German exchange promotes sustainable transportation

Faculty and students from UM-Flint’s College of Arts & Sciences have recently taken advantage of an exchange partnership between the institution and Germany’s Bergische University of Wuppertal (BUW). Professor Greg Rybarczyk of the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment spent time as a visiting scholar in BUW’s Department of Urban Studies & Sustainable Infrastructure Planning. Much of the visit centered around his ongoing research on sustainable transportation such as bicycles. Flint and Wuppertal are both post-industrial cities, he noted, so the research is easily transferable between the two locations. The program was established in 2012.

After Rybarczyk returned, another ambassador from his department traveled to Wuppertal: senior Zachary Hayes, who was excited to be able to continue Rybarczyk’s work. “I will be picking up where he left off,” said Hayes. “The overall goal of the project is to effectively measure how different variables affect bicyclists’ perceptions of their environment and how we can design cities that are safer for them.”

Rybarczyk hopes that Hayes and future BUW exchange students not only learn academic lessons, but gain some important practical skills as well. “I believe that learning self-reliance is essential in today’s world,” noted Rybarczyk. “The other major benefit of becoming part of the BUW/UM-Flint exchange program is that the student has a golden opportunity to become a global citizen and grow as a person.”

Zachary Hayes agreed: “Germany has shown me a different way of living, one that I think Americans could learn from.”