mobility coaching - Lundby Mobility Centre - Göteborg

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The ambassado effect10Several of the people in theproject have become socommitted that they evenevangelise to othersaround them.The project has received a lot of attention bothin the media and at the participants’ workplaces.Several of the participants mentioned the attentionthey have received at their workplace. Thiswas partly because some of them had featuredin the media, such as the newspaper Göteborgs-Posten and on the regional TV news programmeVästnytt. Participants also received attentionwhen they walked or cycled to work.There were many questions regarding travelroutes, but also about the project, and participantssaw themselves as ambassadors. Several colleagueshave also started, which meant a pleasantsubject of conversation during break times.In fact these people had become so committedthat they even evangelised to others aroundthem. Some saw themselves as ambassadors fortheir new lifestyle/travel habits. This positivespin-off effect of the project is hard to quantifybut should not be underestimated from a localperspective, be it Lundby as a city district or anindividual workplace. One of the participantshad a similar thought:This idea of concentrating a project on aworkplace should be developed further, somethingthe project leaders also had some ideasabout for the future.“The project brought attention at work and a lotof people asked about cycling, especially afterI’d been on TV. I was particularly proud whensomeone called me a role-model.”Woman, 52“I’ve talked to a lot of people about the project,especially work colleagues, and I think I’ve hadan influence on them. Half of them havestarted walking or cycling to work rather thantaking the car.” Woman, 52“I’m tremendously pleased, and more peopleought to have a chance to be involved in aproject like this. This may even be a way ofgetting whole workplaces moving.”Woman, 35
LessonsThe aim of the project was to reduce cardrivingand the target group were inveteratemotorists. Although the coach thinksthat many of the participants got involvedfor reasons of health and exercise with afocus on cycling, he believes that a key tosucceeding with a similar project is to beopen to people’s reasons for taking part.In a similar project in the future, the focusfor achieving the same goals should be established.Before the project begins, themarketing of the project should be closelyanalysed in order to achieve the greatestpossible impact and participation.The participants’ first impressionis important. The coach suggested thatone possible improvement might be tohave the ‘team line-up’ finalised whenthe participants first meet the organisers,so that co-operation partners suchas the local cycle dealer are involved andintroduce themselves. The co-ordinatorthinks it may be important to produceprofessional material for the participantsat the first meeting to show how importantthe project is. The advantage of theproject being a pilot project was that therewas more of a sense of community. Theright image should be considered beforea project begins.Because the project was a trial, it wasflexible in its approach. Nevertheless, theactivity schedule was established veryearly on so that participants could planahead. However, in a future project theentire planning process should be moreformalised to save work time, accordingto the project manager.The project’s strong point was thededication shown primarily by the participantsbut also by the organisers. Thefact that the participants felt involvedin forming the project meant that notmany people dropped out along the way,believes the coach. The project managerput forward the idea that perhaps participantsought to be let go of faster, becauseif they are not motivated enough to takepart actively their travel habits may notlast long beyond the end of the projectin any case.The coaching is based on the factthat people work differently. The coachthinks the best part of the project wasthe way participants in the individualisedgroup were taken care of and thatthey formed strong relationships. It isimportant to consider whether to startoff with interviews like in the individualisedgroup, which the coach thoughtwas important for building relationshipsin the initial stages, and if so to budgetfor this work input. The project managerthinks that a personal discussion witheach participant at the very start shouldbe considered: it may be more resourcedemandinginitially but could profit theproject overall. The co-ordinator thinksthey should have placed higher demandson the participants. However, it is importantthat the demands that are placedare consistent and clearly defined for allparticipants.The lectures were very much appreciated.One of the lectures was co-ordinatedwith other interested parties outside of theproject to cover the costs, which was anadvantage. This solution may also be appliedin future projects.The first physical test acted as a motivatorfor the participants but several didnot turn up for the final test, which couldbe because they expected a negative result.This could be avoided if the secondtest instead takes place after a year to ensurethe results are not misleading due toseasonal variations, which was also theorganisers’ experience.In summary, the now completedproject can be considered a great success.There is always room for improvement,but there is no doubting that several participantsnow have a better quality oflife while their environmental impacthas also decreased.Results and lessons have been documentedin more detail in Swedish in theTraffic & Public Transport Authority’sbulletin no. 6:2007 on the travel coachproject in Lundby.11
Page 1 and 2: mobility coachingA project to chang
Page 3 and 4: IntroductionIn April 2006, motorist
Page 6 and 7: Group meetings - getting together f
Page 8 and 9: Change is possible8The number ofpar
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mobility coaching - Lundby Mobility Centre - Göteborg

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