“Todas en bici” – Connecting cycling activism with social justice struggles
“Todas en bici” is a project led by aquí, in response to ACCTING’s call for pilots Wheels for Justice – Connecting cycling activism with social justice struggles. This call aims to connect cycling activism with social justice struggles through identifying innovative approaches to expand the reach and impact of cycling, making it more accessible and inclusive. The objective is to celebrate and share successful initiatives in inclusive cycling, while also advocating for actions to address the obstacles encountered during this process.
aquí is a social innovation collective based in Barcelona, Spain. The organisation facilitates participatory processes and contributes to weaving networks of solidarity. In this project, aquí is collaborating with a network of neighbourhood collectives and activist movements fighting for a more inclusive, sustainable, liveable and healthy city.
Activities will target three diverse peripheral districts of Barcelona (Sants-Montjuïc, Sant Martí, Horta-Guinardo), each presenting unique socio-economic, environmental and cultural characteristics.
Objectives
The project aims to:
- increase the uptake of cycling (to reach Barcelona’s 5% mode share goal in 2024);
- bolster the diversity of bicycle users from a gender+ perspective;
- connect the practice of cycling with climate activism and social justice struggles (e.g. the right to the city, intersectional feminism, safe streets for all).
Activities
The project will focus on:
- putting local cycling and social justice groups in contact to pursue inclusive active mobility;
- disseminating existing efforts, making them visible while at the same time inspiring other initiatives to join efforts and organise activities and events together;
- identifying and discussing national-level and local-level specific obstacles to inclusivity in and through cycling;
- promoting advocacy actions at the local or regional level to address the identified problems.
Expected impact
The project will generate three tangible outputs:
– A printed booklet compiling better stories and best practices (both local and international)
of social justice and climate action through cycling, to be distributed in community events;
– An open-source policy tool on overcoming gender-biased obstacles to cycling, specifically targeted towards policy-makers;
– After the end of the project, a research publication in an academic journal and/or a relevant
conference which will reflect upon the impacts and findings from the pilot project.