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University of Amsterdam
Alternative Mobility Narratives
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University of Amsterdam

Alternative Mobility Narratives

This course is part of Human Mobility in Future Cities Specialization

Anna Nikolaeva
Marco te Brömmelstroet
George Liu

Instructors: Anna Nikolaeva

Instructors

Instructor ratings

We asked all learners to give feedback on our instructors based on the quality of their teaching style.

4.7 (15 ratings)
Anna Nikolaeva
Anna Nikolaeva
3 Courses•15,892 learners
Marco te Brömmelstroet
Marco te Brömmelstroet
4 Courses•26,106 learners
George Liu
George Liu
4 Courses•26,106 learners

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7 modules
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.8

(35 reviews)

Intermediate level
Some related experience required
3 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

7 modules
Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.8

(35 reviews)

Intermediate level
Some related experience required
3 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
  • About
  • Outcomes
  • Modules
  • Recommendations
  • Testimonials
  • Reviews

What you'll learn

  • We will reflect on the role of language and narratives in shaping our views on mobility, transport policy and mobility innovation

  • You will learn about the implied (but invisible) homo-economicus in our thinking about mobility and our transportation system

  • We present 4 alternatives to the homo-economicus model: 1)mobility as unnecessity 2)mobility as commons 3)mobility as play 4)mobility as interaction

  • In the final project, you will choose a mobility innovation and critically reflect on it from these alternative and meaningful perspectives.

Skills you'll gain

  • Media and Communications
  • Policy Analysis
  • Storytelling
  • Community Development
  • Design Thinking
  • Critical Thinking
  • Sociology
  • Creativity
  • Social Justice
  • Systems Thinking

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

13 assignments

Taught in English

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Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Human Mobility in Future Cities Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
  • Learn new concepts from industry experts
  • Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
  • Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
  • Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 7 modules in this course

Ready to imagine a radically different mobility future? This course is about the stories that we tell ourselves about why and how we move. By critically examining our current narratives, we help you think about mobility in a new way. Using systems dynamics modelling, we explore how a mobility innovation (of your choice) impacts our mobility system as a whole, for better or for worse. This course will invite you to reflect on our mainstream mobility narrative built on engineering and economics. But warning: you may end up never looking at mobility in the same way again!

This online course is supported by the EIT Urban Mobility’s Competence Hub. EIT Urban Mobility is an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) that has been working since January 2019 to encourage positive changes in the way people move around cities in order to make them more sustainable and liveable places.

What's included

3 videos11 readings2 assignments1 plugin

3 videos•Total 50 minutes
  • Course Introduction with Marco te Brömmelstroet and George Liu•12 minutes
  • The Art of Using Mobility Language•24 minutes
  • Systems Thinking and Loopy Tutorial•13 minutes
11 readings•Total 109 minutes
  • Meet the team•5 minutes
  • Content and Aim of Alternative Narratives for Urban Mobility Futures•5 minutes
  • Keep notes to prepare for your final assignment!•3 minutes
  • Support and feedback•3 minutes
  • Block 1 content•3 minutes
  • How much time to spend on academic papers?•5 minutes
  • "Interpretative flexibility" and "Discourse institutionalization"•45 minutes
  • Don't Say 'Cyclists,' Say 'People on Bikes'•10 minutes
  • What to Do if You’re Hit by a Car•15 minutes
  • About the Weekly Assignments•10 minutes
  • Examples of Loopy System Diagrams•5 minutes
2 assignments•Total 15 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: "Interpretative flexibility" and "Discourse institutionalization"•5 minutes
  • Block 1 Graded Quiz•10 minutes
1 plugin•Total 15 minutes
  • How language shapes the way we think | Lera Boroditsky TED Talk•15 minutes

What's included

1 video7 readings2 assignments2 discussion prompts

1 video•Total 26 minutes
  • Block 2 Intro with Miloš Mladenović•26 minutes
7 readings•Total 98 minutes
  • Block 2 content•3 minutes
  • "Current key imaginaries of mobility" and "From economic thinking to economic being"•45 minutes
  • Texas A&M Urban Mobility Report•10 minutes
  • The Boring Company•15 minutes
  • Videos on the effects of the dominant narrative•5 minutes
  • What is a mobility innovation?•5 minutes
  • Examples of Mobility Innovations•15 minutes
2 assignments•Total 15 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: "Current key imaginaries of mobility" and "From economic thinking to economic being"•5 minutes
  • Block 2 Graded Quiz•10 minutes
2 discussion prompts•Total 55 minutes
  • Searching your news or social media•10 minutes
  • Mini-Assignment: Select a Mobility Innovation•45 minutes

What's included

3 videos5 readings2 assignments2 discussion prompts

3 videos•Total 62 minutes
  • Reflection: The Roots of Dominant Mobility Imaginaries, narrated by António Ferreira•22 minutes
  • Reflection: Localism and Immotility, narrated by António Ferreira•21 minutes
  • Reflection: Mobility Beyond Instrumentalism, narrated by António Ferreira•18 minutes
5 readings•Total 83 minutes
  • Block 3 content•3 minutes
  • Immotility as resilience? A key consideration for transport policy and research•45 minutes
  • (Optional) The social destruction of speed•10 minutes
  • If Seeing the World Helps Ruin It, Should We Stay Home?•15 minutes
  • Viewpoint blog on mindful traveling•10 minutes
2 assignments•Total 15 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Immotility as resilience? A key consideration for transport policy and research•5 minutes
  • Block 3 Graded Quiz•10 minutes
2 discussion prompts•Total 50 minutes
  • COVID-19 and less travel•10 minutes
  • Mini-Assignment on Unnecessity•40 minutes

What's included

3 videos3 readings2 assignments2 discussion prompts

3 videos•Total 23 minutes
  • Block 4 Intro with Anna Nikolaeva•19 minutes
  • Talking Living Streets with Ghent’s Vice Mayor Filip Watteeuw | Streetfilms.org•2 minutes
  • Prompt video for forum post on COVID-19 and Commoning Mobility•1 minute
3 readings•Total 63 minutes
  • Block 4 content•3 minutes
  • Commoning mobility: Towards a new politics of mobility transitions•45 minutes
  • How this Amsterdam inventor gave bike-sharing to the world•15 minutes
2 assignments•Total 15 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Commoning mobility: Towards a new politics of mobility transitions•5 minutes
  • Block 4 Graded Quiz•10 minutes
2 discussion prompts•Total 50 minutes
  • COVID-19 and Commoning Mobility•10 minutes
  • Mini-Assignment on Commoning•40 minutes

What's included

1 video3 readings2 assignments1 discussion prompt1 plugin

1 video•Total 10 minutes
  • Block 5 Intro with Marco te Brömmelstroet and George Liu•10 minutes
3 readings•Total 63 minutes
  • Block 5 content•3 minutes
  • Have a good trip! Expanding our concepts of the quality of travel time with flow theory•45 minutes
  • Why Run? BBC Radio Four Thought episode with Adharanand Finn•15 minutes
2 assignments•Total 15 minutes
  • Practice quiz: Have a good trip! Expanding our concepts of the quality of travel time with Flow theory•5 minutes
  • Block 5 Graded Quiz•10 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 40 minutes
  • Mini-Assignment on Play•40 minutes
1 plugin•Total 10 minutes
  • Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi | FightMediocrity YouTube•10 minutes

What's included

4 readings2 assignments1 discussion prompt2 plugins

4 readings•Total 68 minutes
  • Block 6 content•3 minutes
  • Travelling together alone and alone together: mobility and potential exposure to diversity•45 minutes
  • Jane Jacobs's Sidewalk Ballet•10 minutes
  • People-centered methods for cycling•10 minutes
2 assignments•Total 15 minutes
  • Practice Quiz: Travelling together alone and alone together: mobility and potential exposure to diversity•5 minutes
  • Block 6 Graded Quiz•10 minutes
1 discussion prompt•Total 40 minutes
  • Mini-Assignment on Interaction•40 minutes
2 plugins•Total 95 minutes
  • Taylor & Francis Podcast: Why cycling is good for society•35 minutes
  • Documentary: A way we go•60 minutes

What's included

1 reading1 assignment1 peer review2 discussion prompts

1 reading•Total 25 minutes
  • “Mobility as meaningful part of societies“•25 minutes
1 assignment•Total 5 minutes
  • “Mobility as meaningful part of societies“•5 minutes
1 peer review•Total 360 minutes
  • Final Assignment: Fundamental Rethink of a Mobility Innovation•360 minutes
2 discussion prompts•Total 20 minutes
  • Mobility narratives around the world•10 minutes
  • Additional alternative narratives•10 minutes

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.

Instructors

Instructor ratings

Instructor ratings

We asked all learners to give feedback on our instructors based on the quality of their teaching style.

4.7 (15 ratings)
Anna Nikolaeva
Anna Nikolaeva
3 Courses•15,892 learners
Marco te Brömmelstroet
Marco te Brömmelstroet
4 Courses•26,106 learners
George Liu
George Liu
4 Courses•26,106 learners

Offered by

University of Amsterdam

Offered by

University of Amsterdam

A modern university with a rich history, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) traces its roots back to 1632, when the Golden Age school Athenaeum Illustre was established to train students in trade and philosophy. Today, with more than 44,000 students, 6,000 staff and 285 study programmes (Bachelor's and Master's), many of which are taught in English, and a budget of more than 900 million euros, it is one of the largest comprehensive universities in Europe. It is a member of the League of European Research Universities and also maintains intensive contact with other leading research universities around the world.

EIT Urban Mobility

Offered by

EIT Urban Mobility

This online course is supported by the EIT Urban Mobility’s Competence Hub. EIT Urban Mobility is an initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) that has been working since January 2019 to encourage positive changes in the way people move around cities in order to make them more sustainable and liveable places. Within EIT Urban Mobility’s Academy, the Competence Hub provides training programmes and content for professionals working in the field of urban mobility. We leverage the expertise of EIT Urban Mobility’s unique network of 85+ European companies, research institutions, universities and cities, to identify trends and new technologies, highlight key issues and controversies, as well as to create innovative and useful training programmes. By helping urban mobility professionals around Europe acquiring the right knowledge and developing the relevant skills, we will close the urban mobility knowledge gap and make our cities more resilient and viable.

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Learner reviews

4.8

35 reviews

  • 5 stars

    77.14%

  • 4 stars

    22.85%

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Showing 3 of 35

S
SC
5

Reviewed on Jun 15, 2022

Make the participant think about multiple mobility options and the dynamics around it

U
U
5

Reviewed on Sep 25, 2022

V​ery interesting and much more informative than I expected. I loved it so much that I actually kept learning and finished it early. :)

J
JS
5

Reviewed on Dec 29, 2021

Really good course. Good balance between reading and other learning resources.

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