Getting Started
Most community projects get their start because someone wanted a change.
They want AT to be safer, more accessible, and more prominent in their community and they are willing to champion AT. Interest in the issue may be generated by citizens, municipal staff, business members, or municipal councilors. For example, in the Town of Bridgewater, Eric Shaw, the Director of Planning, and Bill McInnis, a member of Town Council, were pivotal in creating momentum for AT. In Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Velo Cape Breton, the island-wide bicycle association, was a driving force behind CBRM’s AT Plan.
The following are tried and true strategies used throughout Nova Scotia.
Get Ready to Talk AT
Do some research.
In order to be an AT champion, you need first-hand experience using your own energy to get around. Start by walking to work, to a friend’s house, or to the local corner store. Notice what makes you feel comfortable and safe while walking and biking, as well as what makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe. If possible, borrow a wheelchair or baby stroller and attempt to navigate your community. Notice the barriers to getting around, and how conditions change with the seasons.
In addition to experiencing AT firsthand, draw on available tools and resources to educate yourself. Get informed and inspire yourself with ideas. What are other municipalities across Nova Scotia doing? What is happening in other provinces? What about overseas? This will give you the knowledge and the background needed to educate others and advocate for change.
Build Your Team of Allies
A team of people working to promote AT will achieve more than one individual, no matter how enthusiastic that person is. It’s important to identify and contact potential allies to initiate conversations about AT in your municipality.
Your team of allies can include:
People who walk, bike, or use other forms of AT to get around
Individuals who participate in AT for recreation (e.g., belong to recreational cycling or running clubs)
Members of trail groups or other outdoor clubs
Public health professionals
Municipal physical activity coordinators
Recreation and planning staff
Members of local non-governmental environmental organizations
Enforcement officers
Local business owners who support AT
Need a few more participants? Try asking your colleagues and friends for their help. Most people have a vast network and everyone loves to feel needed. Enlarge your own circle by picking the brains of your contacts. Who do they know that may be interested in growing AT?
Another option is to hold a public meeting or event where you talk about your vision. Ask people who are interested to leave their names and contact information if they would like to help promote AT in your community. Don’t forget about local schools, regional non-governmental organizations, and chambers of commerce or business improvement associations. All would have comprehensive networks to tap into.
Identify your champions.
Among your collection of allies, there will be those who are extra keen. These are your AT champions. They want AT to be safer, more accessible, and more prominent in their community and they are willing to champion AT initiatives. Identify these individuals early on and give them leadership positions where they can show their natural initiative.
Start a Committee
Creating an AT Committee is key to generating enthusiasm and commitment, and is often a precursor to developing a municipal AT Plan. It is important to include a range of stakeholders on the committee:
Municipal councilors
Municipal staff, including physical activity coordinators and recreation, traffic, and planning staff
Public health professionals
Police officers
Representatives of walking, biking, running, skateboarding, and trail groups
Members of not-for-profit environmental organizations
Local business owners
Members of the local chamber of commerce
Regional economic development representatives
Local tourism office staff
Parents of children and youth attending local schools
Youth, seniors, and persons with disabilities
Tips when forming an AT Committee:
Consider what already exists
Does your municipality already have a committee to promote physical activity? If so, it could become the AT Committee.
For example: in Guysborough and Antigonish, the AT Committee is a subgroup of the larger Guysborough/ Antigonish Active Living Network.
Be inclusive in the recruitment process
As you recruit members, ensure that your AT Committee represents diverse ages, abilities, backgrounds, and income levels in your community. It is important that youth, seniors, and persons with physical disabilities are represented, as well as the different geographic areas of your municipality. A Committee that represents a cross-section of society will help ensure that AT planning is inclusive and will assist you in establishing strategic partnerships and getting buy-in from decision-makers in your municipality.
Youth involvement is essential
In the words of Enrique Penalosa, former mayor of Bogota, Colombia, renowned for his work in transforming Bogota from a car-oriented to a pedestrian-oriented city:
“Children are a kind of indicator species. If we can build a successful city for children, we will have a successful city for all people.”
Children and youth must be part of the AT planning processes as walking, cycling, skateboarding, and scooting are their primary modes of independent transportation. Research suggests that youth who have opportunities for meaningful participation in their communities are less likely to engage in risky behaviour. They tend to have higher self-esteem, be more physically active, show a greater commitment to friends, families, and communities, and are more likely to achieve healthy development.
Expertise is also essential
A variety of skills are needed to bring AT to your community, including but not limited to:
Engineering expertise for infrastructure
Planning skills for design
Recreation experience for programming and education
Ensure your committee members have a broad range of the skills you need, or access to these skills when needed.
Get the word out!
The more people who know that you are assembling a group to make your community more AT friendly, the better. Advertise your events thoroughly and make sure they are all open to the public. Public service announcements in the local newspaper, and radio spots designed to announce community events are two examples of ways traditional media can be utilized. Establishing a Facebook page, a Twitter account, online videos, and a blog are more modern methods of networking and relaying information.
Terms of Reference
If you don’t know what this heading means, here’s a nutshell version. Terms of Reference describe the purpose and structure of a project, committee, or group of people who have agreed to work together to accomplish a shared goal. Simply put, you should develop a Terms of Reference that covers the purpose, composition, and structure of the committee, the location and frequency of your meetings, and your decision-making protocol.
The following questions can be used as a guide to develop your terms of reference:
What is your purpose?
What goals do you want to achieve?
Who needs to be there to achieve these goals?
How will you achieve these goals?
How will your committee be organized? Will you have a chair, co-chair, secretary, and treasurer?
How will your committee make decisions? Will you work by consensus or through votes?
How often will you meet and where?
Who will organize the meetings and take notes?
Check out example terms of reference documents from around the province.
Know Your Community
In order to be able to participate in long-term visioning within your community, you need to first understand the current context. Throughout Nova Scotia, there are urban, suburban, rural, and remote communities. AT will look slightly different in each of these places and so will the process of developing it.
Two important aspects of knowing your community are: asset mapping and needs assessments. Essentially they describe what the community already has in place in terms of AT and what it needs. Identify what works and what is missing when deciding on the appropriate infrastructure priorities, policy changes, promotional activities, and education programs for your municipality. The better you know your community, the better you will be able to implement solutions that work for your local context.
Set Goals and Priorities
Once you have completed an AT needs assessment, you can use that information to set clear priorities, goals, and objectives that will enable your AT committee to work constructively. These initial goals and objectives should lead you toward the creation of an AT Plan and should be reviewed annually and adjusted. The committee can set short-term and long-term goals for improving AT in their community.
Some examples of short-term goals may be:
Collecting information from residents and businesses to get a feel for their knowledge and attitudes towards AT.
Completing an initial community walkability or bikeability assessment.
Setting up booths at local events and in key community locations to generate support for AT.
Identifying some quick and easy wins like:
Bike corrals - Check out our toolkit.
Wayfinding signage - walkyourcity.org is a great resource.
Some examples of long-term goals may be:
Identifying sources of research that could be used to strengthen your funding and project proposals.
Talking to your surrounding municipalities to see what projects they are working on (this is key when approaching funding sources).
Preparing for and making presentations to agencies, such as local school boards, regional development authorities, and community health boards.
Once you feel your group is ready, attempt to get municipal buy-in for your initial ideas. It’s advisable to use only one person, who can present information in a clear and succinct manner, as your representative.
Build Awareness and Support
In order to create an AT culture in your community, you first have to let people know what is going on, so they can express interest and buy into the concept. This means visibility and positive associations! Brainstorm with your AT committee to come up with a list of your own ideas, but here are a few tips to get you started:
Show a family-friendly, AT-focused film at a local school or library (Street Films features many short films on AT).
Co-host an autumn trail hike with a local business and offer complimentary beverages or snacks. Make sure to choose an accessible trail.
Organize a short, monthly bike ride at a regular time departing from a regular place.
Celebrate international, national, and provincial AT events.
Participate in walk to school and walk to work events.
Create an online AT survey and use social networking to get people to fill it out. Offering an AT-friendly prize from a random draw of completed surveys may help.
Set up a Facebook page and use other forms of social media. This will allow you to pass on information about events, generate buzz, and create a huge network.
Organize a trail walk or ride in your region. Hike Nova Scotia, Trails Nova Scotia and the Nova Scotia Trails Federation are great resources for information on the trail systems throughout the province.
Celebrate and promote small infrastructure wins (e.g., bike racks at local businesses or a new section of trail built).
Always let local media know about every AT meeting or event. The more engaging and unique the event, the more likely it is to make it into the newspaper or receive coverage on the radio or television. Keep it positive and keep it up!
We can’t emphasize powerfully enough the importance of using social media to spread the AT word. Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and websites are essential, and good photos and videos seal the deal! If you don’t feel comfortable in this realm, make sure you have someone on your team who is, and put that person in charge of online messaging and promotion. Social media is a powerful tool in promoting AT and can reach many more people than was once possible.
Quick Wins
You can raise public awareness and build momentum for AT by generating some local success stories, or “quick wins.” These are highly visible and low-cost investment infrastructure projects that do not take much time or energy to complete. Examples could include building benches next to popular walking routes, painting lines for crosswalks*, erecting share-the-road signs*, or installing bike racks in popular and visible locations. These projects need to be well advertised and highly visible to the community in order to build awareness.
If possible, partner with community and business groups to help carry out these projects. This will open up funding opportunities and help you access volunteer time and donations.
Small projects may be eligible for funding from:
* May require approval from TIR.
Establish Strategic Partnerships
Making connections with potential partners should be an early priority. An AT culture will grow more quickly with the energy, knowledge, insights, and skills of carefully chosen partners. It can take time and perseverance to establish and build strategic partnerships. Before meeting with potential partners, make sure you understand their perspectives and concerns and then frame your discussions about AT to address them. For instance, when approaching businesses, present research and examples that prove increasing AT will bring more people to their shops and services. Be prepared for tough questions and have your answers ready.
Potential Local Partners:
Chamber of Commerce - Business Community
Regional Development Associations &Tourism Organizations
Health Authority - Public Health Services - Community Health Boards
Unions
Youth Organizations
Churches and Religious Groups
Libraries
Environmental Organizations
Secure Municipal Buy-In
In the early stages of bringing AT to your municipality, you may achieve success without the support of municipal council and senior staff. However, it is advisable early on to get their support in order to build the AT movement in your municipality more easily.
What is the role of municipalities in advancing active transportation?
“BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities make active transportation a priority through partnering to promote active transportation strategies among the membership and with other government agencies and to advocate for improved roads and other infrastructure to develop and encourage safe walking, cycling and other active transportation opportunities for both Nova Scotians and visitors.”
Municipalities play a key role in advancing AT in Nova Scotia. The players required to make improvements to infrastructure and policy can be found at the local level — land use planners, sustainability coordinators, transportation engineers, police officers, recreation and park staff, and public health staff. To that end, the adoption of the Union of Nova Scotia Municipalities Resolution 20A in 2008 set the stage for municipal leadership on AT.
Having municipal council acknowledge AT-specific goals, policies, and actions is a step in getting municipal departments and staff thinking about AT.
The role of municipal staff and council could include:
Building AT into daily decision making regarding planning, engineering, road maintenance, parks, recreation, health, and policing
Amending and creating bylaws that support AT
Ensuring new developments incorporate AT (e.g., residential developments built to include walking and cycling routes)
Ensuring that municipal buildings are inviting to AT users, including on-site walking routes, pedestrian lighting, secure bicycle racks, and other features that announce the value of AT
Leading by example — walking or cycling to and from work and other destinations
Councillors
Councillors (including mayors and wardens) are the decision-makers in your municipality. Whether or not your municipality develops an AT Plan, council support is key if you wish to complete any major AT initiatives, especially those that require municipal funds.
Tips for getting council support:
First and foremost, get to know your particular council.
Look to other municipalities that have attained council buy-in and ask for tips and advice.
Focus on what AT would look like in your municipality and come up with concrete examples of how AT would help its citizens.
Spend time focusing your message, using phrases that are “bite-size and digestible”.
Clearly articulate the benefits of AT for the wider community.
If you have an AT Committee, request to make regular short reports to council in a formal way, telling councillors about all the work that you are doing and showing them that their voters support AT.
Consider having these regular reports made by one consistent representative of your AT Committee; someone who is an articulate speaker and who can present information in a clear and succinct way.
Get to know all the councillors and find out where they stand on AT. Some may already be on board because they think it’s a healthier choice or will result in cost savings for their municipality. For those who may need some convincing, arrange individual meetings and show them examples of successful AT infrastructure. Explain how AT makes neighbourhoods safer and more accessible to different modes of travel. Don’t forget to use AT supports such as the Outdoor Recreation Consultant at the Department of Health and Wellness and the Ecology Action Centre’s Active Transportation Coordinator. These folks can help you strengthen your presentations.
Important things to remember during individual meetings with councillors:
Remember that councillors are busy — if they give you an hour to talk, be sure to make the most of it.
At the end of your meeting ask the councillor for his or her support in pursuing your AT goals and offer concrete suggestions on how the councillor can help.
Don’t be discouraged if a councillor gives you the cold shoulder or does not seem interested in your AT agenda. Remember that they are trying to meet the needs of all constituents. Your job is to show them that your AT Plan was created with input, support, and understanding from citizens.
If a councillor is unsupportive or non-committal, you may need to continue to build strategic partnerships and public awareness of AT in your community. Councillors do respond to public demands, so your attention may best be focused on using social media to create buzz, get citizens on board, and ensure they are willing to be vocal with councillors.
Senior Staff
Senior staff such as Chief Administrative Officers and managers lead the implementation of plans, decide on budget priorities, and make recommendations to council. Simply put, they are enormously important to you and you need to have them on your side.
One of the best things you can do is invite a supportive senior staff person to sit on your AT Committee. Also, routinely ask them for their ideas and set up meetings where you can update them on the good work you are doing. If you can’t find support, go back to the community to build more support and seek additional partnerships.
Celebrate & Appreciate
Celebrate all of your successes, large and small, and appreciate the individuals and groups who have been integral to making it happen. In addition, make sure to join forces with organizations that already have well-established annual AT activities, like:
Bike Week activities
