YOUTH INFLUENCING BIKE POLICY CHANGE IN BOGOTA

BY Laura Daniela Gomez FROM COLOMBIA

Through the project, Despacio, led by Daniela, will strengthen the capacities of members of the Local Bicycle Board Members (Consejeros Locales de la Bicicleta, hereafter bicycle representatives) and provide them with tools to advocate for better bicycle policies to decision-makers.

The project aims to develop road safety, gender, and mobility capacity building workshops for bicycle representatives, implementing symbolic interventions (tactical urbanism or mural painting interventions) and providing support for the formulation of a specific request to decision makers.

Its goal is to make visible the voice and relevance of the youth in the decision making process around the improvement for the bicycle use in Bogotá between April and November 2021.

ABOUT THE PROJECT LEAD

Daniela is from Bogotá, Colombia. She has a degree in Political Science and is currently starting her post graduate studies on Public Management.

She works as a Project Manager in Despacio, promoting safer and more sustainable mobility. She is also a member of the Local and City Bicycle Board. “What inspires me to promote change is a strong belief that there are no small actions, so all you can contribute to improve a certain situation is worth it.”

PROJECT UPDATES

Young bicycle representatives in Bogota implement activities to promote the bicycle use

Throughout the month of June, Daniela and her team encouraged bicycle board members to make teams and implement an activity in their territories in order to participate in an "internal competition". The best action would win a monetary prize to keep implementing other bicycle related activities with their community.

Local actions winner initiates bicycle competition in Bogota, Colombia

Local Actions winner Laura Daniela Gomez along with her team from Despacio created an internal competition among local bicycle representatives where they were tasked to create and implement an activity focused on cycling within their areas. The winner received an incentive to grow the project so that members of the community are able to benefit from it. 

Project on youth influencing bike policy in Bogota completed

Laura Daniela Gomez and her team from Despacio have completed their local action project. The last phase of the project featured three key activities; the launch of an online campaign raising awareness on bicycle policy change, creating a mural as a tactical urbanism intervention, and the launch of a virtual petition that shows public support for bicycle representatives in the area.

organization behind the action

Despacio is a research center based in Bogotá. Its main objective is to promote quality of life in cities through applied research that challenges intuition. Despacio centers its work on three issues: city, life, and climate. The team is composed of senior and junior professionals with ample experience in road safety, sustainable mobility, city planning and gender & transport.