Practitioner meeting: workshop two notes
Workshop two asked participants to respond to questions raised by the “Cycling citizenship” paper. In particular, we asked participants to respond to the following:
How does cycling affect local environments?
Does cycling offer a distinctive ‘view from the saddle’?
Why might some people find it hard to connect transport choices to wider environmental issues?
What (if anything!) might linking cycling to citizenship offer practitioners?
Some of the comments made by participants are outlined below in note form – we hope to provide a more detailed writeup once we have transcribed the workshop discussions.
How does cycling affect local environments?
-Nicer
-Quieter
-Civilised
-Sociable
-Interactive
-Human contact
-Less polluted
-Friendly
-Divisive – walkers/cyclists
-Annoying other cyclists
-Club cyclists/commuters – user types
-Eyes on the street
-Messy
-Secure by design, cul de sacs
-Less polluted, less congested
-Different pace (closer to pedestrian pace)
-More human
-But pedestrians resent sharing space
-Enviro-impact of infrastructure
-Local distinctiveness
-Human scale
-Streets, curbs and paths and public spaces
Does cycling offer a distinctive ‘view from the saddle’?
-All transport provides a different view
-Awareness of environment – smell, sounds
-Cities shrink on a bike
-Yes!
-Cover ground
-See stuff
-Sights/ smells
-Eye contact
-Senses – hearing, smelling, seeing, tasting
-Extends horizon – 360degrees
-Higher up
Natural environment
- Notice
-Freedom
-Feeling of terrain – potholes, micro terrain
-Alert
-Alive
-Mental health
-Defined by who we are?/ What we wear?
-Interactive
-Distinctive
-“Hinterlands”
-Feel small in busy traffic
-Awareness of weather
Why might some people find it hard to connect transport choices to wider environmental issues?
-I wanna go……
-“The car in front’s the problem”
-“Mine’s essential”
-“My contribution is small” – only doing one journey
-Knowledge – info about alternate choices/ hard to access alternatives
-Habit – I know this – it’s easier!
-Can connect to local, but not global
-Perceptions of weather, hazards (moral pressure, safety for children), practicability, fashionable
-Complicated and pressurized lives
-“I’m doing this trip because I always do it” “ I haven’t time to think| – Just in time travel decisions
-Built environment is pro-motor
-Advertising and social pressures
-Being seen as leftie/greenie
-Fear of change?
-Doing differently
-Decision makers/individuals
-“Not seen as normal”
-Recycling and rubbish awareness is widely accepted
-Cycling is not yet accepted by Govt.
What (if anything!) might linking cycling to citizenship offer practitioners?
-something to offer politicians (e.g. eyes on the street)
-Cycling in London?/ Elsewhere?
-“Ride a bike, be a good citizen?”
- Personal responsibility and your impact on others/ your community
-Segmentation [people influenced by others?]
-Healthy – not such a drain on society
-“Big Society?”
-Eco-citizenship
oresponsible with rights
osmall but significant contribution
obeing part of the community
-Puts a positive slant on above
-Looking at bigger picture of situation
oArchitectural liaison officer
oQuestioning safety of new cycle routes
-“Civilised” society
omore human contact
oupping “happiness”