and the environment.
In particular, in Florence, the 2014 edition of Bimbimbici di Fiab is planning trips that will start from the Palazzina delle Pavoniere in the Parco delle Cascine where, in the early afternoon of Saturday 10 May, a meeting will take place on the correct use of the bicycle in the presence of Silvia Velo, undersecretary of the Ministry of the Environment, and Riccardo Nencini, deputy minister at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.
But Bimbimbici is also the conclusive moment of the educational path on the topics of cycling mobility carried out by FIAB in schools (www.fiab-scuola.org) and of the national competition which this year was dedicated to “ health benefits in regular use of the bike ": over 2, 000 nursery, primary and secondary school pupils took part in the competition by creating poetic and musical drawings and compositions on the theme" Healthier and happier by bike ".
Promoting sustainable mobility and encouraging the use of bicycles among young people, in particular for daily trips, even home-school - recall Fiab - are the main objectives of Bimbimbici which, in parallel, intends to bring to the attention of the community and of the institutions the need to create accessible areas for greater liveability - and beauty - of urban centers and for increasingly safer and cyclist-friendly cities, especially if they are children.
Greenreport.it represents the first case of an Italian paper-based and online newspaper whose independent information service is expressly inspired by the principles dictated by the ecological economy.
