While students are exploring and hearing lectures, they’re asked to reflect on their experiences through a series of structured and unstructured posts. The unstructured posts are a chance to log what they’ve been up to and take time to reflect and synthesize on what they’re seeing. The structured posts challenge students to go out into the community to find some of the things we learn about I’ll be sharing my experiences leading the class on this platform as the course continues.  We also encourage them to talk to locals and write about those conversations within their reflective activity.

 

 

Here’s how we describe it on the syllabus:

Entries can include a mixture of text, photos, sketches, or other methods appropriate to the students’ discipline that can record evolving thought processes and observations on site. Keeping a blog for reflection is required and we will make a master web page that links to all student blogs. Note that your blogs may be shared on Twitter and other platforms to discuss the class, so the writing style and content should be professional. If appropriate, you can use handwritten graphics and notes to feed into a web-based blog. Within your blog, we also encourage you to have conversations with locals about the topics you’re writing about. To inform your blog, find 10 ordinary people (citizens, students, faculty or staff) who bike and ask them about it. These conversations can feed into either structured or unstructured posts. Additionally, we encourage you to explore the literature (both what’s provided below and through your own research) to inform your blogs.

Feel free to follow along with the students and professionals joining on the trip below:

Name	Link
Students
Abby A	http://study-abroad-blog.square.site
Giselle B	http://com234536847.wordpress.com/
Bridgette B	https://bottinellibiking.blogspot.com/
Claressa D	https://sustainbybike.blogspot.com/
Nick D	https://nickdeshais.wordpress.com
Anisha G	https://ohthatgirlonabike.blogspot.com/
Tam G	https://tamontransit.blogspot.com/?m=1
Rachel H	https://blogs.uoregon.edu/rhessbikingineurope
Brendan I	https://bikingassustainabletransport.blogspot.com/
Payton L	https://girlsgoingoutside.wordpress.com
Abby M	https://betterbikingmckrone.blogspot.com/
Ann M	https://blogs.uoregon.edu/bikestudyabroads22am/
Lucy P	https://blogs.uoregon.edu/lucypartridge/
Macy P	https://blogs.uoregon.edu/macypatel/
Nina P	https://ncprice5.wixsite.com/my-site
Viv S	https://blogs.uoregon.edu/vshepardbiking
Delaney T	https://oregon-to-amsterdam.tumblr.com/
Instructors and Professionals
Nick Meltzer (OCWCOG)	http://www.fermentedurbanism.com/
Rebecca Lewis (UO)	https://blogs.uoregon.edu/rebeccalewis/blog/
Robin Lewis (Bend)	http://www.greatcommunitybicycling.com
Andrew Martin (LTD)	https://andrewbikesdknl.wordpress.com/
Susan Peithman (ODOT)	https://Susanpeithman.wixsite.com/dktransportation
Shane Rhodes (Eugene)	shanearhodes.tumblr.com/
Robert Spurlock (Metro)	https://denmarkinspiration.wordpress.com/
Katherine Ambrose (U.S. House)	http://katherinebikesdenmark.wordpress.com/

 

Here’s Marc’s 2019 version of this: https://blogs.uoregon.edu/2019abroad/2019/07/10/blog-of-blogs/

Marc Schlossberg started this class in 2011 – in 2019, I had the chance to co-lead with Marc so that we could bolster our ability to offer it more frequently.  I’m a frequent cyclist and city visitor, but I was blown away about how much the structure of this class worked to inspire and open minds for instructors, students, and professionals.  By allowing a balance of structured activities and lectures, everyone has the chance to reflect and explore in ways that improve learning and synthesis.

Here’s how we describe it on the syllabus:

This course is a combination of daily urban bike riding as locals would do combined with instructor and local expert lectures, self-paced activities designed to explore and understanding the bicycle transportation infrastructure, and select cultural excursions to take advantage of the locations where we will be based. We will frequently gather to debrief what we have seen to try to understand what works, why, and how might those things work in a U.S. context. This is not a classroom-based course; our classrooms are the cities we will be experiencing. A key part of the course is developing a close student community to enhance learning, create support for one another, and to develop a network that may carry into future professional careers.

On day 1, we meet at the hostel for a bit of orienting and overview, then give students bikes and send them on their first activity.  Their charge is to go out by themselves or with one classmate and follow someone on their bike.  The purpose is to learn to mirror to behavior of locals in terms of passing, turning, pacing, and the like.  After an hour on their own, we meet up at a park for pizza and debriefing.  It was awesome to hear all of the fun places they visited and what they noticed in terms of behavior. One of the things a student said was that, unlike the U.S., they felt like the most important person on the road and were surprised about how well cars, bikes and pedestrians got along.  They also noticed how intimidating it is and how quiet it is.

I spent some time separately doing this activity this week to work towards my own goal of biking without purpose or destination and allowing time to wander and get lost.  When you’re not biking to get to a specific place at a specific time, it’s amazing how much more you notice in terms of behavior and urban environment.  Here’s some fun stuff I stumbled upon (Apologies for the image quality! I don’t know what’s wrong with UO WordPress!!)

 

 

On Tuesday, we went on a culturally focused tour with Bike Mike who took us to the oldest church in Copenhagen, the Round Tower, the cemetery, the Citadel, the Little Mermaid, the Amelionborg Palace, and ended in Christiana.  The last time we did this ride, it was something like 45 degrees (F) and lasted around 4 hours, so it was a much different experience than a 2 hour ride in the sunshine.  Bike Mike shared a few interesting cultural facts – some that stood out to me:

• Gender Equity in Scandinavia – women in charge as PMs means less war and fighting between Sweden and Denmark
• The notion of trust evident through less guarded palaces (an intelligence agency with no guards and royal palaces with no fences)
• The history of Denmark after WW2 (with the Iron Curtain)
• How cycling as a physical activity gives Danes less to worry about; they bike because it’s easy
• How Carlsberg Brewery set aside 52% of profits for art, leading to amazing investment in art
• How Denmark decided to remove industry from the harbor and create the world’s largest swimming pool (filtered 8x every 24 hours); this saves tons of CO2 because people can go swimming in the city rather than driving to beaches.
• Something we’ll learn more about today – burning trash to make energy and creating a recreational space on top of the facility.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we continue throughout the class, students will be doing similar activities as well as meeting with public, private, and nonprofit organizations.  We also include some cultural and recreational activities throughout the class.   This is an overview our schedule, which changes often to allow for spontaneous additions or adjusting to the weather.

2022 University of Oregon Bicycle Study Abroad Itinerary
Meetings with external experts/cultural excursions are bolded.
Date	Location/Lodging	morning	afternoon	evening
Monday, June 20, 2022	Copenhagen	Students Arrive by 12 PM	3:30 Meet @ Generator for orientation, get bikes, and first activity	Meet at park for dinner
Tuesday, June 21, 2022	Copenhagen	Optional Ride at 9:30 to Harbor	Meet at Israels Plads at 12:45 for class meeting; Cycle tour with Bike Mike at 1:30
Wednesday, June 22, 2022	Copenhagen	Scavenger Hunt with PSU (due Friday)	2:00  Copenhill – CPH waste treatment / powerplant/ski slope – office visit
Thursday, June 23, 2022	Copenhagen	Designing Cities for kids: Staffed Playground with Randa Ruben Jaber Sebelin (with PSU)(Time – 9:30 AM);	Playground activity (blog)	Roof top party with UO Alum Lene Christiansen  (optional) + Sankt Hans (Midsommor) celebrations
Friday, June 24, 2022	Copenhagen	9am – Jan Gehl Architects: Karolina Petz	Class meeting to discuss project; 1:1s from 1-3 PM	Scavenger Hunt Due by 5 PM!
Saturday, June 25, 2022	Copenhagen	10am – Panel with ScanDesign professionals (with PSU) location Orsteadparken park	Open research time	Scan Design Dinner at Restaurant Kronborg at 7 PM
Sunday, June 26, 2022	Copenhagen	Meet residents of Nordhaven @10am confirmed Brigitte Hagsholm Andersen	1:1s from 1-3 then: Open research time
Monday, June 27, 2022	Copenhagen	9:30 Copenhagenize with James Thoem (ends at 1pm); meet in Presentation Room	Scavenger Hunt #2 – infrastructure (blog)
Tuesday, June 28, 2022	Svendborg	Travel by train to Svendborg	Optional bike ride to Troense island
Wednesday, June 29, 2022	Svendborg	transport to via ferry Aero island (9 AM)	biking on Aero island then return via ferry to Svendborg  (5 PM)
Thursday, June 30, 2022	Korinth	Cycle to Faaborg	Visit Egeskov castle;
Friday, July 1, 2022	Odense	Bike to Odense	Meet city officials at 14:00 in Odense;   Class meeting to discuss project
Saturday, July 2, 2022	Odense	Free time in Odense	Tour De France finish near Odense (optional)
Sunday, July 3, 2022	Odense	Free time in Odense (optional visit to lego land or Viking Museum)
Monday, July 4, 2022	travel / Nijmegen	Travel from Odense to Nijmegen by vans
Tuesday, July 5, 2022	Nijmegen	Meet with officials	Tour from Sjors van Duren of Royal Haskoning DHV
Wednesday, July 6, 2022	Nijmegen	Cycle via long Cuijk/Nijmegen bike path and check out new cycling bridge	Visit Adam’s home for refreshments & visit to beach
Thursday, July 7, 2022	Utrecht	Transport to Utrecht (by train)	pick up bikes and visit city offices (Ronald)
Friday, July 8, 2022	Utrecht	Houten tour	Afternoon like a local, swimming and countryside ride.
Saturday, July 9, 2022	Utrecht		Reflections with Ronald Tamse; Class meeting to discuss project
Sunday, July 10, 2022	Utrecht	Optional forest ride; meet Former participant Bradley Tollison	optional forest ride
Monday, July 11, 2022	Utrecht		Visit Rotterdam with Ronald speak with city officials
Tuesday, July 12, 2022	Utrecht/ Amsterdam	Store bags at hotel, check out and meet with Dutch Cycling Embassy for talk and a ride	Travel to Amsterdam (by cycling)
Wednesday, July 13, 2022	Amsterdam	Fietserbond tour with Marjolein	3-5pm Meredith Glaser (U of Amsterdam) introduces PUMA ‘game’ (blog); At University
Thursday, July 14, 2022	Amsterdam	Students do PUMA all day in teams	Debrief on PUMA game; class meeting to discuss project
Friday, July 15, 2022	Amsterdam	Anne Frank House	Work on final projects	Work on projects
Saturday, July 16, 2022	Amsterdam	work on final projects	Canal cruise
Sunday, July 17, 2022	Amsterdam	work on final projects	Final Presentations & dinner at Café de Jarden	Group Dinner  at Cafe de Jaren
Monday, July 18, 2022	depart

 

On Monday, 17 graduate and undergraduate students from UO and other universities will join Nick and me along with 6 transportation professionals from Oregon (Scan Design Fellows) in Copenhagen.  We start the 2022 “Planning Cities for People on Bikes” or “Sustainable Bicycle Transportation” study abroad program through Denmark and the Netherlands.  We’ll visit some of the most bike-friendly cities in the world and use the cities as our classroom to teach about what life can be like in cities planned differently than U.S. cities. Marc Schlossberg started this class in 2011 and I had the privilege of co-leading the class in 2019.  As an avid bicycle commuter and road biker, I was blown away at the infrastructure.  But beyond that, I was inspired by the integration of dense land use with functional infrastructure and the quality of life and equity afforded by this transportation system.

This year is particularly exciting because we postponed the course in 2021 due to COVID, and travel has been limited for most of us over the last couple of years.

Marc spent several years curating the content and approach to this class, and I really appreciate the way he encouraged curiosity and exploration.  We set up several lectures with local professionals from the public, private, and advocacy realms.  We also build in a lot of flexibility and opportunities for self-exploration.  We allow a lot of unscheduled time for students to feel what it’s like to live like a local and get around a city without access to a private vehicle.  I’m looking forward to accompanying a new group of students on this transformative trip. I am inspired by the questions they ask and the trajectories they take after participating in this course.

My own objectives for this course:

• Individually, take time to explore and get lost in the city
• Individually, allow time for reflection
• Encourage students to bring a sense of curiosity to the class and being too structured or overscheduled
• Inspire students to be problem-solvers
• Encourage reflection and synthesis throughout the trip
• Most of all, inspire happiness and change-making! Get students excited about what can be and encourage them to bring lessons back to the U.S.