The ENTOURAGE project is halfway! What have we done so far? The best illustration probably happened last Friday, when we organised a feedback session with older residents who cycle in Barcelona.
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We had a blast during the feedback session that reflected on the fieldwork in Barcelona that focused on the cycling experiences of people over 60. Nearly half of the 40 research participants joined to talk about the study’s findings, to socialize, and even go on a bike ride together 🙌🏽
With the expert help of the Bicicleta Club de Catalunya, Catalonia’s cycling union, we focused on the question how people over 60 perceive cycling in Barcelona. What are the strengths and weaknesses of cycling in older age?
What did we do?
Over the last months we organised various activities with people over 60 as part of the ENTOURAGE project. This group of people features less prominently in knowledge about active urban mobility (on foot, by bike). At the same time, for positive and healthy ageing, it is essential that people of all ages have access to these ways of moving around the city.
We invited 40 people to participate in our study, with the aim of better understanding the experiences of cycling, its pleasures and obstacles, and the different ways to use it throughout life. We talked to lifelong bike users, people who just learned to cycle, and people with experience in between. To celebrate the stories and experiences we heard, we’ve invited all participants for a social event and workshop in the evening of Friday 23 September. We went on a bike ride from Sant Antoni to Sants with an expert in urban tours to take us to the meeting venue. Here we held an informative “feedback session” to talk about and interpret the first results of the study.
What did we find?
The session was marked by the word Sharing, both from the side of the researcher and the participants. Wilbert shared his first insights about the cycle-friendliness of Barcelona’s urban design, about moments of opportunity to start or continue cycling, and about the benefits cycling brought for the mobility and wellbeing of the participant group as a whole. The participants shared which sections in the city they love or hate, and performed a SWOT analysis of cycling in older age.
We concluded that the involvement of people of older ages is very important for the future of urban mobility. Their consultation and visibilisation can set the example for inclusive cycling in coming generations, both old and young!
More updates will follow. Can’t wait? Get in touch via our Contact Page.
Age-friendly cycling. 