Dr. Billy Fields, as a project with the Center for Research, Public Policy, and Training, directed the International Sustainable Transportation Engagement Program (I-STEP) study abroad program in the Netherlands this summer. I-STEP brought 12 students to the Netherlands to accomplish two goals:
Enhance student knowledge of best practices in sustainable transportation practices through experiential learning and
Establish a platform for knowledge sharing through a project-based class experience linked to final report of findings.
Students spent 2 weeks in the Netherlands engaging city planners, non-profits, academics, advocates, and everyday citizens in conversations about how to build a strong sustainable transportation system. Students were based out of Amsterdam and Rotterdam and made side trips to Zwolle, Kinderdijk, and Delft to explore different dimensions of the Dutch system. Through the course of these dialogues, the students accomplished a series of exercises to help engage transportation stakeholders, build substantive knowledge of the Netherlands system, and collect data on how the system works.
The student results are being turned into a project report that will be available in September at the project website housed through the Center for Research, Public Policy, and Training (http://crppt.polisci.txstate.edu/Study-Aboad.html ). The program is scheduled for a return trip to the Netherlands in the summer of 2017. Please see Dr. Fields for more information (wf16@txstate.edu).
