UO students help BEST plan Week Without Driving campaign
Five University of Oregon seniors in a public relations course are developing a campaign for how BEST can better educate and engage public officials about the needs of non-drivers during the national Week Without Driving: September 30–October 6, 2024.
Lance Robertson recently asked if BEST wanted to help a team of seniors learn how to develop a public relations campaign by being their client. This spring term, Robertson is teaching J454/554 Public Relations Campaigns, the capstone course in the sequence of instruction offered in public relations within the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communications.
Last week, BEST meet with students Sienna Barry, Parker Allen, Katrina Block, Kate Gunn-Wilkinson, and Willow Majewski to launch the effort. With BEST executive director Rob Zako and program manager Claire Roth, the group decided that a perfect campaign will be to design how BEST will participate in the Week Without Driving: September 30–October 6, 2024. That national effort aims to help public officials, transportation professionals, advocates, and others who have the option to drive regularly to understand the barriers and challenges that non-drivers face when trying to move safely in their communities, and to work with non-drivers to create better communities for all. BEST is looking to the students to think outside the box about how to better capture the attention and engage with especially those who decide what transportation options our community has.
Stay tuned for what the students recommend and join BEST this fall to walk in the shoes of those who do not drive regularly!
National Week Without Driving
America Walks urges elected officials, public officials, transportation professionals, organizations, advocates, and individuals to participate in the Week Without Driving: September 30–October 6, 2024. They want those who have the option to drive regularly to understand the barriers and challenges that non-drivers face when trying to move safely in their communities, and to work with non-drivers to create better communities for all.
People without a car or unable to drive should be able to get to where they need to go safely and effectively. But every day, Americans who can’t drive—approximately 25 percent of the population—face significant barriers to mobility such as inadequate sidewalks, poor transit, lack of connectivity and dangerous roads. The needs of non-drivers are too-often disregarded in transportation infrastructure and policies. Our goal should be a transportation system designed to support all individuals, regardless of ability, age, or income, that will strengthen our communities and enhance our quality of life.
In 2020, Disability Mobility Initiative began documenting the experiences of non-drivers in the State of Washington. In 2021 and 2022, they challenged elected officials and other decision-makers to a Week Without Driving—with profound effects on those who participated. In 2023, America Walks and Disability Mobility Initiative partnered to take the Week Without Driving national.
Public Relations Campaigns
J454/554 Public Relations Campaigns is the capstone course in the sequence of instruction offered in public relations within the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication. It provides students with an opportunity to apply the fundamentals of what they have learned over their course of study to actual client work and business problems. The course is designed to build professional experience and prepare them for the world that awaits them after graduation.