Good practice:

Bicycle-friendly employer – financial support for obtaining certification

The starting level is very high due to a basic political decision on bicycle promotion taken years ago by the district of Grafschaft Bentheim. This is because 2007-2011 the district of Gr. B. had already been awarded the title of "Most Bicycle-Friendly County in the State of Lower Saxony". In 2012, the district of Gr. B. became a founding member of the Working Group Bicycle Friendly Municipality Lower Saxony / Bremen e.V.
In 2016, after an extensive application process, the district of Gr. B. was awarded the title of "Bicycle Friendly Municipality of Lower Saxony" for the years 2017 – 2021 by the State of Lower Saxony. In 2021 the district Gr. B. again applied for recertification for the years 2022 - 2026.
This successful bicycle promotion led to the district also providing financial support to bicycle-friendly employers to obtain a Bicycle Friendly Employer Certificate. The application for this support in the amount of 500€ was advertised in the media and can be done informally in a simple way (e.g. by eMail). After an employer has been certified through a selected institution that carries out the certification, the financial support can be granted.
The main actors are the employers and the beneficiaries are the employees.
The benefits of certification are following: the more attractive image as an Employer, the health of Employees. It is also more environmentally friendly and good for the company budget, because bicycle parking facilities are cheaper than car parking.

5.000€ total budget per year was politically provided. Funding per company is 500€ for the certification costs. The population of district of Grafschaft Bentheim is 137.000 Inhabitants, , 980 km² area, approx 430 km of cycle paths along the roads and 1.200 km of designated cycling routes.

816 Employees of District of Gr. B. have access to certified facilities and services. Other companies are incentivised to follow this example.
Once a good basis has been created by implementing the infrastructure in the company, bicycle use becomes a big part of everyone's life. The CO² footprint of everyone is drastically reduced.
In addition to added value such as image promotion and increased health, certification can help to attract new, sustainably oriented personnel.

The prerequisite for the transfer is an institution that carries out the certification process (assessment of bicycle-friendly offers in the company) and awards the certificate. The financial support provides an incentive to minimize the certification costs (certification costs in Germany approx. 800€ - 2.000€ (depending on company size, number of Employees, etc.)).
The total budget can be determined by each sponsor. In the district of Grafschaft Bentheim 5.000€ / year were provided by political decision.