Box Bike Helsinki

Photo courtesy of Box Bike Helsinki

Cargo Bikes are becoming more widely used every day for their versatility and their usefulness in transporting goods (or children), while still maintaining a sustainable lifestyle.

Box Bike Helsinki is The Finnish Nature League Uusimaa District’s (Nature League) Cargo Bike-themed environmental education project. The project has just launched their first competition to find a group of teenagers (ages 13-20), living in Helsinki, to win a chance to design and build a completely unique cargo bike that suits their specific day-to-day needs. Also included as a prize will be a class on how to maintain and repair their own bikes.

Box Bike believes that if we get can urban teenagers riding cargo bikes, we will end up with some pretty amazing (and creative) applications for their use. For this reason, they will be giving the winners of the competition a blank canvas to create the coolest bike they can devise.

Box Bike is looking for a team of 5-8 members, preferably of multiple ages and genders. Groups are asked to send in an application in the format of their choice (video, letter, animation, presentation, etc.), by mail or email, describing their idea for a revolutionary and unique cargo bike – the more creative the better! From a moving movie theater to a mobile refrigerator, any and all designs are welcome. All that Box Bike asks is that the group’s enthusiasm shines through and that your team relates why they stand out from all others. Applications are due December 4th at the latest.

So, what is the point of finding one team to design and manufacture one cargo bike? Box Bike Helsinki, at it’s core, exists as an educational project. If the project becomes a success, the company aspires to expand and take on more teams. Their current goal is to make bicycling and “tinkering”  with bikes as accessible to young people as possible, so that riding a bike can be viewed as a fun, non-daunting, environmentally sound activity.

Box Bike is hoping that the winning team, who will also receive a free maintenance course, will utilize their new skills to maintain their cargo bikes and pass along the wisdom to friends. As well, people learn by example. In teaching a group their legal rights as cyclists, as well as their duties in sharing the road, other bike riders will follow their example.

Currently, the cargo bike is primarily marketed towards families with children, or delivery companies. The Box Bike Project gives meaning to the common saying: “Kids are the future.” By showing young people the benefits of a cargo bike and how to maintain them, Box Bike is hoping to create a generation of young people who find naturally incorporate cargo biking into their daily lives and future endeavours.