A terrific feature interview with one of my students, Cody Kita, on the work he & fellow student, Adam De Luca did for the Annex BIA in support of a bike lane proposal on Bloor St. Their placement was the core activity for my experiential learning course, CDN435 Active Citizenship, in the Canadian Studies Program at University of Toronto. Well done Cody & Adam! and big thanks to Brian Burchill & Janice McHugh of the Annex BIA for making this opportunity possible!
From the feature (also featured on the FAS homepage!) & posted under: Re-Imagining Undergraduate Education:
“Students spent months studying issue
As part of Active Citizenship in a Canadian Context, a University College fourth-year course inCanadian Studies, Kita and classmate Adam De Luca spent seven months studying the issue of the Annex bike lanes and reporting their insights to the local Business Improvement Area (BIA).
Kita says the bike lanes had been the subject of numerous studies and debates over the decades, but the key factor was getting area businesses on board.
“It’s kind of amazing, because bike lanes are a need that has been expressed by the community for a long time, and finally that support is coming from the businesses as well,” says Kita, whose report advocated for the bike lanes on economic and safety grounds….”