Volume 3, Issue 11 November/December 2007 |
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In This Issue:
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RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP WITH THUNDERHEAD TODAY! It’s that time of the year again – time to renew your Thunderhead Alliance membership! Thunderhead is proud to unveil our new online registration system for 2008 memberships and renewals. Renew or join with our secure online system today! Or if you’d rather, download the mail it in form at www.thunderheadalliance.org/join. As we look forward to 2008, we’re more excited than ever to serve Thunderhead member organizations, and I hope that you will renew your member ship today and help take our movement to the next level. In the next year the Thunderhead staff, board, and partners will:
COMPLETE STREETS CORNER: SAFE ROUTES TOWARDS COMPLETE STREETS The Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition (SCBC) is expanding its membership base because people who want to support Safe Routes to School (SRTS) are joining. SRTS programs can grow your organizations’ capacity too. SRTS attracts participants who are not traditionally bicycle and pedestrian advocates. It provides a unique opportunity to build relationships with other groups and agencies such as children’s safety, environmental health, economic development, community service, and social justice. Many advocacy groups have been awarded Federal SRTS funds and are expanding their staff and scope of work, however the model for a successful SRTS program must look beyond Federal funding. Advocacy groups can institutionalize SRTS in their communities by partnering with and encouraging other groups and agencies to add SRTS activities to their scope of work, expand their budgets, and contract back to their group. SCBC recently partnered with the Santa Rosa Police Department (SRPD) to author an Office of Traffic Safety grant. The funds were awarded and the SRPD has contracted with the SCBC to fulfill the youth traffic safety instruction component, which is the cornerstone of our SRTS program. At SCBC, we are increasing our political clout because of the media and political attention SRTS attracts. We are strengthening our reputation in the community as a relationship builder. SRTS is motivating and empowering people to engage in the current bicycle/pedestrian master planning process. SRTS helped leverage support for the passage of a Complete Streets policy in the County. SRTS will continue this upward expanding spiral, growing our organizations,as we include more people, more actively, in SRTS. |
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ORGANIZATION TIP: WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED FUTURE? This month’s Organization Tip follows the October Org. Tip on creating a workplan for your organization. Using the Appreciative Inquiry approach to strategic planning, this process allows your group to define what the preferred future looks like for the work you want to do. Then, you are able to develop a plan, which allows you to prioritize and connect your programs, projects, back-end operations, and overall strategy. An overview of the Process: Step 1: Use the tips discussed in the October Weather Report Org. Tip to ensure that the right people are at your planning meeting. Your final work plan will represent the perspectives of the people who participate in the discussion. Step 2: Have the group begin by discussing how they perceive the work of the organization over the next year. This can be done in many ways, including:
For more advice on this topic contact jeremy “at” thunderheadalliance.org. |
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NEWSLETTER CUT-AND-PASTE: MAKING CYCLING IRRESISTIBLE Lessons from the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany We all look with envy at cyclists in places like the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany. But how have these countries made bicycling a safe, convenient, and practical way to get around? A recent paper released by Dr. John Pucher of Rutgers University analyzes national aggregate data and case studies of large and small cities in each country to find out. The answer appears to be the provision of separate cycling facilities along heavily traveled roads and at intersections, combined with traffic calming of most residential neighborhoods. Extensive cycling rights of way in the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany are complemented by ample bike parking, full integration with public transport, comprehensive traffic education and training of both cyclists and motorists, and a wide range of promotional events intended to generate enthusiasm and wide public support for cycling. In addition to their many pro-bike policies and programs, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany make driving expensive as well as inconvenient in central cities through a host of taxes and restrictions on car ownership, use, and parking. Moreover, strict land use policies foster compact, mixed-use developments that generate shorter and thus more bikeable trips.The implementation of this multifaceted, mutually reinforcing set of policies may best explain the success of these countries in promoting cycling. For comparison, the paper portrays the marginal status of cycling in the UK and USA, where only about one percent of trips are by bike. For more lessons from the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany, read the entire article online at http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher/Irresistible.pdf |
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THUNDERHEAD ALLIANCE SEEKS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR This fall, Thunderhead's Board of Directors announced that it is in search of an executive director to lead this growing and dynamic organization. The Board of Directors' aim is to elevate the stature of our alliance and of its individual member groups on all levels—local, state and federal. Thunderhead will remain a resource to create and support local advocates, and, by better uniting our members' voices around local issues that resonate everywhere, the board aims to strengthen the call for biking and walking in capitol cities from coast to coast, raise its importance and form diverse coalitions to win increased funding and stronger policies from Washington DC that will promote and increase bicycling and walking. The Thunderhead Alliance Board is seeking an executive director to lead the organization who possesses a strong commitment to Thunderhead's mission and goals, will work with staff to empower local advocates, build coalitions and partnerships, employ diverse advocacy approaches and techniques on the federal level, increase federal funding for biking and walking and raise significant funds to achieve these goals. The new director will work with the board and staff to ensure that Thunderhead is a go-to resource for members, funders, partners and all advocates, that it becomes a stronger network of allies working to help each other solve common problems and that this Alliance is an influential opinion-shaper among national partners, leaders, decision makers and the public. Please check the Thunderhead Alliance website for more information. Application information is also available online. If you have any questions about the position or the transition, please contact: Noah Budnick, board chair, at noah "at" transalt.org |
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MEMBER NEWS Transportation Alternatives Launches New Online Crash Maps New York City based Transportation Alternatives (TA) recently unveiled their new Crashtat 2.0 website. CrashStat 2.0 is a resource to look at New York City pedestrian and bicycle crashes plotted on a Google map. Users can look at injury and fatality data from 1995-2005 by borough, community district and along every street in the city. According to TA’s Noah Budnick, “As we develop the site, we will add data layers (like hospitals, police precincts, etc.) and use your feedback to improve it, so please visit www.crashstat.org and play with the maps and let Transportation Alternatives know how it works.” Bicycle PSA’s Hitting the Streets In response to a recent post to the Thunderhead listserv, we learned just how many Thunderhead orgs are helping to get public service announcements out around their communities. Check out some of them below:
StreetFilms, Transportation Alternatives and The Open Planning Project just released this 10-minute film about Bogota, Colombia's car-free Ciclovias. Check it out at http://www.streetfilms.org/archives/ciclovia/. Thunderhead Organizations Are Hiring! Our member organizations are hiring! Check out all of the fantastic job opportunities on the Thunderhead Jobs page. If your organization is hiring, be sure to let us know! We'll list your job posting. Simply send an email to: jobs "at" thunderheadalliance.org. Upcoming Events at Thunderhead Alliance January 10, 2007 (Thursday): Mutual Aid Conference Call (Topic TBD at Dec. 13th Mutual Aid Call February 14, 2007 (Thursday): Mutual Aid Conference Call (Topic TBD at Dec. 13th Mutual Aid Call August 31st - September 2: Thunderhead Alliance Retreat in Seattle, WA We want your news! Thunderhead wants to publish your good news! Our coalition is our members and your peers want to hear about your success and innovations. Have you had a recent success? A winning campaign? A creative event? Has your organization used innovative methods for attracting members or earning media attention? We want to know about it! Send your news items to jeremy "at" thunderheadalliance.org. |
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This monthly Thunderhead Alliance Weather Report is for the leaders of our member organizations and our supporters. The Thunderhead Alliance, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, is the only coalition of state and local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations working in unison to break down the barriers to safe bicycling and walking in North American communities. Find more info at: www.thunderheadalliance.org. |