The Government of Nepal Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, United Nations Development Programme, Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Kantipur Media Group and Cycle City Network Nepal jointly launched a new campaign called “My Way Greenway” to promote cycling and other environment-friendly practices in Nepal.
The initiative, which kicked off with a cycle rally in Lalitpur on January 9, promoted and continues to promote sustainable urban mobility and environment-friendly lifestyle choices for urban populations in the context of COVID-19 and beyond by promoting cycling as an alternative mode of clean, healthy and affordable transport for commuters in cities. Part of the campaign also focused on advocacy and awareness for adoption of cycle-friendly policies and programs and environment-friendly lifestyle choices for urban populations. The campaign was launched in 7 municipalities.
During the campaign which is still running, GD Labs acted as an implementing partner providing support and expertise in the more technical aspects. This included conducting rapid assessment studies of bicycling in different cities, development of first prototype of greenway mobile application and designing 2 km bicycle boulevard area in Tulsipur, Dang. The mobile technology was and is still being used to track, map, credit and reward cycling practices and gradually connect with the larger ecosystem of solutions for healthy cities. People were motivated to use cycle or switch to cycling and other forms of cleaner transport through gamification of the cycling practice that incentivizes cyclists with rewards and also favours clean-businesses that sponsor and take part in the game. Until this date, the mobile application “Greenway Nepal” has been downloaded more than 9000 times.
Today, the campaign continues as a green social enterprise, led by GD Labs and partners NAXA, CCNN, and Sanopaila.