Wheels of change: bicycles fight air pollution in Brazil

This blog prides itself on sharing the grassroots stories, events and experiences of local and international community cyclists. Around the world, cyclists are grappling with many issues – and this story from JP hit a particular nerve in drawing attention to the issue of air pollution. The article republished here was an open letter written by San Paulo local bicycle activist JP Amaral for Global Call to Climate Action at the end of last year. Recently, I reported on Areli Carreón who is the first ever Latin American Bicycle Mayor (Mexico City) because it is important to hear more from our concerned and proactive Latin American cycling brothers and sisters. A big thanks to JP for sharing his thoughts, research and insights with us. We applaud your work and are sending you much support from down under!

As government Ministers, city mayors and civil society from all over the globe head for the World Health Organisation’s first ever international conference on air pollution and health at the end of this month (30 October to 1 November 2018), one must wonder how big a problem the quality of the air we breathe has become.

I used to believe poor air quality was a major barrier to cycling in our urban centers and couldn’t understand the reason for my respiratory problems in my hometown São Paulo, where air pollution levels are 60% above the WHO’s safety limits and responsible for 6,421 deaths each year.

However, as I started cycling, the health benefits were immediate, especially for my respiratory system.

Now, after 10 years working on sustainable urban mobility, being co-founder of Bike Anjo, a large national network of volunteers promoting cycling as a means of transport in Brazil, and an active member of the international Bicycle Mayor Network, I understand that the health benefits of cycling and walking outweigh the harm from inhaling air loaded with traffic fumes.

This is a message we always try to get across to the people we help in learning to cycle or tracing their daily routes. Moreover, research studies have shown that car drivers in heavy traffic inhale more pollution.

The biggest metropolitan area in South America (population: 21.2 million), São Paulo is notorious for its traffic; a recent study found that São Paulo inhabitants spent 86 hours on average in 2017 stuck in traffic (or 22% of total drive time), putting it in the top five cities for traffic congestion.

In this city, cars and motorcycles are a much-desired escape from long, arduous journeys on public transport, especially for the poor living on the outskirts who commute every day into the city centre.

Over the past decade, Federal government incentives to the car industry have brought down the price of cars, making them significantly more accessible. It is not surprising then that the main source of air pollution in São Paulo – as in several world cities – is the vehicular fleet, accounting for 80% of total air pollutants.

Despite this unfavourable scenario, cycling has been growing in popularity in recent years: we’ve gone from 100,000 bike trips a day in 2007 to 300,000 trips a day in 2012, and a recent study by the Secretary of Transport estimated over 1 million bike trips a day in São Paulo.

Investments in cycling infrastructure and a series of incentives, such as 400 km of new bike lanes and bike paths, new bike sharing systems and banning car traffic in some of the city’s busiest streets on Sundays have contributed to this culture change. Surfing on this trend, Bike Anjo expanded its network of volunteers, helping “paulistanos” explore safe cycling routes and cycle with more confidence.

This year, our successful Bike to Work campaign has highlighted the health benefits of cycling, focusing on two women who agreed to ride their bikes to work for an entire month for the first time, whilst having their health monitored by doctors.

Having experienced so many physical and mental health benefits from this challenging experiment, they both decided to continue their daily bicycling commutes. We hope that this experience, featured on national television, has encouraged many Brazilians to do the same.

While behaviour change campaigns such as this one can make a difference, a long lasting change in transport culture must be underpinned by robust public policies that are conducive to active mobility. At the federal level, a progressive piece of policy framework was proposed as the “National Urban Mobility Act”, in 2012, putting forward active mobility as the prioritized mode of transport in Brazilian cities.

However, the national plan implementation depends entirely on the formulation of municipal urban mobility plans, which are either non existent or at early stages of implementation in most of Brazil’s municipalities. Through working with civil society actors, Bike Anjo and the Brazilian Cyclists’ Union (UCB) have been trying to assist municipalities in getting their plans off the paper and into action.

The gaps are numerous; from policy design to implementation, from federal to municipal level, and importantly, the tendency of treating issues in silos.

Health policies rarely engage in dialogue with mobility policies, despite existing evidence that reducing air pollution in urban centres through clean, sustainable transport results in better public health outcomes and significant savings in government expenditures.

Air pollution is now responsible for over 7 million premature deaths per year, globally. The urgency of reducing such mortality rates, coupled with that of mitigating the impacts of climate change, leaves us with no more time to tolerate carbon emissions from fossil fueled transport.

The latest UN scientific report has warned we may have only 12 years to limit climate change catastrophe if global warming exceeds 1.5C, singling out the transport sector as the fastest growing contributor to climate emissions

This first global WHO conference on health and air pollution is a unique occasion where national leaders from different sectors facing similar local challenges can meet and exchange experiences, learn from civil society and ultimately commit to agreed targets to meet the WHO’s air quality guidelines by 2030, matching the needs of reducing carbon emissions.

Clean, renewable energy, electric vehicles, the elimination of fossil fuels subsidies, smarter urban planning, and better public transport infrastructure are some of the choices policy makers can make to avoid countless preventable deaths, drastically improve air quality and health, and contribute towards a safer climate.

At the conference, I plan to highlight how cycling can play a major role in transforming mobility around the world. Given the convenience, health benefits and affordability of bicycles, they could provide a far greater proportion of sustainable urban transport, helping reduce not only air pollution, but energy use and CO2 emissions worldwide.

Active mobility is often underestimated, but if you think about it, bicycles could be the ultimate icon of sustainable transport. As the far right takes power in countries across the planet, including most recently Brazil, city level solutions offer real hope and the best bet for change.

About the author
JP Amaral is an active member of the international Bicycle Mayor Network initiated by Amsterdam based social enterprise BYCS, and co-founder of the Bike Anjo Network (bikeanjo.org), currently coordinating the “Bicycle in the Plans” project. He has a bachelor degree on Environmental Management at the University of São Paulo and has been working in sustainable urban mobility since 2008. He is certified as an auditor on the BYPAD methodology – Bicycle Planning Audit, and is the Bicycle Mayor of São Paulo. He is also fellow member of the Red Bull Amaphyko network for social entrepreneurs and of the German Chancellor Fellowship program for tomorrow’s leaders from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, working with international cooperation towards cycling promotion, especially between Brazil and Europe.

Bike Anjo (Bike Angels) is a network of voluntary cyclists who engage people to use bicycles as a mean of transforming cities – from teaching how to ride a bicycle to identifying safe cycling routes for São Paulo inhabitants and building national campaigns.

The Bicycle Mayor Network is a global network of changemakers – initiated by Amsterdam based social enterprise BYCS – that radically accelerates cycling progress in cities worldwide. The individual use the power of their network to influence politics and the broader public to start cycling. Bicycle mayors transform cities, cities transform the world.

27/01/201918/02/2019

The Orange Bike Project in the Phillipines

For many years, World Bicycle Relief (WBR) has supplied bicycles to some of the world’s most vulnerable people to help increase access to education, healthcare and income-generation opportunities. WBR has a number of corporate sponsors and partnerships. This story details a unique collaboration between WBR, ING Bank and World Vision, called the Orange Bicycle Project. This story comes courtesy of WBR and serves as a reminder that bicycles really do create change. Enjoy! NG.

Dutch financial institution ING has built their corporate purpose around “empowering people to stay a step ahead, in life and in business.” While ING remains committed to this purpose in their day-to-day banking work, they also wanted to integrate it into their corporate giving efforts.

And if they could find a way to honor their Dutch bicycling heritage at the same time, even better! The organization did just that by developing a sustainable transportation relief program: the Orange Bike Project.

The Orange Bike Project in the Phillipines. Bicycles Create Change.com. 27th Jan, 2019. — Image: World Bicycle Relief

ING collaborated with World Bicycle Relief (WBR) and World Vision Philippines to bring bicycles to children living in remote locations in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand.

The project is modeled after WBR’s Bicycles for Educational Empowerment Program (BEEP) and aspires to raise enough funds over five years to build and distribute 5,000 bicycles to students who must walk long distances to school every day.

WBR’s educational programs in Africa have demonstrated that reducing students’ travel time to school helps improve attendance and performance.

Bicycle-riding students are more likely to stay in school, improving their career prospects and future income potential as well. As Mark Newman, CEO of ING Asia, says, “We hope that the ING Orange Bike project will be able to create a lasting impact that empowers the students, their families and the community to keep moving forward in life.”

The project’s orange ING-branded Buffalo Bicycle is specially designed for rough, rural terrain and can carry loads up to 100 kg – making it useful for the student’s family to transport crops and goods to the market when school is not in session.

As of December 2016, 3,200 bicycles have been distributed through the Orange Bike Project. The program’s impact is carefully monitored by a local implementing agency, and the results have been spectacular!

In several beneficiary schools in the Philippines, attendance has increased by at least 33% and grades by at least 51%. The bicycles have also helped recipient families bring more goods to market, increasing their income.

ING has plans to raise $200,000 annually to continue the program through 2018. Employee fundraising groups like the ING Orange Bike Cycling Challenge have helped ING reach its goal by raising $75,000 in 2016. The program has benefited from the enthusiastic support of ING employees and friends who all share the organization’s commitment to empowering individuals.

Shayne Prashan, ING employee and team leader for the ING Orange Bike Cycling Challenge, was motivated to fundraise for the project because of the emotional enlightenment it offered him. “It’s about the only superpower that makes us human: empathy.”

Shayne says. “It invites us on one of the greatest and most courageous adventures of our lives: to step into someone else’s shoes to understand their struggles and to help them walk through life with confidence and faith.”

18/01/201918/02/2019

IECHE Fellowship Application

I am very lucky to be working at a university where I have access to conference opportunities where I can contribute in discussions about educational best practices at the higher education level.

One national example is last year, when I presented my From EAS to Collaborative Internship: Lessons and insights where bicycles create change (a pilot international student program I developed and delivered) at the English Australia state teaching conference. It won the Queensland 2018 Bright Ideas Award and EA sent me to present the same session at the national conference.

This year, I am looking further a field.

IECHE Fellowship Application. Bicycles Create Change.com. 18th Jan, 2019. — Image: IECHE

The International Exhibition and Conference in Higher Education (IECHE) is an annual international exhibition organized by the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This week, I applied for a IECHE Fellowship.

Up to 100 IECHE Fellowships are being awarded by the Saudi Kingdom so overseas higher education professionals to attend and join in conversations about global best practices.

What is the IECHE?

The adoption of the new by-laws in Saudi Arabia will make the 2019 conference particularly important as local universities will be managing more autonomy and facing a significant cultural shift in the process.

The Saudi Cultural Mission sees this event as being invaluable to encourage participation, enhance collaboration and build partnerships between Saudi and international higher education institutions, and to develop mutual understanding about the issues that govern and influence the quality of higher education worldwide.

Each year an international advisory panel helps select a theme for each conference, design the program, and invite international experts and scholars who are shaping higher education policy and practice throughout the world.

Apparently over 3, 300 people attend this event. Past IECHE speakers and panelists include Nobel laureates, vice-chancellors from the world’s most prestigious universities, ministers of higher education, and leading researchers from every continent.

The theme for the 2019 IECHE is Transforming Saudi universities in an era of change.

What is the IECHE Fellowship?

The fellowships are offered to international educators, researchers and policy makers in higher education and cover a costs for airfares, accommodation, meals and conference participation.

Fellowship selection is based on diversity in geographic location, gender, age and experience.

I worked hard on my application. Given that I am at the intersection of many of the selection criteria, I think I have as good a chance as anyone else in being awarded.

I am genuinely interested in attending this event and in the opportunity to experience Saudi Arabia for the first time.

It will take a fortnight for the fellowship applications to be processed.

Fingers crossed!

13/10/201817/10/2018

Malala – teachers, girls, rights and education

This week I’ve been working on my PhD Ethics Application for my PhD. As I do this, there have been two international dates that have individually been very important, but collectively add gravity to my Ethics Application. This has caused me to reflect deeper than usual in light of work I’m now doing around ethics, benevolence and risk.

Two key dates

Internationally, World Teachers’ Day was held on 5 October.

Celebrated in more than 100 countries world-wide, World Teachers’ Day was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 1994 to recognise the role of teachers in society.

Last year on in Instagram for World Teachers Day, I celebrated the wonderful guidance, work and role that Dr Richard Johnson had for me in my decision to go into teaching.

Then, on 11th October, it was International Day of the Girl Child.

International Day of the Girl recognises the unique challenges that face girls globally and the enormous potential for change girls possess. So the main aims of the day are to promote girl’s empowerment and fulfilment of their human rights while also highlighting the challenges that girls all over the world face.

In the midst of these two major international commemorations and working on my Ethics Application – it is Malala Yousafzai who keeps popping into my head.

Malala – teachers, girls, rights and education

For me, Malala is the common thread the weaves these three events together and directly links them to my PhD. I can’t decide if she is an archetype, hero or champion (or all three) – but I know that she is the perfect embodiment of all the issues, pressures, challenges and dynamics my research is looking at.

My PhD explores NGOs that donate bicycles to rural African girls for greater access to secondary school. So, I read a lot about education, teachers, schooling in rural areas of developing countries, the feminisation of poverty, sociocultural barriers to girls’ education, gender equity and other local and inter/national geo-political issues.

Most people have heard of Malala.

Malala’s father was a teacher at an all-girls’ school in Pakistan. In 2008, the Taliban forcibly closed down their school. Malala publicly spoke out about the rights how girls have the right to an education – she was 11. She was shot in the face as retaliation. After being moved to the UK for her recovery and for safety, she continued to speak out for girls’ education.

She received the Nobel Peace Prize in December 2014 and was the youngest-ever Nobel laureate. She continues her advocacy and activism work. She travels to many countries to meet girls fighting poverty, wars, child marriage and gender discrimination to go to school. She has spoken at UN National Assemblies and internationally and established the Malala Fund which invests in developing country educators and activists, like her father, through Malala Fund’s Gulmakai Network.

I feel very humbled and inspired by Malala’s story, courage and persistence. She is a remarkable role model, advocate, change agent and activist. I have always been incredibly grateful for having the privilege to undertake my PhD. It is also a way

And on weeks like this one, Malala is a reminder of how important it is to continue and intensify the efforts for girls education.

And with this in mind, I head back to Ethics.

20/09/201826/09/2018

English Australia Conference 2018

This week, I am in Sydney attending the annual, national English Australia Conference (EAC) 2018.

Earlier this year at the EA (QLD) PD Fest, our Bicycles Create Change session won the QLD Bright Ideas Award.

So, thanks to Pearson and the EA Queensland Branch, I’m in Sydney representing our BCC internship team session at the conference.

I am very honoured and very excited!

EAC 2018 Day 2 Program

Session Presentation:

From EAS to Collaborative Internship:

Lessons and insights where Bicycles Create Change

Many international students undertake English and Academic Skills (EAS) and DEP bridging classes to get into university with the ultimate aim of getting a job in their field of study.

There is a perception that English classrooms are for learning English, University tutorials are for discipline-specific content, and the workplace is for vocational skills. Internships are one-way students can become more work-ready. However, a number of studies confirm that current tertiary students lack generic employability skills (ACNielsen Research Services 2000; ACCI/BCA 2002), an issue that is even more challenging for international students.

I was curious to explore what a career development program that specifically catered to the academic, vocational and personal needs of the international students in my DEP classes might look like.

This presentation is a brief overview of the origins, activities and outcomes of this exploration: The Bicycles Create Change.com 2016 Summer Internship Program.

Program background

This Internship was a volunteer, eight-week, collaborative internship that ran from January 4th to February 27th, 2016. It required participants to fulfil 80-110 working hours.

The blog Bicycles Create Change.com (which has over 110,000 readers locally and internationally) served as the professional platform for work activities as it was a low-cost, high-exposure, authentic, skills-integrated outlet to showcase work.

The program was semi-structured with space to modify and self-initiative content. Hours were achieved individually, in pairs and as a team. The team met for one full day each week to review tasks, run workshops, refine skills and to discuss progress.

Theoretical underpinnings

This program integrated key theories including, scaffolding new skills (Vygotsky 1987), the need for authentic vocational guidance, participation and engagement (Billet, 2002), promoting creative thinking and expression (Judkins, 2015) and building on foundational DEP EAS skills and competencies (GELI, n.d.).

Origins and participants

The four volunteer participants varied in ages, backgrounds and degree levels and disciplines. The 4 volunteers for this program were; Sachie (female, 23, Japanese, Philosophy undergrad), Mauricio (male, 33, Columbian, IT PG), Juliet (female, 37, Indian, Special Education PG) and Gabriel (male, 42, Cameroonian, Social Work PG).

All participants had just graduated from the Griffith English Language Institute (GELI) 10-week DEP program in December.

Semester 1 2016 did not commence until Feb 28^th.This left a gap of 9 weeks before university started, which is when the internship was undertaken.

Key considerations

There were are a number of key considerations built into this program:

Strengthening self-confidence and independent learning
Experience with unique, transferable and challenging skills
Fostering creativity and valuing artistic expression
Emphasis on developing reflection, collaboration and planning skills
Integrating EAS, vocation and personal skills to a range of contexts
Promoting initiative and the ability to generate own opportunities
Increasing employability, CV and work-ready skills
Authentic interactions and connection with locals/community
Create a comprehensive evidence portfolio of work, skills and achievements
To have fun applying skills in a challenging and productive way

Program design

The focus was to build on current competencies, develop new skills, build a professional portfolio of experience (and evidence), and for participants to become more confident in initiating their own opportunities and outputs.

This program minimised the ‘daily’ supervision and ‘student’ mentality of traditional internships to instead put supported autonomy firmly into the hands of each participant, who ultimately self-managed their own workload.

Tailored experiences (below) provided exposure to a collection of advanced competencies that are cumulatively not commonly experienced in other internships or classes.

The program integrated three main competency streams: EAS, Professional Skills and Individual Development. The program was scaffolded, so tasks became progressively more challenging and required greater participant self-direction to complete, as seen below:

Unique features

Participants undertook a series of challenging tasks, including:

Develop and present a professional development workshop (individually and in pairs)
Undertake an individual project that resulted in an output (ie. Crowdfunding project, publication)
Self-identify an industry leader to cold call for a 20-min introductory meeting
Complete a Coursea MOOC on an area of their choosing
Research a social issue to creatively present as an individually ‘art bike’ as part of the team Public Art Bike Social Issue Presentation and Forum
Research and produce five original blog posts on how bicycles are being used to create more positive community change in their home country
Weekly meeting with an assigned independent industry expert mentor
Join an industry association and attend events
Series of community activities: vox pops; invite locals to contribute to a community storybook; solicit locals to donate bicycles; deliver their work at a local community garden to the general public as part of the Art Bike Public Forum; conduct an individual public presentation
Complete an Internship Portfolio (documentation of work and reflection journal that documents, audits and reviews tasks, opportunities and skills)
The BCC Internship Team: Public Art Bike Social Issue Presentation and Forum. Sunday 13^th March 2016.

Takeaways:

There were many lessons learnt from this project and given time constraints, only a few are mentioned in the presentation. Some key takeaways were:

Provide transferable and unique opportunities to develop ‘generic employability’, critical reflection and creative problem-solving skills
Provide integrated, genuine and practical ways to apply skills
Celebrate strategies, ‘sticky points’, ‘misfires’ ‘pregnant opportunities’ and successes
Make tasks more challenging and higher profile
Participants loved having more contact with the local community
Adaptations are needed for aspects to be taken up by educational institutions
Work from the end result backwards (CV and skill development)
Have visible, productive and meaningful evidence (or body) of work
Foster ability to independently create own opportunities and networks
Honour unexpected outcomes
Change the mindset to change to experience

References:

ACCI/BCA (2002) Employability skills for the future, DEST, Canberra.

ACNielsen Research Services (2000) Employer satisfaction with graduate skills: research report, Evaluations and Investigations Programme Higher Education Division, Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA).

Billett, S. (2002). Workplace pedagogic practices: Participation and learning. Australian Vocational Education Review, 9(1), 28-38.

Griffith English Language Institute (GELI): Direct Entry Program. (n.d.) Retrieved from: https://www.griffith.edu.au/international/griffith-english-language-institute.

Judkins, R. (2015). The art of creative thinking. Hachette UK.

Lyons, M. (2006). National Prosperity, Local Choice and Civic Engagement: A New Partnership between Central and Local Government for the 21st Century. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.

McLennan, B., & Keating, S. (2008, June). Work-integrated learning (WIL) in Australian universities: The challenges of mainstreaming WIL. In ALTC NAGCAS National Symposium (pp. 2-14).

Vygotsky, L. (1987). Zone of proximal development. Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes, 5291, 157.

16/09/201812/08/2019

Reconciling research paradoxes: Justice in a post-truth world

This weekend, I’m at a 2-day HDR Research Conference collaboration between the University of Queensland and Griffith University. At this conference, we are discussing how to interrogate and reconcile research paradoxes where notions of justice, integrity and impact in an increasingly complex post-truth world. I’m presenting a session (see below) as well as being a Plenary Panelist.

Reconciling research paradoxes: Justice in a post-truth world

UQ & GU Postgraduate Research Community Conference

2018 has seen the ascendance of post-truth politics also known as post-factual and post-reality. Post-truth is opposed to the formal conventions of debate, the contestation of ideas and the falsifiability of theories and statements. In a post-truth era what reigns supreme are fallacies, talking points, leaked information, and so-called fake news fueled by unfettered social and traditional media, and a highly-polarised political spectrum. What are the implications of post-truth to educational research that values social justice, ethical integrity, the search for the good of the community as well as that of the individual? How will research and its tenets of validity, reliability and trustworthiness respond to the challenges brought upon by a post-truth world?

My presentation: The good Samaritan and little white lies: False news, transparency and project challenges of researching NGOs.

Keywords: INGOs, transparency, self-reporting, M & E mechanisms

Around the world, thousands of International non-government organisations (INGOs) provide much-needed support and aid to those in need. But in the eyes of the general public, perceptions of INGOs are mixed. Some perceive INGOs to be ‘good Samaritans’, while others question project motives and management. INGOs continue to face criticism in a number of key areas: project practices, corruption, hiring policies, salaries of top executives, distribution of donated funds and lack of transparency. For researchers who work with INGOs, this adds an additional layer of complexity to the research process and research relationships.

This session will explore how factors such as unsourced media reports, reliability of M & E mechanisms, use of grey literature and the legitimacy of self-reported outcomes has equally enriched and problematized the aid and INGO research space. Using key examples and my own INGO experience, I will reflect on ethical and methodological ‘white lies’ that can arise when researching with INGOs.

23/08/201824/08/2018

GCCRP Climate Change Symposium – Abstract

While participating in the Looping Masterclass earlier this year in July, Claire Tracey (my wonderful collaborator) suggested we put in an abstract for the GCCRP Climate Change Symposium.

Claire and I have produced a number of environmental/art performance projects over the years like The Wattle Festival ‘s Pop-Up ReCycle Shop (2013), Leki and the Ova (2014) and The Bio Bike: Your Future Thanks You (2018).

Recently, we have been workshopping our newest eco-performance idea.

It was our newest project’s conceptualization and development she thought would be an interesting addition to the GCCRP Climate Change Symposium program.

And of course – she was right!

So we put in an abstract and are presenting at the end of this week!

GCCRP Climate Change Symposium - Abstract. Bicycles Create — Claire and I working on our last eco-performance project ‘The Bio Bike’ for the national Sustainability Living Festival (Melbourne – Feb 2018).

Griffith Climate Change Response Program (GCCRP) Climate Change Symposium.

The GCCRP Climate Change Symposium is a research forum where HDRers and Early Career Researchers from Griffith University share their discoveries, outcomes and innovations.

It is on at Griffith Uni Southbank Friday 24 August 2018, 9 am – 4 pm

The symposium features a range of research presentations that showcase the cross-cutting nature of climate change research.

The five key research themes are:

Climate change impacts
Climate change and food security
Community engagement in climate change adaptation
Climate change policy and theory
Climate change and health

Our Symposium Abstract

Here is the abstract for the session Claire and I will be presenting:

Furthering climate change discourse and action through performative works

Presenters: Claire Tracey and Nina Ginsberg

Collaborators Claire Tracey (Visual Arts) and Nina Ginsberg (Education) use performance and audience engagement to communicate environmental issues. Through community art engagement, they aim to connect with local communities on an immediate level, furthering climate change discourse and action through performative works. Their work links Climate Change and Environment Science themes with performance, design and community- art interaction.

This research explores the intersection of climate change research and artistic interpretations of how to convey complex environmental issues to communities in a proactive and engaging manner. Their work seeks to increase community awareness about climate change issues in ways that are novel, participatory and educational. Their projects are informed by feedback from the engagement of the project itself, creating a direct relationship between the action and the sustainable and environmental issues that affect our immediate society.

The result of each performance interaction is offered with an open spirit- with the reception by the public to be determined in the moment as a collaborative process.

This session will outline a number of climate change projects we have undertaken to explain how theory and practice are enacted, using archetypes such as a feminine ecological shadow warrior, whose presence echoes of hope and perseverance derived from historical ideas of female protection, nurture, power and subversion.

About GCCRP

The Griffith Climate Change Response Program has been leading Griffith University’s research into climate change adaptation and mitigation since 2007.

GCCRP leads Griffith University’s research into climate change adaptation and mitigation.

As climate change issues cut across many fields of study its research projects are transdisciplinary. The program brings together the wealth of Griffith research expertise from across the University, enabling climate change problems to be addressed in a comprehensive manner.

GCCRP has successfully developed a number of strategic domestic, regional and international partnerships in the area of climate change adaptation and attracted significant external research funds.

The result is a growing portfolio of research and applied research projects where GCCRP works in collaboration with other research institutions, governments, international bodies, NGOs and communities to effectively understand, plan and respond to the adverse effects of a rapidly changing climate.

GCCRP now has a strong platform from which Griffith University’s research and expertise can influence the climate change policies, plans and actions required for effective adaptation and mitigation.

I’m excited to be part of this discussion!

I’ll let you know how Claire and I go!

27/07/201830/07/2018

Bernard’s exploration of bicycles = Twende Social Innovation Center

A big thanks to Papa Al for passing on this inspiring story to share! NG.

There can be few better examples of where bicycles create more positive community change than through the bicycle work of Bernard Kiawia.

Bernard Kiwia started out as a bike mechanic in his home country of Tanzania.

While repairing bicycles, he began applying his skills to use pedal power to create products and tools that directly improve to the lives of people in his community.

In 2011, Bernard made a bicycle-powered cellphone charger (see below).

Since then, he has continued to invent.

Now, Bernard is called “the father of rural innovation” in Tanzania.

Bernard is now a well-respected social entrepreneur – and bikes still feature prominently in many of his new inventions.

His current work is now focused on applying his (and other people’s) mechanical and technical skills towards addressing manual labour and technology issues in his area.

Bernard's exploration of bicycles = Twende Social Innovation Center. Bicycles Create Change.com 27th July 2018. — Source: GCS: Episode 2 – Bike-Powered Cellphone Charger – Bernard Kiwia (Screenshot)

Bernard says:

What we want to show people is they have skills to make their own technology that they can afford, they can repair, they can find the spare parts that they need

With local people, their income is always small and the kind of machines you can buy in the shop are not made for these local people because they’re expensive. That’s why I’m focusing on local.

I create technologies because I realise it’s something that can help my family and the community.

Twende – Accelerating Social Innovation

Bernard established Twende, which is a community inventor’s workshop. Twende is a creative workspace for people to come and use tools, problem solve ideas and experiment with making prototypes.

In this way, Twende functions similarly to a Men’s Shed, as it is an open workspace that has tools, resources and people there to support projects.

It also runs three workshop streams

1. Creative Capacity Workshop -entry-level workshops for any level.

Affordable Flashlight (~6 hours)
Automatic Switch (~7 hours)
Solar-Powered Phone Charger (~10 hours)

2. Built It Workshops – mechanically-focused workshops which include:

Spirit Stove (~3 hours)
Bottle Opener (~2 hours)
Electronics Workshop for secondary schools
A few of the Build Its Workshops are also integrated into some schools electronics curriculum.

3. Advanced Offerings – requires some advanced skills and tools (like welding)

Drip Irrigation
Bicycle-Powered Maize Sheller

So far, over 800 local innovators have used Twende, of which most are secondary school students, small-holder farmers, women, and microentrepreneurs.

Bicycles are ubiquitous and versatile (especially as a means to produce energy-efficient power) so it is not surprising that they feature in many of Twende’s inventions.

The Twende innovation hub was established as a space to “collaborate with students and community members in Tanzania to identify their challenges and design & create their own solutions to their problems will contribute to a world with improved access to technologies that improve people’s lives, a stronger local economy, and a nation of innovators and problem-solvers.”

Hence, Twede teaches people how to create technologies that:

address their own needs.
utilize locally available materials,
are inexpensive and affordable,
are able to be repaired locally.
are designed with (not just for) communities & partners
…and they make some of their own inventions for use and sale as well

Twende is such an important grassroots social venture.

It fosters creative ingenuity, recycling, upskilling, empowers local skills, is cost-effective and addresses locally-identified issues – as well as providing a welcoming space for people to test mechanical and technical ideas that have an immediate positive impact.

And all this grew out of one man’s exploration of how a bike could make work and life better – awesome!

BBC News 1 images inlucded are still from the BBC video: Bernard Kiwia: Tanzania’s bicycle mechanic turned inventor.

09/07/201801/09/2018

Introducing Nao: BCC’s Research Assistant

It is my pleasure to announce that Bicycles Create Change is breaking new ground!

I have many exciting plans for this blog and making these ideas into reality will take a concerted amount of effort, organisation, research, networking and resources.

As many of you know, it is a principle of Bicycles Create Change to collaborate with Griffith students and graduates to support and develop advanced personal, academic and professional skills.

These forays have been highly successful so far – such as:

The Bicycles Create Change Summer Internship (2016) which was an 8-week intensive program I designed and ran in conjunction with four wonderful international students – Gabriel, Sachie, Juliet and Mauricio. Not only did we have a challenging, wonderful and productive time, this program was also recognised by English Australia for its innovative approach to academic and professional skill development by being awarded the 2018 Bright Ideas Teaching Award.
Bella Turner (a Griffith Design (now) graduate) and I worked on a few projects together before she graduated and left for the UK, including the Go Ride app she and her team were working – and our collaboration to create the fun short film LEKI, which won the People’s Choice Award at the Brisbane Bicycle Short Film Festival 2018.

Introducing Nao -BCC's Research Assistant. Bicycles Create Change.com 9th July 2018 — Nao’s assignment: What is the current status of Australian female MTB participation?

Project: Australian women’s participation in mountain biking

Currently, I am working on a number of bike-related projects and initiatives.

One of these is a public lecture investigating the issues and aspects relating to Australian women’s participation in mountain biking.

This is a big research project.

To help with this project, I am delighted to introduce the newest member of the Bicycles Create Change team – Nao Kamakura.

Nao is joining us as a Research Assistant and will be responsible for the background work for this investigation.

Introducing Nao Kamakura

Below, is a little bit about Nao in her own words….

Hello Readers!

My name is Nao and I am from Japan.

I came to Brisbane to study English and study at Griffith University. I want to learn about Australian business culture. After my English studies and a semester at Griffith University, I am now a research assistant for Nina and Bicycles Create Change.

The focus of my research for Bicycles Create Change is investigating aspects of women’s participation and perceptions of mountain biking – with a particular focus on the Australian context.

I’m a Chemist and an Environmentalist.

I believe the past development of the field of Chemistry has unfortunately destroyed our Earth a lot, but further, that future chemical innovations will be able to create a better world!

Therefore, I would like to be a person who contributes to a future where Chemistry can facilitate a more sustainable world.

Here is a link to my website called Enjoy the World. This is where I sometimes write about my greatest hobby – travelling and Australian life. I will let you know now though, it is all written in Japanese!

The BCC Research Assistant role

Nao and I have worked together previously. She is a DEP graduate of my class and for the last 13 weeks, we have been working on a PhD writing course as well while she was completed a semester of Griffith Coursework. Now she is looking for a new challenge.

Nao brings a remarkable set of skills to BCC. She has a science background so has a particular analytical approach to work, which offsets my more global and creative approach to work. She is great at the detail, I work best with the big picture. She is also a thoughtful and proactive environmentalist.

As well as having excellent English skills, Nao is also incredibly well travelled. For the last 8 years, she has kept her own travel blog, which is an amazing record of all the places she has travelled, people she has met and wonderful insights she has garnered along the way.

For this BBC role, Nao ‘s has been charged with finding and collating data, reports and research about the participation, motivations and perceptions of why women either do – or do not- ride mountain bikes in Australia and then to synthesis this information.

You will be able to hear about Nao’s work as she will also be presenting her findings as part of an upcoming Bicycles Create Change Public Symposia I have planned – the details of which will be released very soon. Stay tuned!

01/07/201810/07/2018

The Afghani teacher who bicycles books to rural villages

Image: From Now This/The Daily Motion (video still) — Image: Global Giving

Education in rural Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, only 28% of the entire Afghan population 15 years and older is literate and poverty has risen from 36 to 39%.

In Afghanistan, many children do not go to school. Literacy and school are especially limited in the rural areas, where distance and a lack of access and resources mean that education is unrealistic for many families who live in villages where the closest school is 3 hours away.

Education is paramount to reducing poverty and increasing quality of life.

One local, Saber Hosseini is trying to rectify this.

Every weekend, Saber loads up his ‘bicycle library’ and travels to six surrounding rural villages to share his library so that the locals (who have no access to books) can learn to read and have an opportunity to read.

Saber is a schoolteacher in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan. Bamiyan is one of the poorest provinces in Afghanistan, which continues to be hamstrung by conflict, poverty and instability.

Adding to this, Afghanistan has a mountainous geography and vast tracks of barren land, which make travel to school impossible. Even if travel was possible, so many schools were destroyed and education was so severely restricted, that rural children from remote villages were forced to drop out.

The Afghani teacher who bicycles books to rural villages

Saber has been riding his bicycle library since 2016. Saber bought his first 200 books with fundraising support from his friends and local literary circles.

Saber had to travel to the Iranian border to buy most of the books as previously, most publications, literature and books were essentially forbidden.

Over the years, Saber has been supported by friends and local volunteers – as well as people overseas. Now his library has 3,500 books and Saber has since been able to open the first ever public library in Bamiyan.

Reports are that literacy rates in the area are rising as a direct result of Saber’s bicycle library.

At the start, the books were simple, but now, more advanced titles have been added as local reading rates have improved.

The library is now so accepted and popular within these communities, that adults are coming to use the library and are borrowing advanced level children’s books.

Saber uses the opportunity to talk to the locals about peace, avoiding drugs, and being more understanding of different people’s beliefs, lifestyles, culture and choices.

The following story about Saber is from the Global Citizen: One time, Saber spoke to children about guns, and used the slogan:

“Say no to guns, Say yes to books.”

The next time he returned to the same village, the children collected all of their toy guns and handed them over to Saber.

This was a heartwarming gesture, but the kids wanted to bargain: they would forfeit their guns if they could be the first village in the next round of book deliveries so that they could get the first pick.

Saber has brought joy to many communities, but there are costs to his endeavor. He has received many threats and many have opposed his caring works.

Even still, Saber continues to make room for the opportunity to learn. A library is more than just a pile of books, it is also a community of individuals willing to learn and discuss and grow

“When I hand the books out to them, I can see their excitement and joy,” Hosseini said. “It is the joy of being able to learn. I am also inspired.”

Below is a video about Saber’s bicycle library.

High Stakes: Girls’ Education in Afghanistan

Saber’s efforts are particularly important given that illiteracy is a major issue in rural Afghanistan.

A recent Joint NGO Briefing Report of Girls Education in Afghanistan entitled High Stakes: Girls’ Education in Afghanistan reports that female education has faced significant obstacles in Afghanistan, yet there have been enormous gains since 2001. Under the Taliban, the majority of girls’ schools were closed and gross enrollment fell from 32% to just 6.4%.

The report also states that:

Female students have high aspirations for their educational achievement.
Many schools do not have the infrastructure needed to provide a quality education.
Poverty was seen as the single biggest obstacle to girls’ access to education. Poverty as a major barrier to girls attending school.
Poverty is also linked to early or forced marriage, which is an additional major obstacle to girls’ education.
The number of available female teachers is insufficient to meet demand.
Availability of education is insufficient to meet demand.
Distance, along with attendance in mixed classes or interaction with male teachers, becomes increasingly problematic as girls approach adolescence, when cultural norms regulating their behaviour become more restrictive.
Decision-making around whether or not girls go to school, and for how long, is complex and extremely varied from province to province and even household to household.

The World Bank’s 2017 Poverty Status Update Report on the socioeconomic progress in Afghanistan, indicates that the last 15 years of growth in Afghanistan is now being undermined by a recent rise in insecurity.

Let’s hope Saber keeps riding his bike, sharing books and helping others – and that his commitment inspires others to do the same.

All Images: Now This/The Daily Motion (video still) unless otherwise indicated.