Sustainable Bicycle Transportation in Europe

Language Requirement: None

Academic Standing by Program Start: Sophomore or above

Location: Europe, Denmark, Netherlands

GPA: 3.0

Program Overview

Study bicycle planning, design, policy, and culture as a sustainable and economically viable form of transportation in key urban locations in Western Europe. This program will focus on the practices and policies that foster safe, convenient, and accessible bicycle infrastructure and the underlying culture that supports a high rate of bicycle use. Explore how and why Denmark and the Netherlands became great places to bike and consider how to make similar changes within the United States. Students on this program will bike and take public transit through Copenhagen, Odense, Malmo,Amsterdam, Nijmegen, and Utrecht to study bicycle & transit planning, design, policy, and culture as a sustainable and economically viable form of transport.

Please note that students should be prepared to bike up to 20 miles a day on this program, although this is not an every day occurrence. Students should also be prepared to carry some bags with them.

Additional information about the program, including the working itinerary and a link to the book produced by previous students, is available on Professor Schlossberg’s website.

Foundation Scholarships: Due to the generous support of the Scan Design Foundation and others, Faculty-offered scholarships are available in amounts ranging from approximately $1,000 to $1,500 depending on the number of students enrolled. These funds are automatically distributed equally to all eligible program participants (US citizens only, based on funding source). No application necessary.

Dates and Deadlines

Term	Year	Deadline	Arrival Date	Departure Date
Summer	2026	03/15/2026	6/20/26	7/15/26

This program has a rolling admission application process: GEO staff (and the program faculty leader, if applicable) will complete a review of the application materials of complete applications in the order that they are submitted (“first come, first serve”). Decisions about acceptance will be made shortly after you submit a complete application. There are some programs that fill fast, some even before the deadline. Students are encouraged to complete applications and commit to programs early.

Acceptance is based on a holistic review of your application. This includes a review of your GPA, transcripts (including courses taken and in-progress), any additional requirements or prerequisites (see section "Additional Requirements"), and the short statement.

Faculty-Led Scholarship Opportunity

Applicants to this program are eligible for program-specific scholarship funds. Award recipients are chosen based on academic merit, financial need, and overall quality of their essay. Individual awards range from $500-$1,500. To be considered, apply to the GEO General Scholarship by the advertised deadline for the term you will be abroad. Students who apply will automatically be considered for all available funding within the General Scholarship, including this program's scholarship funds.

Academic Details

You will observe and experience a variety of cycling facilities in urban, suburban and rural locations; meet with local officials and government representatives for formal presentations and informal dialogue about their bicycle transportation planning and design; and engage in conversation with program faculty to reflect on the day’s activities. There will be a pre-course community observation assignment to get you into the spirit of looking at uses of streets differently. You will keep a reflection journal and a field notebook to record observations and lecture notes, and will take photographs to document your observations. The class as a whole will also work on a whole class project that will result in a publication to share your insights with the larger world. The format of this publication will be decided by the group.

Course objectives include:

Understand the role of bicycling in urban transportation;
Understand the role of policy and planning in shaping urban form and transportation choices;
Understand the contribution of design, safety, and legal issues toward bicycle planning;
Learn the critical components of successful integration and promotion of walking and bicycling into communities.

Actual credit awarded is determined by the relevant department at your university in consultation with the study abroad office. Check with your study abroad advisor for more information.

Non-UO Students: You will be registered as a non-degree seeking student. To access class information, you will need to claim your DuckID after registration.

Course Equivalencies

UO students: please refer to the UO Course Equivalency Process and the UO Office of the Registrar Course Equivalency Database.

Non-UO students: Actual credit awarded is determined by the relevant department at your university in consultation with the study abroad office. Check with your study abroad advisor for more information.

Faculty and Staff

Robert Binder is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the School of Planning, Public Policy and Management at the University of Oregon. His research focuses on topics in transportation equity and justice and public space theory. Robert has published a variety of articles and chapters discussing domestic and international topics including transportation modeling with a purpose, urban systems design in Japan, object-oriented cities, curb management, integrating mobility in urban design, travel behavior in e-commerce, eVTOL urban air trips, and environmental justice and mobility.Robert is currently completing his Doctoral Dissertation titled, “Brushing Shoulders: In-Transit Social Interactions and Intersecting Identities in Los Angeles & Detroit,” and was recently awarded the Raymond C. Miller American Public Transportation Foundation Scholarship and recognized as the National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST-UTC) Outstanding Student of the Year.

This program is designed by Rebecca Lewis and Marc Schlossberg. Lewis is an Associate Professor of Planning, Public Policy and Management and the director of the Institute for Policy Research and Engagement. She studied political science at the University of Kentucky and Public Policy and Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Maryland. Schlossberg, PhD is a Professor of City and Regional Planning and co-director of the Sustainable Cities Initiative (SCI) at the University of Oregon. His teaching, research, and community engagement focus on sustainable transportation, livable community design, and the processes that can accelerate implementation of more sustainable policy and practice.

Housing Description

Stay in specially arranged hostel accommodations located in the city centers of each program site, with convenient access to the city by bike. Students will be responsible for their own meals, although some will be provided. Access to kitchens, study space, and laundry will vary depending on location. Students will change roommates in every location and will have 2-6 roommates.

There will be about 4 different program sites throughout Denmark and the Netherlands that the students and faculty will bike, bus, train, and fly to. Be prepared to both pack light to accommodate this travel (although there will be a luggage van), and pack primarily for biking. There will be checked luggage allocations for any flights.

Budget and Price