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6. Making Tracks: Phases I and II

Making Tracks: Phases I and II

The Ecology Action Centre is the oldest environmental organization in Nova Scotia and has been in existence since 1971. It has 750 members, 150 active volunteers, and seven issue committees focusing on transportation, wilderness preservation and forestry, coastal issues, urban planning, renewable energy, agriculture and food, and marine conservation. Its aim is to encourage a society in Nova Scotia which respects and protects nature and also provides environmentally and economically sustainable jobs for its citizens.

What are they doing?

The goal of Making Tracks is to make Active & Safe Routes to School (ASRTS) more effective in Nova Scotia and increase the use of active and sustainable transportation among students in pilot schools. The project will develop practical information and tools to improve the effectiveness of ASRTS, which is the only program of its kind in Nova Scotia. Within four years of offering ASRTS, the number of schools participating in Walk to School Week has increased from nine to 100. Making Tracks is an innovative solution that builds on the current Active & Safe Routes to School program and draws upon the experience of similar programs across Canada.

Phase I of Making Tracks will use a community-based social marketing approach to redesign the program to be more effective. It involves conducting research into barriers to students using active transportation in Nova Scotia and conducting a needs assessment into how to support schools. Phase II is a pilot in which the new program will be tested. It involves working with students, parents, school staff, and the community to break down barriers to active transportation, to use community-based social marketing tools, and to provide initiatives to support more students walking and wheeling to school. Surveys will track changes in travel behaviour and assist in evaluating the project. Ultimately, Making Tracks will affect how ASRTS is offered to schools across Nova Scotia. Insights will be shared with local, regional, and national partners.

Making Tracks will:

• Increase the ability of the target audience to apply concrete and practical sustainable transportation solutions;
• Promote action by the target audience to adopt sustainable transportation practices by providing practical strategies for incorporating active transportation into daily life;
• Reinforce and strengthen the current ASRTS program and make it more effective by using community-based social marketing to instill behaviour change and motivate action;
• Produce survey data about how transportation modes change, thereby providing a process to monitor progress and measure the project's impacts.

Where can you find more information?

Ecology Action Centre Website - Active and Safe Routes to School

Date modified:

2010-02-03

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