Q2 meeting in Den Haag

On the 4th of July, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management and the City of The Hague graciously hosted this year’s Q2 meeting. The afternoon kicked off at the ministry with a presentation hosted by DCE director Lucas Harms. After some welcome words from Arlette van Gilst from the ministry, he gave some insights on the DCE’s activities in the past few months and some exciting developments for the future. Of course, this included 2023’s VeloCity, EuroBike, and PolisMobility conferences. He also invited several DCE team members to the mic to share their recent experiences and promote upcoming events.

 Lucas highlighted some of the latest experiences with study visits from the UK and Ireland as well as ThinkBike Workshops DCE hosted in cities like Ho Chi Minh City and Washington DC. Nils Steinhauser discussed the latest happenings in Germany and announced the DCE’s participation in this year’s IAA conference, the largest mobility conference in the world. Emma Stubbe recapped her recent projects and unveiled plans for a webinar in September to coordinate with DCE participants on a French strategy. Finally, special guest Natalia Piñeros Arenas from the Dutch Embassy in Colombia highlighted some opportunities in her country, including a ftrade mission that is set to take place in the fall.

After announcing the dates of the next quarterly meetings and network meeting together with Utecht Bike Community’s during Dutch Cycling week, Lucas handed things over to Kees van Ommeren (Decisio) to provide insights on how the DCE balances out its carbon footprint. DCE board president Rueben Londersloot followed by introducing the DCE’s new director, Skadi Tirpak, who arrived that day from Miami to receive a warm welcome from the network. As this was Lucas’ last quarterly meeting, he gave some farewell words and accepted a parting gift of Dutch flowers and a vase from Gwen and the board of DCE. Before concluding the presentation, Rinse Gorter from the City of Den Haag welcomed everyone to the city and previewed the afternoon’s bike tour with a short video.

After splitting up in groups, everyone headed to Den Haag Central station to pick-up a Haagse rental bike and tour the city for an hour with one of the municipality’s representatives. The tours concluded at a beach café where the DCE’s newest participants were introduced while everyone enjoyed refreshing cocktails and a vegetarian buffet. While the cloudy weather wasn’t ideal, the afternoon and evening were nonetheless filled with good conversation, smiles and laughter.