Bicycles transcend language, culture and personalities. Bikes are the perfect entry point for refugees to explore a new community in a cheap and familiar way that everyone understands.
For this post, we travel to Finland to look at the Immigrants on Bikes Project. This article is written by Federico Ferrara, the Project Manager for this initiative.
Image: European Cycling Federation
In February 2018, the Finnish Cyclist’s Federation (Pyöräliitto) started the Immigrants on Bike Project. It is funded by Finland’s state lottery and gambling monopoly for the next three years. The project aims to teach immigrants to cycle, which also promotes a green lifestyle change. The new cyclists benefit from increased mental and physical strength.
In the first 20 months of the project, the Finnish Cyclists’ Federation organized courses for beginner riders, basic cyclists and maintenance. On top of that, it offered short bike tours. So far, the initiative counted 65 courses, trained 330 new cyclists and 40 new cycling instructors. Twelve Finnish cities participate in the project.
Manskulla Minna Palmen. Image: European Cycling Federation
In the beginner courses, participants learn to balance on a bicycle, to pedal, to use the brakes as well as the basics of controlling a bicycle. One group consists of four to five coaches and ten participants. Around 90% of the participants learned how to ride a bike successfully. Motivated by this great experience, they are eager to learn more. And the courses are equally enjoyable for coaches!
It’s wonderful to see such big changes! At first, the participants arrive stressed, insecure and afraid of riding a bike. But three hours after, they are already biking with a big wide smile and look happy. It’s incredible to see their transformation as they become empowered!” stated one coach.
The Finnish Cyclists’ Federation relies on a clear teaching methodology, proper equipment (smaller size bicycles, folding pedals etc.), motivation and well-trained coaches in a calm but easily accessible environment. It is important to create a safe space where new cyclists can overcome their fears in their own time.
Additionally, cooperation with NGOs and integration actors are crucial to reach people in need. The NGOs work with groups of people that have already spent time together. Therefore, they can come to the lessons together, which lowers the number of absences and creates a great group dynamic. This accelerates the learning process as trust has already been established beforehand. It also helps to overcome language and cultural barriers very easily found in groups that are so diverse.
Biking can have a positive influence on independence, empowerment, equality, mobility as well as physical and mental health. It’s something Europeans take mostly for granted, but the same doesn’t go for immigrants not used to good city infrastructure.
This project taught me that knowing how to ride a bicycle can be of great importance for immigrants that didn’t learnt it in their childhood and can positively influence their integration process. Especially if the society that welcomes them also values cycling.
For this year’s International Women’s Day, I’d like to introduce you to Isata Sama Mondeh.
I met Isata while in Sierra Leone in February doing PhD Fieldwork.
I was keen to meet Isata because not only is she Sierra Leone’s long-standing National Elite Women’s Champion – but she is also the first-ever female bike mechanic in Sierra Leone AND the first female bike mechanic to run their own bike shop. OMG!
Isata learned bike mechanics and shop management through Village Bicycle Project.
I travelled out to Makeni (Bombali District) where Isata is based to meet her and see the shop. We hit it off and ended up seeing each other a few times after that, including going for a (long!) ride together – which was a real highlight for me.
I was humbled and inspired to hear how she got into bikes and how she is trying to get more females riding bikes.
Isata Sisters Bike Shop
Her business is complementary to her riding. Asa Sierra Leone’s first female mechanic, she is breaking stereotypes and working hard to build up a business that might support her and her family. Just as she was initially helped by Village Bicycle Project to get started, Isata is also paying it forward. She has trained up another female mechanic (who Isata mentored) who also now has her own shop – the second female-owned bike shop, as well.
Isata is 26 and has had her Makeni bike shop business ‘Istata’s Sister Shop’ for three years now. She was able to start the workshop due to a microcredit scheme and in collaboration with Village Bicycle Project.
Alfred, Kadi, Deborah, Isata, Nina & Stylish outside Isata’s workshop. February 2020. Makeni, Sierra Leone.
How did she get into bikes?
When Istata was in school, she would rent other kids bikes to learn how to ride. Despite having no bike of her own, she was talent scouted at a local high school sports carnival when a coach saw her in a bike race. He was impressed by her natural ability and speed – and wanted to see more.
And so she started racing. This was a lonely and unforgiving time, but it did give her valuable experience. In her first race, she was the only female. In her second race, there were three females and she came 2nd. In her third race, she was (again) the only female riding against 18 males – and she finished 10th overall. People started to notice her results and consistency.
She made it onto the National team and has never looked back. She has been the National Elite Female champion since 2006.
Overcoming negative cultural beliefs.
When she rides, Istata is challenging long-held local cultural beliefs that riding a bike is taboo for females. Many still believe that if a female rides a bike, they won’t be able to have a baby. This belief has prevented many girls from taking up riding.
When she first started riding, it was a concern that Isata herself had to face.
Isata loves riding, but was remaindered continuously by others that riding was not for women.
It was a problematic mind-trap to shake.
She found it hard to fully believe it, especially as she already had a ten-year-old son. So she had an inkling that those old views were not correct – but they were so prevalent and so constant!
It was only when a friend showed Isata profiles of some of the UK’s top elite female track and race cyclists who have children. This was all the convincing Isata needed.
Bravely, Isata is a very positive role model to encourage other females to get into cycling. She convincingly uses her experience as evidence when she talks to girls, families and community members and she addresses traditional cultural view head-on. She uses the fact that she has a 10-year-old son and a bike business to challenge limiting local beliefs about girls and bikes.
But for females, riding bikes in Sierra Leone is hard.
The most challenging thing for the female riders is that they don’t have bikes. Isata is the only female rider in Makeni who has a bike. She and the other female riders don’t have sponsors so cannot afford to buy the bikes they need. To this end, Isata continues to work tirelessly.
Isata in Le Col blue women’s winner’s jersey (2019). Source: Yellow Jersey.
Isata – we celebrate you!
Isata loves her bike and loves her bike mechanic business. Despite great adversity, she is doing all she can to promote women’s cycling in Sierra Leone.
For these (and many other reasons), I’d like to acknowledge and celebrate Isata this IWB 2020. She is the epitome of all that IWD stands for and a fantastic role model for us all.
We wish you the best of luck – both on and off the bike!
If you would like to contact or support Isata, her bike shop or her riding – please email Nina via the contacts page to be put in touch.
Hello, bike nuts! Thanks for dropping in. As you have noticed, it has been incredibly hectic since my return from Sierra Leone. Not only has it been a profound shift returning from my PhD fieldwork and all the emotions, work, people and activity that entailed, but COVID-19 has taken complete hold of the world to which I returned. Just like everyone else, for the last month, all my time and energy has been consumed with transferring to remote work. For me, that means all managing and adapting all my teaching, learning and classes to virtual spaces – as well as supporting my international and domestic students (116 in all) do the same. The COVID-shift, as I have come to call this phase, has taken precedence over updating this blog. Rest assured, I will be updating as I get the chance, but it might not be as regular as we are used to – but I will continue uploading content – after all, it seems more critical now more than ever to celebrate life and keep positive (on and off the bike!). NG.
Social Science Research in COVID-19
It’s a crazy time to be a (social) scientist – and an even crazier time for fieldwork.
In addition to my own direct experience of recently travelling and researching overseas, I have returned to a world that has significantly changed since I left.
COVID-19 was a threat as I left for my fieldwork in Africa – and it was a reality when I returned.
Everyone has had to make sacrifices, changes and adjustments for family, work and research.
These adjustments take weeks if not months and there is no avoiding it – but as Victor Frankl reminds us, we do have control over how we chose to face challenges.
I have been heartened to see some academic proactively moving to meet the challenge of researching during COVID-19.
For those researchers who need a little lift and motivation – this post is for you.
Here are 3 ways social scientists are productively responding to COVID-19.
Deborah Lupton This Sociological Life has posted some resources for social researchers working in a COVID society saying ‘I’ve put together a few open-access resources concerning what an initial agenda for COVID-related social research could be and research methods for conducting fieldwork in the COVID world’. Her post includes the links below:
This is an open-source global spreadsheet that collates COVID-19 research projects. This impressive repository includes large and small projects from some of the leading universities in the world and showcases the range and significance of COVID-19 impact. All hail GitHub! The organisers state: ‘Social scientists have an important role during a pandemic. We can do this much better through cooperation. This international list tracks new research about COVID 19, including published findings, pre-prints, projects underway, and projects at least at proposal stage.’ What a gift.
COVID-19 and my PhD research
Once my transition to full remote working and teaching has ‘settled down’ (whatever the hell that means?!), I’ll be making space to sit down and reflect.
I’ll be taking stock and considering how and where I’ll incorporate this unique encounter into my academic work, my dissertation and beyond.
This February I’ve been away in Lunsar, Sierra Leone completing my PhD fieldwork.
I had a furious time leading up to going away organising visas, vaccinations and equipment.
Then I was away for a hectic couple of weeks, and on return, I’ve needed some time to reset and process all that has transpired.
Considering the difference in culture, location and time zones, I am feeling quite discombobulated – as you can imagine.
The trip was fantastic.
Humbling, inspiring and challenging – and wonderfully successful as far as my research was concerned.
I am still piecing it all together and will need some time to reorient. It is always returning that is the hardest.
But here are some initial thoughts.
Helping unload a VBP container of bikes, parts, tires and other equipment.
Amazing
people
I stayed with Stylish (who works for Village Bicycle Project – my PhD research partner organisation) and his fiancé Kissime in their house. Kao, a Japanese intern who has been there for 4 months already was in the room next to mine. The local community was amazing and our neighbours were so welcoming. Our accommodation was safe and comfortable and like everyone else in Sierra Leone, we had no running water. The house had a generator, but it often clapped out so we had electricity for only 4 nights during my stay – which was awesome because we had lights and I could charge my phone, Go Pro and other devices- which was much needed! Plus it meant our house got swamped on ‘power nights’ with friends who took the opportunity come and watch TV….a real treat for all!
I was blown away by the friendliness of everyone I met who worked with VBP, in VBP bike shops, other riders and supporters – and the incredible The Lunsar Cycling Team. I always had someone to ride with, a friend to go to market with, an aunty to explain women-business, farmers who showed me subsistent agriculture, educators who welcomed me into their schools, mates who took me to local events – and there was always someone to answer my seemingly never-ending questions about culture, food, biking, education and the environment.
A post-ride snack and laughs with Ben (VBP Trainer).
I loved where we stayed. Our neighbours were endless enthusiastic and helpful and there were always people coming and going – dropping in for a visit, hanging out for a chat, or getting ready for a ride. Like everyone else, I was up early in the morning to help with chores. Kao showed me how to sweep the front of the house and get the twice-daily water from the well. Many times during my stay, Kissime showed me how to make the local dishes she was preparing – like informal cooking classes. She patiently taught me how to cook local meals like Crain-Crain, fried fish and rice (one of my favourites), which she expertly made for 12 people 3 times a day.
I had the pleasure of working, learning, laughing and riding with so many inspiring and entertaining characters -too many to mention here, but I will be sharing some of them on this blog. The resourcefulness and positivity I encountered in the face of extreme poverty have – and will continue to – have a profound impact on me.
My amazing neighbours.
Riding the surrounds
The riding was varied and challenging. When I was in Lunsar, it was 42C and 96% humidity. It took a day or two to get used to the humidity, but I had come straight from Queensland’s tropical summer, so the heat was okay for me. I did one ride in the middle of the day and was floored by the oppressive, sweaty humidity – lesson learnt.
The terrain is dusty, dry and gravelly. I had a hybrid bike that handled the trails well. Many of the trails changed depending on how close they were to Lunsar. The closer to town the trail was, the more well used, flatter, wider and more even it was. But as soon as wound your way even 2kms out of town, the trails often changed and were more difficult. Sometimes muddy and waterlogged, other times, bumpy and eroded. There were many log river crossing where you would have to carry your bike or take your shoes off and wade through flooded areas.
In the mornings, the trails were busy with foot traffic. There were women walking to town with their heads precariously laden with massive plastic tubs of food to sell, groups of kids walking the long way to school, old men weaving in and out of the side tracks that crisscrossed the main trails, and sometimes motorbikes ferrying loads of people between the intermittent communities.
Trails regularly pass subsistence farming areas – cassava, crain-crain, okra and plantain. Cool burning is used after the last crop has been cleared to prepare for the next rotation.
Travelling and being a researcher
I have previously travelled overseas for research, but this trip was completely different. This time I was travelling by myself, working on my project and taking in the surrounds of the ‘here-and-now’. This meant I was a walking ‘data lighting rod’ – everything I saw, learnt, felt, smelt, tasted, heard, read, visited and did was unusual, meaningful and useful for my research. It also meant it was exhausting being ‘on’ all the time – especially in a highly-social place where you are not only a guest, but also a curiosity, so everyone wants to meet, talk and show you things. Even when I wasn’t ‘working’, I had groups of local kids around me wanting me to play Skip-Bo (a card game I had brought with me from Australia) with them. I loved the interactivity and company of being so social, but I also needed some downtime to process, write my field notes and reflect on all I was encounters… which was a lot! I found the only time I could get this was when I woke up early at 4.30-5 am. At this time, it was still dark outside, so with my head-torch on and under the cover of my mosquito net, I would update my fieldnotes and journal, knowing full well that as soon as I left my room, there would be no other time by myself for the rest of the day.
Playing Snap with the local kids.
Travelling during Coronavirus was also a new experience. I took my health seriously and certainly wasn’t taking any risks given that this trip was central to my PhD research and I had been working towards it for the last 4 years. I wore an N95 respirator face mask and gloves the whole time I flew there and back (28 hours there and the same return), used hospital-grade hand sanitizer and the same to wipe down all my aeroplane seat buckles, hand rests, touchscreens and tray table surfaces. I felt a little conspicuous, but there were heaps of other travellers in face masks, although I was the only one in gloves as well. But this turned out to be a blessing as I got triaged to the front of many of the health checkpoints because the people (in Hazchem suits) could see I was taking precautions (ie I was quick and easy to process, so I was ushered upfront) and I got processed before anyone else. So I spend very little time transiting through airports, while other passengers waited in very long lines to have their temperature tested. I was very glad to arrive back home just before many major international airports implement travel bans for certain nationalities. There and back safe and healthy – thank you very much!
Jet lagged and tired after 28 hours of travel. Taking international travel and COVID-19 seriously.
There is much more to tell, but for now…I need to rest.
I’ll share more once I get over the shock of jetlag and the fact that clean drinking water runs out of taps.
My PhD fieldwork in Sierra Leone looks at how bicycles feature in African girls’ access to education. Although there is a paucity of empirical research in this area, there are still projects working in this area. One research project that has been an invaluable resource for me, is Laurens Hof’s Master thesis entitled: Teaching girls how to ride a bicycle: gender and cycling in Lunsar, Sierra Leone.
Laurens
Hof is a Dutch student at Utrecht University. She undertook her 7-month research with the
same organisation I will be working with later this month (Jan 2020). So the case
study and background Lauren’ wrote up is a gold mine for me.
It
was also useful because it provides important nuanced sociological insights about
the local context and gender norms that relate to mobility in Lunsar.
Lauren’s
research centres on one of three Village Bicycle Project programs – the girls Learn
how to ride program.
Her
final paper is a very interesting read and she has crammed it full of compelling
(and for my project useful) local perspicacity.
Laurens uses Social Constructions as her theoretical frame to explore critical areas of gender, mobility, gender norms for children, knowledge transfer and community perception.
Here overarching research objective was: to create a thick description of how people in and
around Lunsar use bicycles and which meaning they attach to them, informed by
both the accessibility of bikes to women and girls and the effect of programs
that teach girls how to ride a bicycle.
Below are the research questions that guided Laurens’ work and her final abstract.
Question One: What are gender norms and expectations
and social stigmas for boys’ and girls’ behavior in Lunsar, and what do these
gendered norms convey about the mobility of boys and girls?
Question Two: Who uses bicycles, how bicycles are
being used, what are the social requirements for bike usage, and how is the
technology perceived by both users and nonusers?
Question Three: How does the VBP use the ‘Learn to Ride’ program to promote cycling for girls, what is the theoretic foundation of this project, what is the effect of the program on the social stigmas that girls experience and how is the outcome perceived in the Lunsar area?
Image: Bikes of the World (Village Bicycle Project partner).
Lauren’s
Abstract
Women
and girls in sub Saharan African countries often face constraints and
limitations on their mobility. Social stigmas and a lack of access to means of
transport constrain their mobility.
In
this research, headway is made into understanding the mobility of girls and
women in Lunsar, as little is known about how in this region gender is
perceived, as well as how those understandings of gender relate to the mobility
of women. An overview is given of gender in the Lunsar society, and what the
societal norms are for boys and girls. Specific attention is paid to the gender
norms that relate to mobility.
One
of the main findings is that girls’ mobility is constrained with a social
stigma that girls who ride a bicycle will lose their virginity. The mobility of
adult women is also constrained, a woman who rides a bicycle is deemed to be a
prostitute.
These
constraints that women and girls experience are not a uniform part of society,
they are most regularly encountered in the neighboring villages, but not
everyone holds to these beliefs.
In
the second part of this research an analysis is made of how different groups
within the Lunsar society understand and view bicycles. It shows that there are
multiple interpretations possible, who are sometimes with each other in
conflict. Bicycles are mainly seen as a tool for children to go to school, as
well as a device to race and sport.
These
dominating views drown out other potential views, such as the idea that a
bicycle can be used for the transportation of goods.
Finally,
the programs of the NGO Village Bicycle Project are reviewed and show the
effect that teaching girls how to ride a bicycle has an effect on the exclusion
of girls riding a bicycle.
It shows that teaching girls how to ride a bike increases the mobility of girls whose parents were already accepting of their daughter riding a bicycle, but that effect was not found on girls whose parents were not accepting of that.
In this post, we look at one of Bikes 4 Life programs that connects with local deadly youths living in a remote community to a range of other health services by improving bike participation.
Bikes 4 Life is an international non-government organisation that supplies bicycles all over the world to improve education access, health outcomes and income generation.
One of Bikes 4 Life’s programs operates in a remote Western Australia community in conjunction with the local organisation East Kimberley Job Pathways (EKJP).
East Kimberley Job Pathways is located in the far north of Western Australia in the isolated community of Kunnunurra. EKJP is a ‘for purpose’ Aboriginal Corporation with the primary purpose of delivering the Australian Government’s Community Development Programme across the broader East Kimberley Region of Western Australia.
In 2019, the EKJP team ran a bike rescue program called BikeWorks. The Bike Works program underpins a social and emotional wellbeing program that EKJP runs for local youths. This program teaches youths how to refurbish and maintain donated bicycles sourced through Bikes 4 Life. Read more about the program here.
The bikes used for the program are all recreational bikes (no
roadies) because more robust bikes are better suited to the remote Western
Australian terrain and climate.
The Bike Works program outcomes are:
Increased social and emotional wellbeing
Teamwork and networks
Building new relationships
Improved attendance at school (and/or other education pathways)
Raised aspirations of future pathways
Connection and contribution to community
Employment opportunities (within the Bike Program and with other employers)
The program was very
successful. After a great start in 2019, and with increasing demands for bikes
in the community, Bikes 4 Life is will continue sending bikes and supporting EKJP
so this program can keep progressing.
Image: Bikes 4 Life
Parts of this post are sourced from Bikes 4 Life Projects web page.
Nina speculating what 2020 will be like. A big thanks to Mike Yang for this photo. Check out his work here.
Happy New Gear (Year) – and Happy New Decade!
Another amazing year to
explore our local surrounds and beyond on two wheels!
Whatever you ride and
however often you ride it – now is the time to reinvigorate you and your
beloved bicycle!
How about this year,
sharing your love of cycling beyond your normal routine and friendship group?
This is easy to do – here’s a few quick and easy ways to kick of 2020 with a
positive cycling spirit:
arrange a bicycle picnic event for friends with kids
go for a ride somewhere new (without a map)
make an effort to talk cyclists you have never met before
help someone who has not ridden in a while get back on the bike
undertake your own fundraising bike ride challenge
reduce your cycling gear and donate the rest to those in need
show a daughter how to change a bike tyre
pick up rubbish along your favourite bike routes
make some rides completely technology and device-free
throw some native seed bombs into vacant land as you ride past
spend a day helping out a bike charity
catch yourself saying ‘girls’ to women riders, just call them ‘cyclists’
when buying biking gear, question consumption, packaging and waste practices
Image: In The Know Cycling
2020 is also shaping up to be a big year internationally. Here are some key global events coming up in 2020.
The 2020 Summer Olympics will be in Tokyo. Along with all the other summer sports, this Summer Olympics will also include 5 new sports: Karate, baseball/softball, skateboarding, sports climbing and surfing.
2020 is the UN International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). This means 2020 is dedicated to raising awareness about plant health and the impact of healthy plants and forests on food security, poverty, economic development, and sustainability.
2020 is the year of the White Metal Rat in the Chinese Zodiac. The rat is the first all of the zodiac animals and is associated with the Earthly Branch and midnight hours. The rat is yang in energy and linked to new beginnings, wellness, wisdom, wealth and surplus. Very fortuitous!
There is so much going
on this year!
So, whatever your plans
are and wherever you are – happy new year!
I hope all your 2020 biking (and other) adventures are safe, fun and constructive.
Nina always ready for a quiet local ride. Image: Imagen Effect.
Thank you to all the readers and supporters of this blog.
2019 was a hectic year and it was lovely receiving emails of encouragement, projects to follow up on and suggestions for posts.
Anna was riding with a group of friends in the Adelaide Hills when they saw a koala sitting in the middle of the road. With parts of the Adelaide Hills ravaged by fires, wildlife that are not killed, have been injured and displaced.
On the day Anna was riding, it was 42C and
this koala was desperate for a drink.
Anna stopped to give the koala a drink. The koala,
who has since been named Kodak, drank 8 bottles of water from the cyclists.
They then ushered him off the road to safety.
The moving video of this encounter has been seen worldwide and brought attention to the desperate plight Australian wildlife is experiencing during these bushfires – and particularly for koalas.
Since finding Kodak, Anna has a Thirsty Koalas project
on Go Fund Me and has been working tirelessly volunteering for Koala rescue
and rehabilitation to support their long-term survival.
Anna Heusler. Image: Chick who ride bikes.
Support the koalas
In support of Koala Rescue and Anna’s hard work, Chicks who Ride Bikes have re-released a limited edition Koala jersey where 100% of the profits will go to Koala rescue and rehabilitation.
Order a limited edition koala jersey and 100% of profits go towards the International Koala Centre of Excellence.
Supporting the koalas is a great way for cyclists to show they care, support bushfire efforts, see out 2019 and start the new 2020 year (and decade) on a positive note.
Our thoughts are with all those affected by the bushfires.
For 2019, we are heading to Lismore in QLD, where for the past few years the local City Council has provided a public recycled art Christmas Tree. This very successful initiative all started with recycled bikes.
The Lismore Council public art Christmas tree initiative stemmed after the local ‘leaning tree’ that had previously been decorated for Christmases was (unduly and harshly) dubbed ‘the world’s most pathetic’ Christmas tree. (Note: Personally, I think the leaning tree was awesome. Such a pity that we don’t celebrate diversity and difference and the wonderful uniqueness in nature. As Gaudi stated ‘there are no straight lines in nature’ – I think it is the very twists, turns, messiness and curves that makes life so engaging and grand. The very thing that made that tree unique and special to some, others considered to be a flawed and an eyesore. I don’t agree that ‘perfection’ i.e. a straight tree (or a or a ‘pretty blonde female’ as an extrapolation) is necessarily beautiful. Perhaps we need to check in with our cultural value criteria – anyhow..back to Lismore).
So, in 2015, Lismore Council looked to change their tree and started a recycled public art initative.
Image: Cathy Bowen Northern Star
Lismore’s Bicycle Christmas Trees
The recycled bicycle tree was the first of these instalments. In 2015, the Lismore Bike Christmas Tree was erected as a centrepiece for the main roundabout on the corner of Keen and Magellan Streets.
This intuitive is to celebrate the festive holiday season as
well as Lismore’s commitment to recycling and sustainability.
A local bike shop, Revolve, supplied the 90 old bicycles (which otherwise would have gone to scrap), 50 litres of paint, almost half a tonne of steel for the frame and $30 of donated rainbow mis-tints from the local paint shop. GOLD!
Lismore’s council metal workshop welded the bicycle frames
were welded onto the steel frame they had created as the base structure.
The final ‘tree’ was then painted in rainbow mis-tint colours by the council staff and their families in their own time.
The tree was then gifted by the council to Lismore residents.
Lismore’s tree for Christmas 2019 was a 7-metre ‘living’, growing structure. It has more than 300 potted plants, 100 metres of tinsel, 250 metres of solar-powered LEDs, 16 pairs of work trousers and matching boots. At the top instead of a star, council staff made a Planta (plant ‘Santa’).
The 2018 Lismore Christmas tree was made out discarded umbrellas.
In 2017 it was recycled road signs.
In 2016 it was recycled car tyres.
The 2015 Bicycle Christmas Tree has been the most popular instalment by far to date. In acknowledgement of this, the council is in discussion for a possible future tree that has sculptural bikes that produce power so that when visitors ride them, the generated power will light up the tree. Sounds similar to Brisbane’s Bicycle-powered Christmas Tree.
A big round of applause for Lismore Council for installing the recycled bike Christmas tree. An inspiring public project that brings community and council together to celebrate sustainability, recycling, community and creativity.
