Initiatives, research and events where bicycles create positive social change
A big thanks to long time reader Betty for recommending this story. Much appreciated Betty! Ride On! NG. Previously, I posted on projects that support mass urban bike riding infrastructure, such as the automated ECOCycle bike storage facilities located at train stations in Japan (which has a retrieval time of 13 seconds!). Everyone knows the …
Continue reading “Utrecht train station: World’s largest bicycle park”
ICQI 2021: Collaborative Futures in Qualitative Inquiry ICQI…..you know….only the largest ……. and most respected qualitative research conference IN THE WORLD! … and with all the biggest names! My PhD supervisor said I should consider submitting an abstract for this conference. Doing so is a VERY BIG DEAL – this congress is the pinnacle in my …
This is the third and final in the series tracing a Sri Lankan community police bike patrol project. In the first post from Gita Sabharwa (2012) provided some background for this initiative. Then, Johann Rebert‘s 2017 article, noted that after a few years running, bicycle patrols increased the visibility and accessibility of police for community …
Continue reading “Part 3: Current & beyond. Sri Lanka community police bicycle program”
Over the last decade, there has been an influx in the use of bicycles in mainstream civil services. Some examples of these I have shared previously include: Bicycles in Prisons Bikes donated for volunteer bicycle emergency responders (EMS) Citizen bicyclists in disaster response Increasing returned veterans’ social connection with bicycles African Bicycle Ambulances Another project …
The creator of this bespoke, hand-made bike is Japanese student Enji. Enji is studying at the Tokyo College of Cycle Design ( I know ..right!! A whole school for studying bicycle design!!) and this working bike was his final graduating project. Enji wanted to restyling the old traditional handicraft of Kitsuregoshi (lattice work) into the …
Continue reading “A Japanese Handcrafted Kitsure(goshi) Bicycle”
Each state (and country) have their own road safety rules and laws. Regardless of what mode of travel you use, it is always good to check your knowledge and keep updated – for your own safety and for others. Heaven forbid someone challenges you doing something which you think is okay – only to find …
In this post, we look at how Meg Ulman, Patrick Jones, their two children (aged 11 and 2) and pet dog used an incredible 6,000km family bike tour up the east coast of Australia as a way of putting into action their ethical, environmental and social principles. This is the fifth and last instalment of …
Continue reading “Dissident Bicycles (Part 5): ’The Art of Free Travel’”
This is the fourth instalment of our August 5-part series written by Laura Fisher exploring how bicycles are used as a dissident object in contemporary art. The first looked at Ai Weiwei’s ‘Forever’, the second ‘Returnity’ by Elin Wikström and Anna Brag and the third was ‘Shedding Light’ from Tutti Arts Oz Asia Festival. Here …
Continue reading “Dissident Bicycles (Part 4): ’The Laboratory of Insurrectionary Imagination’”
In this post, we continue our August 5-part series written by Laura Fisher exploring how bicycles are used as a dissident object in contemporary art. The first post looked at Ai Weiwei’s most iconic bicycle-based artworks ‘Forever’ and the second detailed the ‘reversed engineered’ bike project ‘Returnity’ by German art duo Elin Wikström and Anna …
Continue reading “Dissident Bicycles (Part 3): Oz Asia Festival ‘Shedding Light’”
This August, we have a 5-part series written by Laura Fisher exploring how bicycles are used as a dissident object in contemporary art. The first post looked at the importance and impact of one of Ai Weiwei’s most iconic bicycle-based artworks ‘Forever’. In this second instalment, Laura looks at the refashioned (literally) ‘reversed engineered’ bike …
Continue reading “Dissident Bicycles (Part 2): Brag & Wikström’s ‘Retunity’”