pavedwave longboarding

dolna

Hello from Canada,

Will start by introducing myself. I'm a mother of a skateboarder and longboarder. We are both involved in a skateboarding association, a group that's trying to develop a concrete skatepark in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Along this long and winding road, I've become an advocate not only for public skateparks, but also for skateboarding as recreation, sport and transportation.

Next, the reason for this post:
Active Transportation (AT) advocate Michael Haynes contacted me because he is preparing a Webinar on Skateboarding as AT for CHETNET-Works (http://www.chnet-works.ca/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1). The webinar will broadcast on Wednesday September 24. Quoting from Michael's email to me: "This is an open educational session, provided by the University of Ottawa, that targets community health professionals for its audience."

The topic is:
Active Transportation - Skateboards and Youth
(http://www.chnet-works.ca/index.p...task=view&id=28&Itemid=56)

You can learn more about Michael by reviewing his blog on Active Transportation
(http://activetransportation-canada.blogspot.com)

Michael would like to hear from people who can:
1. describe barriers to skateboarding as Active Transportation;
2. suggest solutions to these barriers
3. provide success stories of skateboarding as transportation;
4. provide photos of folks of all ages using their skateboards for transportation, e.g. on roads/sidewalks, to school, work, etc.

If you can help, please contact Michael at activetransportation@rogers.com. If you send him your phone number and let him know when to phone, he'd be delighted to interview you by phone. (Or if it's easier, you can contact me and I'll pass your info on to Michael.)

Thanks.

Dolna

pavedwave · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 1120 Location: seattle wa usa

Great stuff Dolna! Thanks for the links and info. Will definitely check it out.

There are a lot of like-minded people in the Cascade biking association (cascade.org) who advocate and fight legal battles to preserve and develop lanes and trails for bikes here in the Seattle area. The skateboarding-commuting movement is also picking up steam, though we have a ways to go in getting organized and having more presence and rights on the streets.

I'll pass this info onto a guy in Portland who's also very active in riding and promoting human-powered vehicle travel.

Cheers
-james

pavedwave · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 1120 Location: seattle wa usa

Update...

Michael Haynes' presentation will be made on September 24, then posted on the Website of CHNET-Works:

http://www.chnet-works.ca/index.p...task=view&id=21&Itemid=29