Initiatives, research and events where bicycles create positive social change
I’m very excited as 2017 marks the 200th anniversary of the bicycle. Happy Year of the Bike! Bring on 2017! According to Chinese Astrology, we are leaving the Year of the Monkey (2016) and entering the Year of the (Fire) Rooster (starting Feb 2017 for Chinese New Year). If you are not sure what ‘Year of the ..’ you were …
I don’t often directly repost stories on this blog. As a luddite, I am also very wary of social media. But amongst the doom and gloom of news reports, husband found this gem of humanity. It is the story of a former refugee, Mevan Babakar, who was given a bike by a refugee camp aid …
Continue reading “Former refugee finds the man who gave her a bike more than 20 years ago”
The Bicycle Film Festival is an annual, curated film festival focused on sharing a range of new bike films. Each festival offering is unique, and the films included are selected from submission and the final collection are then toured internationally to sell out crowds. Brendt Barbur is the Founding Festival Director. He was inspired to …
This blog is dedicated to celebrating bicycles in their many forms. Art is a fundamental aspect of this passion, and I have shared numerous posts featuring artists who incorporate bikes in their work, such as: As someone who delights in discovering artists who use bikes in their creations, I was delighted to stumble upon an …
Continue reading “Artist Hilary Warren: Everyday bikes in Hoi An, Vietnam”
I went to Sierra Leone to do my bikes-for-education PhD fieldwork and got back in February 2020, 10 days before COVID ceased all international travel and pushed education online. It was a super hectic time for teachers, academics, students, parents and education administrators – which is why being awarded the Griffith Award for Excellence in …
Continue reading “Winner 2021 GAET Sessional Teacher of the Year”
As part of my bicycles-for-girls-education PhD, I am always on the look out for inspiring projects where bicycles create change. This week, I came across a join venture between CAMFED and The Clara Lionel Foundation from a few years ago. Enjoy! NG. CAMFED and The Clara Lionel Foundation delivered over 1,000 bicycles to girls and …
Continue reading “1, 000 bikes for girls’ education and young women’s leadership in Malawi”
Celebrating First Nations in MTB As regular readers know, I have been involved in a number of decolonial projects this year – including putting together the Cycle Shifting: Refiguring First Nations presences in Morton Bay Bikeway project. The annual Chicks in the Sticks event was coming up and I was registered. This year, I wanted …
Continue reading “Decolonise mountain biking. Art bike for a 3hr Enduro”
This week, I put in an EOI application for Kungullanji’s Summer Program. Regular readers of this blog know that I have been working with Griffith’s Indigenous Research Unit (IRU) and Kungullanji as an Academic Skills Advisor for the last 4 years. But this is the first time I have put in to be a project …
This month is Brisbane Festival month. So this week, I headed down to Metro Arts to check out a wholly bike-inspired, free art exhibition called The Mechanics of Adaptation. The exhibition was well laid out and had a variety of materials, forms, and mediums across two galleries. Each work was given sufficient space so viewers …
Continue reading “Showcasing The (bike) Mechanics of Adaption”
Recently, I had the opportunity to hear Matt Root, an avid bike rider and dad of two toddlers present a session called ‘Going Dutch, cargo bikes for kids’ – and it was really great! His presenation focused on what life on a biek and in the city is like from the point of view of …