(March 3, 2016) If you want to learn the latest on Open Streets, be sure to mark your calendar for the 2016 International Open Streets Summit to be held August 18-21 at Portland State University (PSU). In the past five years, Open Streets have gone from a novel idea to accepted practice in communities looking to improve walking and biking and activate public space.
Open Streets are progra
ms where the streets are opened to people and closed to cars. People traffic replaces car traffic, and the streets become “paved parks” where people of all ages, abilities, and social, economic, and ethnic backgrounds can come out and improve their health. Open Streets events are helping us reimagine the way we use our streets.The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) and Sunday Parkways are teaming up with The Street Plans Collaborative, the Open Streets Project, 8-80 Cities, PSU’s Transportation Research and Education Center (TREC) and the Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation to host this three day summit. Along with the presentations, hands-on sessions and networking opportunities for participants from a variety of backgrounds, everyone will have a chance to wrap up the weekend by taking part in the Portland Sunday Parkways event on August 21.
Summit organizers are now seeking proposals for presentations for case studies, workshops, panel discussions, and hands-on sessions for th
e 2016 International Open Streets Summit in a variety of themes including; Inspiring Community Resilience – Health/Physical Activity, Building a Movement – Practitioners/Technicians, Making the Case – Policymakers/Researchers, and Open Streets and Tactical Urbanism: Complementary approaches to reimagining our streets.The Call for Presentations will remain open until Friday, April 15 at 6:00 pm, Pacific Time. Click here to download a pdf version of the Call for Presentations which includes information about the various tracks as well as guidelines. Click here to submit your online application.