BikeWalkMHK, Green Apple Bikes, the Flint Hills Wellness Coalition, and the Flint Hills Metropolitan Planning Organization partnered with students from three fall 2019 Kansas State University courses to complete a project entitled “Manhattan, Kansas, Bike-Ped Systems Plan Community Engagement Effort.”
Courses and faculty members included: KIN 612: Policy, Built Environment, and Physical Activity, with Gina Besenyi, Ph.D.; KIN 616: Obesity and Physical Activity Behavioral, Environment, and Policy Influences with Katie Heinrich, Ph.D.; and LEAD 405: Leadership and Practice, with Brandon Kliewer, Ph.D.
The project was funded by the Engagement Scholarship Consortium Research/Creative Activities Grant program at the amount of $4,150. The Flint Hills Metropolitan Planning Organization will maintain video equipment purchased through this project. It will be made available to community partners interested in creating community education materials related to transportation policy in Riley County.
Under the coordination of K-State Architecture, Planning and Design student and 2019-2020 BikeWalkMHK Ambassador Annie Lomshek, K-State faculty and students, community partners accomplished the following work:
- Collected a series of active transportation community profiles for BikeWalkMHK and an ongoing community-based research project
- Assembled a focus group of local residents to discuss barriers and facilitators to active transportation in Manhattan
- Organized and supported a series of community and voter education events related to the Bike-Ped Systems Plan
- Convened community for active transportation infrastructure events hosted by the City of Manhattan
For questions about the Engagement Scholarship Consortium Research/Creative Actives Grant program or other strategic partnerships and initiatives at the Staley School of Leadership Studies, email Brandon W. Kliewer at bkliewer@ksu.edu.
