You’ve Got to Move it, Move it! – Building Communities that Motivate People to Walk and Bike
Please join BC Alliance for Healthy Living and the Real Estate Foundation of BC (REFBC) on Thursday, June 23rd from 9:00-10:30 am for an exciting webinar on healthier built environments.
Communities that make it more convenient and comfortable for people to walk and bike to where they need to go – also make it easier for people to be healthier.
There are stacks of studies that back this up. Just last year, the My Health, My Community surveys found that Metro Vancouver residents who commuted by transit, bike or on foot were twice as likely to get the recommended levels of physical activity. Those that regularly walked or biked were also 48% more likely to be a healthy weight compared to those who commuted by car.
The relationship between active modes of travel and health is so strong that the World Health Organization has called investment in active transportation infrastructure a ‘best buy’ for governments.
So please join us on Thursday, June 23rd and let’s talk about how to build support for community planning that makes it easier for people to get around by bike and on foot!
We have three interesting speakers lined up:
Angus McAllister will delve into recent research done for the Real Estate Foundation of BC on public opinions and attitudes around sustainability and the built environment. He’ll give us a sense of how these issues and what language resonates with British Columbians across the province, in urban centres, suburbs and small towns.
Dr Kay Teschke will explain what her research says about different kinds of bike facilities – including which ones are safer and which ones motivate more people to start bicycling.
Janet Rerecich will walk us through some of the online resources and tools that were developed through BCRPA’s BEAT project (Built Environment and Active Transportation). She’ll show us how small communities have used the BEAT tools to build support and plans for active transportation and leveraged funding to get facilities built.
Speaker Profiles:
Angus McAllister is the founder and principal of McAllister Opinion Research. McAllister specializes in the areas of market intelligence, public policy and communications and takes a particular interest in sustainability and environmental issues. Prior to founding the firm in Vancouver in 2001, Angus served as Vice President, Global Research with Angus Reid, and prior to that was Vice President with Environics International (GlobeScan) in Toronto.
Dr. Kay Teschke is a Professor in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia. She initiated the Cycling in Cities program of research in 2004. It investigates factors that encourage or discourage bicycling and transportation infrastructure associated with increased or decreased risks of cycling injuries. She received her academic training in environmental health at the University of California (Berkeley, MPH) and the University of Washington (Seattle, PhD) and has over 200 publications.
Janet Rerecich, MEd is the Professional Development and Initiatives Manager for the BC Recreation and Parks Association. She has worked in the recreation and health promotion sector for over 15 years and is an avid commuter cyclist.
The Real Estate Foundation is a philanthropic organization that helps advance sustainable land use in British Columbia in two ways: by providing grants to non-profit organizations and by conducting research and special projects. In 2015, REFBC began a multi-phase study on the state of built environment sustainability in BC. The project included preliminary research, a public opinion poll and consultation with leaders, planners and experts.
