Quarterly Participant Meeting Q3

This year’s third quarterly participant meeting took place on 29th September and was hosted by SportUtrecht at their office in Utrecht, offering participants an impressive view over the city’s football stadium.

The meeting opened with a brief introduction by Nicole Lolkema from the Dutch Cycling Embassy, who presented the DCE, its work and upcoming activities, as well as an overview of the work and developments since the previous quarterly meeting. Roland de Haas then introduced the network to the Tour de Force, sharing insights into its approach to bringing together different stakeholders around cycling in the Netherlands.

The programme continued with Laurens Hitman, who introduced SportUtrecht and its work to promote sport and physical activity across the city. SportUtrecht works with a wide range of stakeholders, including municipalities, schools and other local organisations. The team hosting the meeting focuses particularly on active mobility, including walking, cycling and swimming. Laurens highlighted several examples of their work, including programmes with schools that teach children to cycle while also introducing them to different cycling disciplines, such as BMX.

The Dutch Cycling Embassy gave a quick update on ongoing projects and upcoming activities. Skadi Tripak offered insights on major international projects such as the trade mission to Australia, in cooperation with the Netherlands Enterprise (RVO), the Consulate-General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Sydney, including its focus on facilitating sustainable urban mobility solutions in the context of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brisbane.

Chris Bruntlett also presented upcoming activities in South-East Asia, including events and exchanges in Bangkok, India and Japan.

Finally, Oskar Kruse shared insights on his recent visit to Poland, where he participated in the New Mobility Congress in Katowice.

The meeting also welcomed three new members to the DCE network: Centroide, Biesieklette and Ziemi. Representatives from Centroide and Ziemi were present and introduced themselves to the group.

After that, Laurens Hitman and his team took over and gave a closer look at SportUtrecht’s cycling programmes and their focus on making cycling accessible to different groups across Utrecht. The presentation highlighted how the organization uses cycling education to improve cycling skills, confidence and accessibility for different groups across Utrecht.

Examples included the Fietsmeesters programme, which trains professionals and volunteers to provide cycling education in a local context and cycling lessons in neighbourhoods aimed at people who have not previously learned to cycle, including newcomers. The team also presented their cycling programmes at primary schools that combine cycling skills, traffic safety and different cycling disciplines. On top of that, SportUtrecht works with specialised education, providing tailored cycling and traffic lessons for children who require additional support. Together, these programmes demonstrate their inclusive approach to cycling, with a focus on making cycling accessible to people of different ages, backgrounds and abilities.

The meeting started with time for participants to arrive, catch up and connect with colleagues from across the DCE network. This was followed by presentations from the Dutch Cycling Embassy, Tour de Force and SportUtrecht, providing participants with insights into the organisations’ work and the latest developments and activities.

After the presentations, the SportUtrecht team hosted a borrel creating a relaxed setting for participants to continue exchanging ideas and networking. They also prepared a surprise activity to give participants a more hands-on introduction to their work: a small BMX course was set up for participants to try themselves.

Many participants took the opportunity to give it a go, providing a fun and active change of pace and offering a glimpse into SportUtrecht’s approach to getting people engaged with cycling and different forms of active mobility.

The meeting concluded with further informal networking, allowing participants to exchange experiences, reconnect with colleagues and make new connections within the DCE network.

In the upcoming period, there are a few events relevant for the DCE network, such as DCE Young, DCE Communication Connect event and the next quarterly meeting on December 8^th in 2026. The Q4 meeting will be a special highlight of the year, bringing the network together for the final quarterly update while also celebrating the Dutch Cycling Embassy’s 15-year anniversary.

We were happy to see so many of our network join this quarterly meeting!

Our Q meetings are exclusively for members of our public-private network. Would you like to be part of this inspiring community and join us at future Q meetings? Please visit our website for more information.