Researchers at York University aim to co-develop a Bicycles for Development TransnationalCollective website to mobilize and amplify efforts of those working in the bicycles for development field.
The team is led by Faculty of Health Associate Professor Lyndsay Hayhurst, and includes Faculty of Health graduate students Jessica Nachman, Natan Levi, Julia Ferreira Gomes, undergraduate student Isra Iqbal, Development Studies student Tayler Sinclair and former MA student Keiron Cobban. Together, the Bicycles for Development research team has co-created a digital platform as part of that work to host resources, events and discussions for interested researchers, organizations, practitioners and advocates.
The website supports the bicycles and development movement, which promotes a “shared vision of the importance of bicycles in shaping our daily lives, our communities and our future.”
“Ultimately, the objective of the platform is to collaborate with key stakeholders to foster horizontal learning, knowledge dissemination, advocacy and policy change,” said Hayhurst, whose team of co-investigators (Brian Wilson, Mitchell McSweeney, Brad Millington, Cathy van Ingen and Francine Darroch) is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) over the last six years to examine the use of bicycles to achieve community-level, national and global development objectives. Community-based collaborators include Janet Otte, Patrick Eyul and Moses Fred Ogwal (Tororo and Lira, Uganda), Lidieth del Socorro Cruz Centeno (Ometepe Island, Nicaragua) and Charles Chiu (Toronto, Canada).
It hosts a diverse selection of resources – from documentaries and podcasts to research projects and workshops. Visitors who register on the digital platform will have the capability to post resources and contribute to discussions.
Content on the digital platform builds off the expertise of panelists shared during a workshop hosted by the Bicycles for Development research team.
The virtual workshop “Mobilizing Policy and Advocacy and Change Strategies,” which took place Feb. 21, featured three expert panelists in the fields of transportation, urban and rural mobility, and bicycle-related social justice work: Susan Bornstein (global director, World Bicycle Relief, U.S.); Ingrid Buday (advocate, Safe and Active Streets, Canada); and Louis Uchôa (analyst of institutional development, SampaPé!, Brazil).
A discussion on mobilizing policy advocacy and change strategies helped to inform the development and direction of the digital platform. Those interested can watch a recording of the workshop.
The Bicycles for Development team plans to host an in-person symposium at York in the near future for those interested in sharing their work with others from the Transnational Collective. The website will provide a space to co-create other potential future events for the Collective.