[sustran] World Car Free Day Preparations and cooperation for success

[ecoplan.adsl]

The following message has just been dispatched to the group of people
cooperating with the @World Car Free Day site at
http://ecoplan.org/carfreeday -- and we thought it might be of interest to
SUSTRAN's members as well. I might mention that the only non-European
country thus far that is developing a national program and Web page to which
we shall be linking is Japan - but perhaps there are others?

In any event, we hope you find some use in this.

eb

= = = = = =
-----Original Message-----
From: ecoplan.adsl [mailto:eric.britton at ecoplan.org]
Sent: Sunday, 20 August 2000 8:14 PM
To: carfreeday at egroups.com
Subject: Preparations and cooperation for success

Dear Friends,

With World, European and who knows what other Car Free Days coming up on us
in the weeks directly, and embellished as we are by a fine improved new
World Car Free Day Web site, Library and communications facilities, it is
perhaps a good moment to see what happens if we put our heads together in an
attempt to improve all this information that is available to cities and
groups who wish to do better in all this.

To this end, I would like to draw your attention both to the new site at
http://ecoplan.org/carfreeday/ , and once you are there to the section "BEST
PRACTICES" which sets out some of the goals and arguments behind this whole
idea of a truly interactive group project.  As you will see we are trying to
assemble a certain number of leading examples of best practice, in the hope
of stimulating groups and projects in formation that are on the lookout for
new ideas and approaches to accomplishing what we must in all fairness
recognize is quite a difficult set of challenges.  Are there a couple of
places and projects that we can point them to that will help them to do
better in their own cities?  Are there some techniques or tricks that they
might consider that will help them get their messages across as part of
their efforts to get the widest base of local public support? You'll see the
seven categories that we have earmarked for you attention, but you may have
other ideas as well.  If so, let us hear from you.
Two perhaps a bit more subtle areas in which we are looking for feedback.
The first is our search for NEGATIVE EDITORIALS or essays that set out some
strongly felt arguments against the car free day concept - or at least
against certain ways of going about it.  We would very much like to have a
couple of provocative examples here, as a challenge and reminder that cities
are complex places and that different opinions exist and have to be
confronted.
In this same spirit, we are hoping to hear form you concerning barriers and
obstacles that your projects  are running into - things that are making it
hard for your Day to succeed.  We feel that it is important to share these
messages, discouraging as they can be, since so often people in a given
place tend to feel that they are the only ones who are running into these
barriers.  And of course if you have any ideas about how to get around them,
well all the better.
Finally, what about prizes, some form or recognition or broader publicity
for the leading examples that we are now hot in pursuit of?  Any ideas for
us there?  If you belong to a prestigious institution, have first rate media
access, or - why not? - if you have access to funds which can be used to
finance a more concrete sort of prizes or recognition, well you can be sure
that we all will be interested to hear from you.

There you have it.  There are many cities and teams out there who could use
a hand.  And who better than all of you to do just that.

With best wishes to you all,

Eric Britton

The Commons  ___  technology, economy, society  ___
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