World Bicycle Relief

Over one billion people living in rural communities worldwide face mobility poverty. This lack of reliable transport significantly hampers their access to goods, services, and markets. Our understanding of transport systems and mobility in rural communities can help or hinder program implementation and policymaking and, at scale, impact the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). So, how can we leverage technology to better understand the mobility challenges rural communities face? Over the past three years, World Bicycle Relief has collaborated on a Participatory GIS (PGIS) project to address this issue by collecting and using spatial data to better understand rural mobility. Through funding from the Tech4Dev initiative at EPFL, in partnership with Communauté d’études pour l’aménagement du territoire (CEAT) at the EPFL and Nepal Flying Labs, we have produced a toolkit to share our learnings. Our guide, "Using Spatial Data to Understand Rural Mobility," offers a step-by-step approach to conducting mobility assessments.  With the results, we can better understand the barriers and take action to solve mobility poverty through bicycle mobility. WATCH: Tech4Dev -World Bicycle Relief- A Participatory GIS Toolkit for Transportation Needs Assessment Spatial data, which represents geographical locations and areas, enhances mobility assessments by visualizing the interplay between distance, access to services, travel time, points of interest, and route conditions. By combining participatory methods, such as focus group discussions, community mapping, and transect walks, with GIS spatial data, our PGIS approach helps gain a comprehensive understanding of mobility patterns, transportation costs, barriers, and distances to vital resources, enhancing our efforts to improve access to goods, services, and markets. The toolkit reflects PGIS research in Zomba (Malawi), Kakamega (Kenya), and Petauke (Zambia), where we worked with YouthMappers, USAID GEOCenter, Nepal Flying Labs, and CEAT at EPFL University (Switzerland). Our work in these regions highlights how PGIS can effectively reveal mobility behaviors, needs, and barriers, informing better rural development planning. We invite other NGOs, universities, and research organizations committed to addressing transportation and mobility poverty to utilize our PGIS toolkit and share feedback. To explore partnership opportunities or learn more about our PGIS project, please get in touch with us. Together, we can pave the way for more inclusive and accessible communities worldwide. To view and download the PGIS Toolkit, please visit the World Bicycle Relief website: https://lnkd.in/daRcSazY UCL Bridges To Prosperity UN Environment Programme Women in Transport MIT D-Lab Kendra Leith Carly Gilbert-Patrick Verena Knöll Walk21 Foundation SLOCAT Partnership on Sustainable, Low Carbon Transport #SpatialData #SustainableDevelopment #GISMapping