This is an ongoing initiative that gives an
individual or organisation the opportunity to control the Cycling Brisbane
(@cyclingbrisbane) Instagram account for 7 days.
This is a great way to showcase community
members and local biking groups various interests, perspectives and personalities.
The idea is that participants share their views
of what riding in Brisbane means to them.
This account has guest host takeovers by an impressive range of Brisbane cycling and biking enthusiasts including Colony (BMX), Queensland Police, specific-type-of-bike fanatic/s, school groups, racers, families, local businesses, MTB clubs and more!
Similarly to this blog, my takeover key themes are inclusion, participation and diversity for a range of ages and stages of the community and for all types of cycling.
Ongoing motifs will also be dogs, local personalities, riding for enjoyment, having fun, sustainability/recycling, getting out in nature and showing off my local bayside surrounds.
And of course, lots of photos of Leki my
flowerbike!
To do a @cyclingbrisbane takeover, you can
either contact the organizers (at the link in the IG bio) or you are directly approached
through the local cycling network or because someone knows/recommends you.
From there it straightforward. After you receive the terms and conditions and fill out the consent, then you receive the account login and dates of the takeover
I was contacted directly by the organizers who I
know through various local biking events.
During the takeover, you need to upload between
1- 4 images per day to the @cyclingbrisbane Instagram account.
The idea is that images should be inspiring,
visually appealing and most importantly representative of the great cycling
options around Brisbane.
Content should
align with Cycling Brisbane’s core themes of commuting, connectivity,
discovering Brisbane by bike or active and healthy lifestyles.
You can only upload images and/or videos and
they have to be your own original work.
Uploads need to include the hashtag #cyclingbne
Of course, all content uploaded needs to model responsible
cycling practices. So, you need to obey road rules, wear a helmet and not use a
mobile phone while riding a bike. That’s why there are no selfies of people riding their bikes.
This is a great initiative and one that other organizations might consider doing to increase engagement, exposure and diversity in their social media platforms.
It also makes it much more interesting for those
who follow the account because each week you are getting these insights into the
vastly different people, places and biking lifeworlds that make up our Brisbane
bicycle/cycling community.
It is my favourite month of the year for many reasons.
It is the best time of the year where I live in Brisbane, the weather is terrific and my garden is flourishing. It is early spring, so it means long warm days perfect for getting out being out riding!
Another great reason is that it is Inktober time again!
Every October, artists all over the world take on the Inktober challenge to produce a piece of work each day for the entire month.
Inktober was first created by artist Jake Parker in 2009. He set it as a challenge to improve his inking skills and develop positive drawing habits. It has since caught on and other creatives now use Inktober as a stimulus to get inspired and get productive: drawers, painters, visual artists, designers, writers, poets, illustrators and more. It has grown into a worldwide event that has thousands of artists taking the challenge every year.
Each year, Jake sets a one-word prompt for each day in the month. This is used to produce a piece of work for each day for 31 days. Many people upload their work online using the official #Inktober or some similiar hashtag/reference to Inktober. Check it out if you’d like to see the range of the work that gets produced.
Of course, being bicycle-obsessed, I am always most interested in the artwork that features bicycles. I love how many artist work bikes into their designs.
So, to get us off to a great start this month, here’s a look at some of the 2019 bicycle-inspired Inktober productions.
First of all, it was Father’s Day in Australia and the weather in Brisbane this time of year is absolutely stunning.
This meant everyone was out and about.
There were two annual kick-ass Brisbane bike events to get this month off to a brilliant start: The Big Push and The Kurilpa Derby.
So much fun to be had on two wheels!
Image: Brisbane Bicycle Explorers
The Big Push
The Big Push is an annual slow roll around Brisbane CBD. It is hosted by Space4Cycling Brisbane and is held during QLD’s Road Safety Week. The aim was to bring the cycling community together and to call on the Brisbane City Council and the Queensland Government to improve riding conditions. At the top of community riding needs are three things: build more protected bike lanes, connect networks, and slower speeds in suburban streets. This is so riding in Brisbane will be safer, more comfortable and more convenient for people of all ages and abilities.
On the day, Leki and I headed down to Kurilpa Park to join a whole lot of other riders. It was an excellent turnout. I’d love to know how many people actually attended – it felt like a lot.
We did a slow roll around Brisbane on a designated route. Leki was in fine form and everyone was in a good mood. After a safety talk and a few speeches, we were off. As we rode, we chatted amongst ourselves, made new friends and waved to passer-bys.
I was very impressed with how many under 10-year olds rode the whole way with their parents. I also loved the dogs in trailers and baskets – nothing says bike safety like two pugs in a tandem bike trailer!
There were quite a few people around the city and the mass of red shirts on bikes drew a lot of attention. We also had a police escort and were waved through some traffic lights, but had to stop at others.
At specific points along the route, we all stopped so the whole group could re-form. I really liked these stops. It was great fun getting to a point and riding into the ever expanding swirling circle. It was cool watching the vortex grow in mass as more riders filtered into the loop.
Bells were ringing, speakers played happy tunes, people were laughing – a joyous mass of people on bikes!
At Parliament House we all stopped for a group photo.
Another great Big Push!
Then it was time to head over to Kurilpa Derby for the afternoon.
Image: Space4Cycling (BNE)
Image: @Spaces4Cycling BNE
The Kurilpa Derby
The Kurilpa Derby is an annual community celebration of life on wheels and happens once a year in West End (Brisbane, Australia).
The Kurilpa Derby began as an expression of community celebration and inclusivity.
Each year there is a parade (bicycles are central to this) and novelty races run at the heart of Boundary St, West End (Brisbane, Queensland). The whole street is closed off and the locals take over. This event was first run in 2007. So this year is the Derby’s 12th anniversary.
The Derby is a community event owned and organised by the @WestEndCommunityAssociation. WECA is the residents not-for-profit community based, member-led association.
The Kurilpa Derby officially started at 2pm, but locals and visitors were already out in force well before that.
There is so much to do at the Derby. The locals block off the main street and take it over. One of the main events is a massive street parade.
The Kurilpa Derby parade goes down Boundary Street (from the Dornoch Terrace Bridge to the intersection of Boundary Street and Jane Street. The street is lined with hundreds of appreciative visitors cheering the parade on.
It is an incredible showcase of the range of skills, creativity, spirit and dreams of those who enter – it truly is a spectacle to behold!
Image: @West End Community
There were parade bicycles representing lots of different perspectives such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, community and music groups, environmental issues like the ocean, plastic, global warming, representations of animals, birds, reptiles and insects, school groups, and heaps of others!
And the bikes! Tall bikes, penny-farthings, home-made bikes, tandems, trailers, trikes and more!
Bikes are a central feature of the street parade – and the colour, thought and effort put into the floats is phenomenal.
After the main street parade, there are heaps of sports and skill demonstrations, fun games and races – some novelty (like the go-cart and kids running races), some more serious (like the scooter races).
Local shops, bars and cafes are packed to capacity and there is music, dancing, eating and laughing emanating from everywhere.
I love the energy and community of The Kuripla Derby – so many kids, families, friends, locals and visitors coming together to celebrate the diversity and vibrancy of this beautiful local community. What an event!
It was a busy, fun-filled, community-centred, bicycle-related day – Phew!
The other day I was riding my bike along the foreshore. It was a busy day, with cyclists, pedestrians and families all out enjoying the sunshine. It made me happy and I thought how nice it would be to interact more with the environment and people around me.
It reminded me of theBow Bells Ring project by artist Colin Priest, which was an installation commissioned as part of the 2011 London Olympics.
It perfectly captures everything this blog holds near and dear. So for those who have not heard of this project before – here is ye olde favorite community bike project gem. Enjoy!
What is Bow Bells Ring?
The idea is simple. UK artist Colin Priest collected 100 bicycle bells of all kind of sizes, shapes and loudness and installed them strategically along well-used public paths.
Each bell was attached to a small wooden stick and had its number and a little blurb detailing the project.
Then, each bell was installed at critical experimental points along a public route linking the Greenway, Capital Ring towpath and Stratford High Street. Visitors could download an app to get a tour map of all the bell locations.
Cyclists, pedestrians and locals could ring the bells and interact with the project however they liked. Priest found that some of the bells were modified by passers-bys (de/increasing loudness).
This project not focuses on bicycles and active transportation, but also uses recycling and low-tech approaches. It is innovative and encourages community engagement and an appreciation for the local environment.
What more could you want in a community bike art installation?!
The aim was to highlight safety and interactivity, promote use of local public spaces, increase awareness for biking and community interaction, and to bring some happy cheer to the area.
The installation followed the main bikeways through some gorgeous parklands, along a river and through the urban green spaces. The bells were also thoughtfully situated in order to reflect the environments, the surrounding locals who live there and to encourage a little more participation as people moved through the social and environmental surrounds.
Below is a video of Colin Priest explaining his project.
Bow Bells Ring Map
This project was commissioned by View Tube Art, as part of Bicycle Wheel for the CREATE11 Festival. Bow Bells was funded by the Arts Council England.
This idea would be a lovely addition to any bicycle pathway.
I’d like to see more interactive bicycle-inspired community art installations like this.
Here’s to hoping!
All images are stills taken from the two View Tube videos included in the blog.
Alexander Csoma de Koros was a Hungarian traveller/explorer who traveled to Tibet in 1820 where he learnt the language and culture.
Csoma ended up being a cross-cultural pioneer for both countries and forged a long-standing language, cultural and learning exchange between the two nations which still endures today.
To commemorate Csoma’s spirit of cultural support and exchange, Hungarian conceptual tech lab Kitchen Budapest has created a low-tech kinetic image projector called Csoma’s Wheel.
Csoma’s Wheel is a bicycle-based installation that uses traditional Tibetan prayer wheel design as the base structure to create an electronic art/image projector.
The LED flashing prayer-wheel is made from
two bicycle wheels, bike and other parts, LEDs and a concrete block. When the
wheel is rotated by hand, the spinning generates enough electricity to power a
strip of LEDs that shine light through a perforated screen or drum. From these
LEDs, a basic animated image is projected onto the concrete block.
The homes and schools are all completely solar-powered.
This NGO uses sustainable local materials
(adobe bricks), revives and utilises traditional construction and handicraft skills,
supports local economic and labour/skill (income-generating) opportunities,
builds more schools and homes and provides solar power.
In
keeping with Alexander’s spirit, there is a strong emphasis on promoting local
heritage and using local Zanglar skills, practices and materials to reduce
reliance on high tech, resource-dependant, imported materials.
The bicycle prayer-wheel projector was installed to complement the recent completion of major construction to Csoma’s Sanctuary, which is visited by many international visitors each year.
This is certainly one of the more unique and innovative ways to use bicycles!
This year I’ve giving my top 5 presents for cyclists who don’t want/need any more bike gear – and are open to something a little different (as long as it’s bikey!).
1. Anything by Anthony Oram
Anthony Oram is a UK designer/creative who rides bikes. As such, his website has an impressive great range of limited edition bicycle-themed art, prints, frames, notebooks, bags, t-shirts and heaps of other products. Anthony’s motto ‘build bikes, not bombs’ is understandably in high demand. All designs are Anthony’s so you can guarantee these products are unique. He is based in the UK, but ships worldwide.
Personally, I really dig his notebooks. Classy, functional, creative and quintessentially bikey – a perfect Christmas gift!
More professional designers creating bicycle products like this please!
Image: Anthony Oram
2. Bike Planters and Bike Vases
1. Bike Vase
3D Mood is a German design group- Bicycle vase. Pimp your bike with this beautiful mini bike vase. Simple clamping with an elastic. Vase is made with a 3d printer with PLA plastic. This plastic strain is made from biodegradable vegetable raw materials (corn starch or sugarcane), and is therefore promoted as a sustainable alternative to traditional plastics from petroleum chemicals.
Image: Etsy – 3D Mood
2. Colleen Jordan
According to Fast Company, the Atlanta-based designer Colleen Jordan got the idea for the planters from the flower pots in the new generation of Volkswagen Beetles. “Putting a plant in a car like that seemed to be contradictory,” she tells Co.Design. “A lot of cyclists seem to be plant lovers as well, so the combination just seemed right in my mind.” So she began offering made-to-order 3-D printed vessels that attach to a bike frame with an elastic cord. Jordan recommends using a clipping from a succulent or a large air plant. Since they’re made from polyamide, a porous material, excess water drains out of the bottom.
Image: Etsy – Colleen Jordan
3. Icosahedron Bike Planter – Wearable Planter
Another design in the Wearable Planter series is the Icosahedron Bike Planter, whose website promotes as a wearable planter for your bike. It is great with air plants and small succulents, which you can show off as you ride around town and make your green transportation even greener. The form uses modelling software and 3D printing.
The dye comes in bright colours and seals the final piece. A strong elastic cord attaches it to your bike. When you purchase the planter, it does not come with plants, but it does provide advice on which plants work best and how to plant.
Image: Wearable Planter
3. The Ivy Bike Lock by Sono Mochie
I don’t know how secure this lock is – and after having our most beloved fixi, Milky Joe (we still miss you!) stolen in Melbourne while locked up to Leki (who was left ???!!!), I have very little faith in any other lock outside of an Abus Granit 1000 cable lock, which is the only lock I now use for any bike other than Leki these days (you just can’t go wrong with German security company!).
That being said, if you don’t need/want an industrial style lock, then this lock might fit the bill.
Sonon Mochie is quoted as saying: “why does our bicycle need to be connected to light poles by chains like a criminal in prison? Inspired by nature, the design of this cable wire lock is a mimicry of ivy. It is unified in our daily scene and promotes protection of the environment. It is soft and feels natural. ‘ivy’ is a plug to awaken the relationship between you and society.”
The Ivy Bike Lock was a shortlisted design in the 2010 Seoul Cycle Design competition (organized by Designboom in collaboration with Seoul Design Foundation).
Image: Sono Mochie
4. A Bicycle Week Calendar
This fun gift is a chalkboard bicycle wheel week calendar/list that spins.
If your house likes baking and/or has one (or more hungry cyclists), then check out these kooky bicycle cookie cutters. I can definitely see these at office parties, children’s parties, work Christmas parties and your next cycling race event!
Artist Studio. Creative Workshop. Innovation Space. Art & Design Workroom. Conceptual Atelier.
Call
it what you will.
Having
a designated space to produce original creative work is a blessing.
Most artists I know have some kind of space to produce work, leave out their tools, percolate ideas and have room to let their creative juices flow.
Very
few people who are not full-time artists (with the exception of retirees and empty-nesters)
are lucky to have such a space.
Personally,
I’ve never had such a space.
Until recently….
This year I have been working hard juggling teaching, PhDing and a range of other projects. I like to have one creative project on the go to help keep me balanced.
One of my ongoing side projects has been making custom-made recycled bottle cap medallions made only of recycled materials.
Regular readers of this blog will be familiar with them.
I make them out of bottle caps filled with predominately bicycle inner tubes and bike parts, but also miscellaneous materials, discarded paper, buttons, board game pieces, broken jewellery and any other manner of opp-shop or scrap bits-and-bobs.
I love how meditative the process is. I often will set aside a few hours, pull out all my gear, have a beer, put on some good music and settle in for a crafternoon session.
I’ve been making these medallions for nearly two years now and have quite a collection.
When I make them, I sometimes set up a ‘crafternoon’ workstation out the front of my house under the carport. I love working outside and the neighbors often drop in to say hi and see what designs I’m working on that day.
Invariably they’ll leave with a medallion that takes their fancy.
It still
makes me smile when I see my recycled bicycle medallions on hats, coats and
bags being worn around my community.
There’s a running joke around our streets that the locals are ‘supporting the arts’ by drinking beer and giving me the caps. Hilarious!
I often come home to find small bags of bottle caps in my letterbox or on the front steps. Gold.
Thank you to The Sunshine Family
But one
particular family have gone above and beyond.
Four months ago, a family (who I’ll call The Sunshine Family because they asked to remain anonymous, but you know who you are!) offered me the use of their double-fronted shed as a designated art workshop until the end of the year.
Oh joy!
What an
offer!
Hells yeah!
It is a massive, clean space and had everything I might ever need.
Having this studio meant I could have all my gear set out and ready to go.
I got so many more medallions done when I was in there.
Talk about productive!
Whenever I had
the time, I’d get in there and easily smash out 50 medallions at a time.
One of the best (and most unique) features of this space is the double-fronted garage doors rolled up to look out on the private backyard.
So when all the local musos came over for the weekly jam session, I had a primo position to enjoy the tunes, banter and company!
Best studio
ever!
But now it is the end of the year, so its time pack up my materials and return the shed.
This post is to say thank you to the Sunshines.
Thank you for letting me use the space so I know what it feels like to have a designated creative workspace, for the wonderful offer, for good company, for trusting me, for ‘supporting the arts’ and for giving me my first-ever studio space! I will treasure your thoughtfulness and generosity always.
To The Sunshine Family, a massive big, heart-felt THANK YOU!
In keeping with the spirit of my recent Vipassana experience, this post introduces the wonderful world of bicycle mandalas. Enjoy! NG.
Image: Yogawisdomforeveryday.com
Mandalas are beautiful Buddhist spiritual representations of the metaphysical universe.
At their core, mandalas are meditation aids.
The most famous mandalas would have to be the large-scale Tibetan Buddhist sand mandalas. These intricate and complex mandalas take a team of monks days, or weeks, or more, to create and require constant concentration and care to complete.
But in order to be a mandala, it needs to include some specific design features.
Mandalas have a balanced, repeated geometric design, a consistent colour palette and traditionally include a radial composition.
For many, circular bicycle wheels provide the perfect mandala frame. This is why they are so often in bike art when creating mandalas, dream catchers and other decorations.
The material and techniques used in these mandalas can vary. 2D mandalas use either hand-drawn or computer-assisted graphics, saving time, money and materials, but this approach often requires a certain amount of artistic or technical proficiency.
For 3D mandalas, fabric, cloth and textiles are big favourites, as are glass and mixed- media for the more adventurous.
Colours and designs vary widely and are only limited by the creators imagination, bravery and skill.
Remy Jouve’s bicycle tyre mandala
I got interested in bicycle mandalas after seeing Rémy Jouve’s amazing hand carved bicycle tyre mandala (below) which was sent to me by Claire Tracey.
Skill, patience, thoughtfulness and a whole lotta love!
Epic.
Image: Rémy Jouve
Image: Rémy Jouve
Other Bicycle Mandalas
Then I found a whole heap of them!
Here is a sample of the various hand-make bicycle mandalas.
Watercolour.
Image: Mariah Liisa
Ink Drawing.
Image: Kara-Adelle Lawrence
Knitted/Macrame (there are heaps of these online).
Image: Pinterest (no attribution)
And a few mixed media.
Image: nwaonline.com
Image: Pinterest (no attribution)
And some digitally assisted bicycle mandalas.
Image: Mountain2Mountain
Image: Dark Cycle Clothing
Image: Brightlight Mandalas
Regardless of the material or medium used, bicycle mandalas are unique, creative, quirky and fun.
They are a great way cyclists can support artists as well as showing their love for all things two-wheeled.
Keep your eyes open for your favourite bicycle mandala.
Post-Sydney conference has been busy with the final teaching week of Trimester 2 which means saying good-bye to classes and completing final assessment marking (*PHEW!*). On the PhD front, I’ve been working on my Ethics Application and putting together a Continuing Scholarship application to go full-time starting next year. During research, I found the below article about Nigerian bicycle decoration in a journal called Africa Arts. It is a blast from the past (1999), but I was delighted to see art bikes being featured in research literature. It gave me hope for academia …and a few ideas for a possible journal article! Below are a few of the more interesting creative highlights from the article. Enjoy! NG.
Source: Renne & Usman (1999).
This week I was stoked to find this article:
Renne, E., & Usman, D. (1999). Bicycle Decoration and Everyday Aesthetics in Northern Nigeria. African Arts,32(2), 46-92. doi: 10.2307/3337602.
This article starts with a discussion about “the dichotomy perceived to exist between objects considered to be every-day items and those considered to be traditional artworks is artificial in the Northern Nigerian context” (p. 46) and was written to probe the “continuity between the refined and intensified forms of experience that are works of art and the everyday events, doings, and sufferings” (Dewey 1934 p. 3).
Ultimately, the aim of this paper is to explore how the decoration of bicycles and the display of other everyday things in Northern Nigeria reflect an aesthetic process whereby the artist’s technical mastery of materials and creative innovation evokes a pleasurable response in the viewer.
Source: Renne & Usman (1999).
Bicycle Decoration in Northern Nigeria
Essentially, there are two main ways locals Zaria and Jos (Northern Nigeria) decorate their bike:
1. Traditional decoration (has 3 steps)
Step 1: Cloth or paper is used to cover the frame of the bike. Cloth is more expensive, but is washable.
Step 2: The frame is then painted usually in two contrasting colours.
Step 3: Decorative accessories are used for embellishments. These include handlebar tassels, mudguard decorations, fringed seat covers and pedals, plastic flowers and stickers.
2. Stickers only (new style)
Increasingly, coloured and metallic stickers are being used to completely cover the bike. The advantage here is that Day-Glo stickers can be incorporated into the design for increased night riding safety.
It should be noted that when the authors talk about ‘stickers’, they are referring mainly to sticky tape and vinyl/plastic type adhesive stickers (see picture below). The colours and designs of the stickers strongly reflect the local cultural aesthetic – which is best seen incorporated into the local architecture.
Given that this article was published in 1999, there was little access and variety to what we know as ‘stickers’ today. Even so, the idea of covering a bike in stickers still works, especially considering sticker today express messages individually, as well as en masse. So great thought could be applied to the placement, arrangement, colour and the overall message that the owner wants to convey if they were using today’s vast array of sticker types.
Source: Renne & Usman (1999).
Creative take-aways
I found this study interesting as it was focused on the skill of art and craft as a specific cultural signifier – whilst equally emphasising the everyday practicality of bicycles (used as tools, objects and transportation) as being something that is both beautify and functional.
There were a few design, aesthetics and creative approaches to embellishing objects (such as bikes) that were particularly interesting, for example, the concepts of:
conveying a feeling of balance, but not necessarily symmetry
creating a sense of balance amidst uncertainly
fusing material and ideas through technical aptitude
Gell’s (1992) observation that “the awe inspired by the unimaginable technological transformation of materials is akin to being charmed or enchantment” – suggesting an almost magical, anthropomorphic quality to the bicycle designs
that unity in design is temporary
Bamana carver-sculptor have a spirit-mentor to guide their practice and need to show technical aptitude as well as visual imagination to be successful
I also love the idea that bike artists can pursue an ‘aesthetic impulse’ and in decorating a bike there are opportunities for ‘resistance’, such as “striving for discontinuity and disorder”, “novelty in action” and expressing a “greater range and depth of insight and increase poignancy in feeling”.
Source: Renne & Usman (1999).
A bit of cultural context
In Northern Nigeria where this study took place, bicycles are ubiquitous.
They are commonly are associated with long-distance trading and with ritual practices that express certain social (brides ride the handlebars of their grooms bicycles to go to their husband’s houses), psychological (unsafe riding in rural villages suggests mental health issues) and/or literary (bicycles feature in well-known poetry) and political (bicycles were used in a range of political demonstrations) in states.
In the local language, the term kaya is described as an “invaluable word [that] can be used to mean almost anything”, although it may be loosely translated as”load” or as objects related to a certain activity. Thus, just as kayan doki refers to articles associated with horses (doki), kayan keke refers to decorative things associated with bicycles (keke). In the past bicycles have been referred to as dokin k’arfe – or ‘horse of iron’ – which I think it quite apt!
Source: Renne & Usman (1999).
Renne, E., & Usman, D. (1999). Bicycle Decoration and Everyday Aesthetics in Northern Nigeria. African Arts,32(2), 46-92. doi: 10.2307/3337602.
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 28th. 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 13th 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.
