Hello!
I want to use this post to just extend a thank you to anyone who has read my blog post throughout this wonderful month abroad. This was an experience I will value forever and I am so lucky to have been a part of it. I am especially thankful for the wonderful group of people I got to enjoy the experience with. We all became a tight knit little group and I also was able to see the new value in learning with others! I felt so honored and inspired to be surrounded by such passionate and intelligent people. I not only met from the professionals we met on the trip, but from my peers. On our final day, before a wonderful last dinner at a brewery, we spent a while listening to each others presentations. In this post, I want to acknowledge and briefly detail the main takeaways from my classmates. I will quickly list each of my classmates topics and a brief summary or takeaway I got from their presentations!
Final Presentation Notes
Payton discussed designing for happiness, which included the control over design to reclaim public space and effective use of space.
Anisha discussed user-centered design which optimizes the space and reaches the most amount of users. Humanization and intuitive design is something she discussed which I think we all noticed.
Rachel discussed reclaiming the public right of way and focusing mainly on people and bikes in planning.
Ann presented on physical accessibility within cities and the aspect of trust on the roads in these cities we visited.
Bridgette reminded us of the concept of outdoor recreation within the city and cycle accessible adventure for free in cities.
Vivian taught us about a marketing and communications strategy for effectively communicating bicycle encouragement to people.
Lucy presented on the history of children’s safety in these countries and safe cycling and infrastructure for children.
Delaney discussed a comparison between Odense and Eugene and how Eugene can improve in cycling and public transportation.
Nina brought up traffic calming and the importance of designing for slower speeds and mixed traffic.
Claressa presented on the special place bikes have in the Netherlands and Denmark and the little things they do to keep cyclists in mind.
Abby A talked to us about investment in youth through safe cycling infrastructure, explaining benefits to youth independence, physical and mental health, and environmental stewardship.
Nick told us about bikes to trains and how this is an extremely valuable idea that these countries execute beautifully.
Abby M presented on the suburbs and the importance of cycling in the suburbs and how U.S. suburbs can improve.
Brendan told us about transforming urban societies using the principles reusing and recycling, reconceptualizing, redistribution, and reduction.
Tam gave us an overview of what the main takeaways of designing cities for people on bikes: autonomy, safety, convenience, and sharing.
Giselle presented on network design and the need for the U.S. to reframe the transportation vision and invest in city wide cycling infrastructure.
Whew! We had such a variety of amazing topics and takeaways in our group! Everyone has worked so hard and it was so fun to see. We will be compiling all of our final project write ups into a book format in the Fall so let me know if you are interested in reading it! It should be amazing!
Anyway, that is all from me for now! Thank you for tuning in!
Yours,
Macy
