Media Release - Hamilton taking steps towards becoming a more walkable community
For Immediate Release
Hamilton taking steps towards becoming a more walkable community
Hamilton, ON – May 8, 2009 – An international team of walking experts is coming to Hamilton on May 12 to provide Hamilton staff and councillors with advice and direction about how to implement active, safe and sustainable transportation policies here in Hamilton. The Canadian Walking Master Class project, supported by Public Health Services and Public Works, will be traveling across Canada between May 12 and June 10, 2009, and Hamilton will be the first of four stops that also include Kelowna, Vancouver and Whitehorse.
Participants will share, develop and implement key initiatives to help create communities where people will both choose and want to walk through this program of workshops, walkabouts and seminars. Green Communities, Canada, will facilitate the program.
The project will kick off with a breakfast meeting with the Mayor at the Chamber of Commerce on May 12 at 8:30 a.m. An all-day workshop for professionals starts at 10:00 a.m.
The team of international experts includes:
Jacky Kennedy, Director, Walking Programs for Green Communities Canada
Bronwen Thornton, Development Director Walk21, United Kingdom
Rodney Tolley, Honorary Research Fellow at Staffordshire University
Paul Young, Urban designer and Registered Landscape Architect
Jim Walker, Chair of Walk22; Chief Executive of Walk England; Communications Director for the European Union’s ‘Walk Europe’ Project
Jody Rosenblatt Naderi, Professor at Texas A&M University’s department of landscape architecture and urban planning
On May 13 the international experts will lead walkabouts in Ancaster in the morning and downtown Hamilton in the afternoon.
The day wraps up with an open public meeting at the Chamber of Commerce from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., that will outline to residents how they can help implement a more walkable Hamilton. This event will provide opportunities to share ideas and input on specific walkability issues in Hamilton.
“Implementing initiatives such as this in Hamilton will shape our future as a healthy, vibrant community,” Mayor Fred Eisenberger said. “A community where citizens rely less on their cars and choose walking or other sustainable and healthy options more often as a form of everyday transportation,” he added. “Hamilton reinforced its commitment to creating a walkable community last April when we signed and adopted the International Charter for Walking.”
The International Charter for Walking has been signed by individuals, organizations and cities worldwide, by those who support the Charter’s vision and strategic principles. The Charter provides a framework to create healthy, efficient and sustainable communities where people have the opportunity to walk.
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Media Contacts:
Sharon Mackinnon
Public Health Nurse
Public Health Services
905 546-2424 ext. 3522
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Reference:
Tara Hall
Communications Officer
Hamilton Public Health Services
1 Hughson St. North
Hamilton, ON L8R 3L5
phone: 905-546-2424 ext. 2643
www.hamilton.ca/publichealth
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