Later this year, I will be piloting the Pedestrian Space ‘Sustainable Urbanism & Planetary Health’ curriculum.
One of my pilot partners is a school for youth on the autism spectrum. Together we’ve decided to choose the thematic module ‘Mobility’ for the pilot, focusing in particular on ‘Public Transportation’, a topic that many of them are also already passionate about.
I’m excited to pilot a ‘Public Transportation’ mobility module for this group of students, exploring and discussing existing options in the city, but also learning about public transportation in other cities.
In my classes during the 2025/26 school year with primary school students, I dedicated one month to the theme ‘Mobility & Transportation,’ showing the students diverse public transport modes while also discussing their own local and regional experiences. They were completely wowed by images of suspended rail and also intrigued that in some other places, ferries are part of the public transport system.
This pilot is also meaningful for me as I know many of these students will grow up not able or not choosing to drive, and thus also dependent on walkable and bikeable community spaces and convenient, affordable, and accessible public transportation systems.
Shaping awareness and appreciation for more sustainable modes of mobility from a young age is part of a sustainable urbanism paradigm shift as well as often a vital part of life skills for some neurodivergent youth.
I spent many years working in diverse special education needs environments, and I genuinely love engaging with students with various neurodivergences.
As a mother to a child diagnosed with moderate autism, I also bring the perspective of someone who has navigated these systems as a parent for my child’s entire life.
Are you working with or interested in issues of neurodivergence and sustainable mobility, and issues of sustainable urbanism broadly, and curious to collaborate? At Pedestrian Space, we are open to future collaborations for this curriculum with diverse educators, organizations, and schools globally. We are also open to collaboration with homeschoolers, aiming to connect and collaborate with those who are not often accommodated in mainstream educational environments.
Feel free to connect at info@pedestrianspace.org.
~Annika
