Knowledge International Cargo Bike Festival 2023 4 December 2023 Cycling News From Friday 24th November until Sunday 26th November, the Dutch Cycling Embassy was delighted to join the International Cargo Bike Festival 2023, which was co-locating at RAI Amsterdam with Fully Charged. Our participation included contributing to panel discussions during the program, whilst also having our own stand, where we were joined by four participants from our network: 4wieler, Cargoroo, iMoto and Moby bikes. The festival commenced with Fietsdiensten.nl‘s Jos Sluijsmans greeting everybody from the ICBF Theatre. Originating in 2012 as an informal gathering of like-minded industry people, the ICBF has now grown into an international B2B and B2C event with hundreds of exhibitors specialising in e-bikes, personal mobility and logistic solutions for businesses. This included Cargo Cycling who unveiled their new chariot FS2 to a gathering crowd early on Friday morning, whilst other participants from the DCE network were also present, including Bike.Box. Speakers from different disciplinary backgrounds were also invited to present during the course of the weekend, including ARUP who presented findings on their research “space for cargo bikes”, whilst Emma Stubbe joined a panel discussion on ‘What can bikes do that cars can’t?’. Here the panel outlined how do we encourage such a switch. The afternoon agenda was dedicated to the International Theme Days Sustainable Mobility (DUMO) 2023 Presented by Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), ROM Utrecht Region, and Amsterdam Trade & Innovate. Jaron Borensztajn from Cargoroo moderated the afternoon, whilst other DCE participants presented during this event, including APPM and Panteia. Following the presentations, we were pleased to host networking drinks at our stand to end the day. The weekend saw the crowds continue to come as Saturday started with presentations occurred at the ICBF Theatre regarding the use of cargo bikes around Europe. Nout Raemaeker from the DCE presented in the afternoon on the topic of whether big opportunities for pedal power remains even in bike-friendly countries. This provided an chance to discuss the great potential that remains for e-bike and cargo bikes. Sunday happened to also be the inaugural World Sustainable Transport Day and started with the now famous cargo bike parade through the city of Amsterdam, which took participants via the dam square. After returning to RAI Amsterdam, the rest of the day’s activities could continue, including a panel discussing the European declaration on cycling. This closed out what was a well visited international cargo bike festival all week long, with many new and familiar faces joining. Approaching the half way mark through the decade of the cargo bike, we look forward to seeing the progression of the role of the cargo bike.