Walk the walk and get in on the talk.
Help make Downtown Burlington a more walkable, bikeable, liveable city.
Join international liveable-city advisor Gil Penalosa and the team from 8-80 Cities to learn, discuss and share ideas about how to make Downtown Burlington an even more bike- and pedestrian-friendly place with great public space.
- Where: The Burlington Art Centre
- When: Tuesday, September 21, 7 - 9 p.m.
- What: One-hour presentation followed by a public Q&A (HINT: Bring your questions!)
8 - 80 Cities (formerly Walk and Bike for Life) is a Canadian based non-profit organization with an international outlook. Our goal is to contribute to the creation of vibrant cities and healthy communities, where residents live happier and enjoy great public places. We promote walking and bicycling as activities and urban parks, trails and other public spaces as great places for all. These activities and public spaces improve our environment, advance economic development, boost and complement our transportation systems, make better recreation for all, and enhance our personal and public
health.
Last year 8-80 Cities implemented 19 projects across Ontario. The projects focused on providing communities with the tools to advocate for improved pedestrian and bicycling facilities. Please take a look at the final reports from these projects available on our website, www.8-80cities.org.
Gil Penalosa
Internationally renowned consultant and social marketing strategist Gil Penalosa is passionate about vibrant and healthy communities. Hoping to improve the quality of life for all residents, Gil endorses environmentally friendly activities such as walking and cycling while promoting the benefits of city parks and trails. By encouraging the use and development of public spaces, Gil believes society will be able to more effectively foster sustainable communities and cities. Because of his unique blend of pragmatism and passion, Gil’s leadership has been sought out by many organizations. As Executive Director of Canadian non-profit organization 8-80 Cities, Gil’s tireless commitment to fostering healthy communities remains front and centre. He also works as Senior Consultant for the renowned Danish firm Gehl Architects and he serves on the Boards of Directors of American Trails and City Parks Alliance.
After many years of managerial experience in the private and public sector, Gil was appointed Commissioner of Parks, Sport and Recreation for the City of Bogotá, Colombia. In that position Gil successfully led the design and development of 200 parks and initiated Ciclovia—car-free Sundays— today an internationally recognized event which sees over 1.5 million people walk, run skate and bike along 91 kilometers of Bogotá’s city roads.
A speaker in high demand, Gil presented at over 150 workshops and seminars in North America and was the keynote speaker at numerous international conferences throughout the Americas, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Gil holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of California’s Anderson School of Management.
8-80 Community Engagement Day is a project of 8-80 Cities, a non profit organization dedicated to promoting walking, cycling and great public places as means to achieving:
Vibrant Cities - Healthy Communities - Great Places - Happy People
