Bristol University has posted an excellent precis of the Game On screening and subsequent discussion over on its blog page, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t link to it here!
Tag: Project FIAS
FIAS at Reframing Mountain Biking Conference 2024
On 1-2 March 2024, Fi was invited to speak at the latest Reframing Mountain Biking conference which was held in Sheffield. First held in 2022, the Ride Sheffield organised conference aims to assess how mountain biking in the UK can progress, and some of the challenges it faces as it does so. It aims to make mountain biking a ‘better, more inclusive and sustainable, fun space for all’.
Over the two days of the conference, delegates witnessed talks on closing the gender gap, social impact marketing, the relationship between eMTB, disability and Green exercise, getting more people on bikes through sustainable MTB, and Fi spoke on ‘Developing a Toolkit for Community Led Initiatives’.
Speakers included Adam Dayson (WorkWith Studios), Fee Wallace ( Aberdeenshire Trail Association and Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland), Dr James Cherrington (Sheffield Hallam University ), Dave Evans (UK Trails Project, Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland), and Hans Stoops (IMBA Europe).
Fi also presented the Project FIAS research findings and introduced the Framework, as she explains:
“It was received well, and the further workshops in the afternoon were a chance to explore some of our key pillars. I took part on ‘rethinking storytelling in mountain biking”.
On day two, the delegates decamped to Parkwood Springs for some MTB-based engagement sessions such as trail maintenance or skills training.
For more information on the Reframing Mountain Biking conference, please see the website here.
Can you help?
Can you help?
Project FIAS (Fostering Inclusive Action Sports) is gathering information for a new Community Building Toolkit that will help support communities of women+ mountain bikers and contribute to the transformation of mountain bike culture towards greater inclusivity and gender equality. The Toolkit will help groups get them set up, grow and thrive.
If you would like your project, activity or group included in the toolkit, please let us know here.
More information:
The FIAS Toolkit aims to bring together the wealth of collective wisdom from existing groups and communities across the UK who create inclusive, welcoming spaces for women+. There is a lot of amazing work being done to open up mountain biking to all. We want this to be available and accessible to all.
The toolkit is part of our wider work on Project FIAS (Fostering Inclusive Action Sport).
The Toolkit will provide suggested activities, resources and case studies in four areas:
- Setting up a group: laying strong foundations for an inclusive, welcoming and thriving community
- Recruiting and diversifying: knowing who you’d like to connect with and how to reach them
- Getting the vibe right on every ride:
- ensuring a positive experience for all group members
- Retaining and sustaining:
- developing the group by investing in volunteers
Do you have suggestions for what we should include? Examples might include:
- A course you have done that helped set the tone of your group or establish group values
- The training your volunteers do
- A group you are part of that proactively recruits particular groups to combat inequalities in mountain biking
- A scheme you know of that helps encourage women+ to enroll in ride leader training
We are looking for small and large examples and resources, and case studies too.
Please feel free to forward this post!
Fi Spotswood nominated as one of Cycling UK’s 100 Women in Cycling
FIAS project lead Dr Fi Spotswood has been nominated as one of the 100 Women in Cycling 2023 by CyclingUK.
The nominations are designed to showcase and celebrate inspirational women who are encouraging others to experience the joy of cycling; Dr Spotswood was nominated based on project FIAS and the work we’re doing with our consortium of partners – which includes Welsh Cycling, Scottish Cycling, British Cycling and Forestry England.
“The 100 Women in Cycling initiative showcases the role women have to play in fostering a more inclusive culture across cycling,” said Dr Spotswood.
The FIAS project focuses on mountain biking: Dr Spotswood has been talking to women cyclists, industry and media to understand the persistent gender inequalities in the scene.
“Our follow-on projects at the University of Bristol underpin work with public organisations all committed to helping transform mountain biking. Collectively we’re working to continue transforming mountain biking so it is a place where women and girls feel they belong and can thrive.
“My roles in cycling vary – as well as our research, I lead a kids’ mountain bike club and I lead groups of women mountain bikers. It’s been fantastic to be nominated and to learn about all the other women working in incredible ways to foster change in cycling. I feel very proud.”
Click here to find out who else made the list of 2023 nominees!
Of Workshops and Projects
As we mentioned in our last blog, a couple of weeks ago we held our first steering group workshop with an incredible group of women with expertise in community building in action sports. We spent time discussing what actions sports are, what makes them different, and what the unique barriers are for women to get involved.
We also spent a lot of time thinking about what works in bringing women and girls into action sports, what helps them feel they belong and can develop a lifelong love of outdoor action sports. One of our amazing steering group members created this short video about our first workshop. Josie West was invited to join due to her passion for supporting women into different wave sports, and for transforming the cultures of these sports through collective action.
Like kite surfing, mountain biking is not unusual in its poor participation levels of women. Undoubtedly, the conversation is evolving positively amongst industry marketers and media, events organisers and policymakers. Change is happening, but we still have a long way to go before women and girls connect and engage with mountain biking in their own terms, in their own way, without caveats. The culture of action sports remain persistently male-dominated and masculine.
A New, National Framework
The steering group workshop up in Macclesfield also saw the launch of the next stage of our project – to co-create a national framework for transforming women’s mountain biking through supported, sustainable communities. These communities exist already in some places and we can learn a lot from them. Our research has put us in touch with so many fantastic women-led and women-oriented mountain bike groups. Thank you for the warm welcome our team has received!
Our work will use the existing collective wisdom from the organisers and drivers of these groups to develop a framework and resources that can strengthen existing communities of women mountain bikers, help launch new ones connected to local places, and support public organisations to embed transformative practice in the way they offer opportunities for women and girls in mountain biking.
With huge thanks to the wisdom and support of Aneela McKenna, Josie West, Sue Barrett, Kathy Goodey, Jo Lee Morris, Beth Perrou, Zoe Woodman and Claire Bennett.
And thanks to the Project FIAS research team Martin Hurcombe, Barnaby Marsh and Maria Moxey.
A Busy Week…
It’s been quite the week for Project FIAS!
We’ve just taken great strides towards our goal of co-creating a national strategy for women’s mountain biking by hosting our first steering committee workshop. We brought experts from a variety of action sports, not just mountain biking, to bear on a framework based on principles of increased opportunity, visibility, inclusivity, integration and transformation.
You’ll be hearing a lot more about this in the future.
What’s more, over the past few days there’s been a huge article published on the project entitled ‘Mind The Gap’ in the 34th issue of Cranked magazine (get your own copy here) and Aoife Glass of the award-nominated Spindrift podcast has published a wide-ranging interview with Fi online (here’s the link)
Thanks, as ever, to our research funders The British Academy and PolicyBristol.