Descrição

Although the Netherlands is a cycling country, there are still thousands of children who do not cycle, often because they do
not have access to a bicycle. In a country as wealthy as the Netherlands, this should not be the case. Bicycles allow children
to participate in their community, to cycle to school, to community centres or the library, to explore their city and, of course,
to stay active and healthy. Fortunately, many municipalities have set up initiatives to help encourage and enable children to
cycle. Additionally, the ANWB (the Dutch Royal Touring Club) has created its Children’s Bicycle Plan, providing many children
growing up in poverty with a bicycle.
However, many children and adolescents still live without owning or having access to a bicycle, making this issue one of the
pillars for the Tour de Force (a collaboration between the three levels of government in the Netherlands to increase cycling).
The goal is to ensure that all children in the Netherlands can cycle and have a bicycle at their disposal. Pilots are being carried
out in more than 15 cities throughout the country, including the pilot A Bicycle for Every Child. As a collection of municipalities
and provinces, we want to learn from others, but also from abroad, inspiring this booklet. Developing a well-run operation is
not easy, and up to now, we have not been able to help every child in need of a bicycle.
Through the Dutch Cycling Embassy, we export plenty of cycling knowledge abroad, but we can also collect and learn from
knowledge and experience elsewhere. Because the need for child-focused initiatives exists everywhere, in many countries
throughout the world, we have seen wonderful examples of initiatives that help children and youth obtain a bicycle and
learn to cycle. They often operate separate from local, regional and national governments, using a bottom-up approach, and
supported by a variety of funding sources. What can we learn from these initiatives?
Mobycon has collected examples of initiative from around the world to create an overview, looking at the various elements
and success factors of each. We hope this will inspire Dutch municipalities, provinces and social organisations to also work
successfully towards achieving A Bicycle for Every Child in the Netherlands. As Tour de Force, we want these good examples
to reach as many stakeholders as possible in the hope that they can learn from them and be inspired to start working on
creating their own programmes.
Lucas Harms, Dutch Cycling Embassy
Hugo van der Steenhoven, Tour de Force