Kurzbeschreibung
(Englisch)
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The Swiss contribution to COST Action 358 aims to address basic knowledge gaps and provide answers to critical problems in the field of walking-related transport in Switzerland and on a European-wide level. The analysis will focus on walking conditions in sub- and periurban areas of cities, on institutional barriers and on perceptions and images of walking. It will provide a first-time comprehensive assessment of the future of walking in Switzerland with a special emphasis on the dissemination of results.
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Partner und Internationale Organisationen
(Englisch)
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AT, BE, CH, CZ, DE, EE, ES, FI, FR, GR, HU, IL, IT, NL, NO, PL, PT, RS, SE, UK
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Abstract
(Englisch)
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The research carried out in this project year was as multi-facetted as walking itself and focused on the following three areas: The first was 'Measuring Walking: Towards internationally standardised monitoring methods of walking and public space'. The problems of data collection relating to walking are similar all over Europe and, in fact, the Western world. An increasing number of cities and towns are beginning to measure walking but they are required to develop their own methodology and practice due to the lack of standards. This results in incomparable data as well as reliability and validity problems. That is one of the reasons why we decided to undertake steps within this COST Action and the WALK21 conference series to outline internationally minimal standards and to harmonise data collection methods. The COST Action 358 with 20 participating countries is an ideal platform for such an endeavour. Leading these efforts internationally is the Swiss research team with the support of the State Secretariat for Education and Research SER. A second focus was on the state-of-the-art. To this effect the research team assembled a country report which outlines the situation in Switzerland with regards to available data, policy-making, legal framework and best practice and innovations. In addition, all relevant publications and research projects of the past 15 years have been listed and annotated, providing for the first time a comprehensive overview of the research performed in the field in Switzerland during these years. This collection together with the country report as a whole will allow researchers and interested persons to get an overview of current practices and available information. Concurrently, both products serve as a resource for researchers from other COST countries. The third focus was on the detailed conceptualisation of the research work to be carried out in the two remaining project years. In accordance with the working groups within the COST Action, the research is divided up into three perspectives: a functional and a perception perspective and prospects for the future. In the functional perspective we plan to analyse how the situation for walking can be improved outside of city centres i.e. in sub- and peri-urban areas. A number of case studies together with interviews are expected to provide answers. In the perception perspective we will analyse how the image of walking affects transport related policies. As next step it is foreseen to create an appropriate analytical tool followed and tested by a pilot survey. The research on future prospects will centre on the analysis of trends, visions and interventions. The working group on future prospects within the Action is chaired by the project leader of the Swiss research team.
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