CHIFAM Travel

CHIFAM Travel is a research project funded by the Research Council of Finland that investigates the effectiveness of multilevel interventions in increasing active travel to school, leisure-time activities, and families’ everyday travel. A multilevel intervention combines elements that target the built environment, the classroom, and the individual (including their family). Qualitative and quantitative research methods are used to enable holistic examination throughout theoretical frameworks such as Social Practice Theory.

We study 4th- and 5th- grade students in various schools across Oulu. Schools are given different combinations of interventions in a way that enables comparison between effectiveness of multilevel and single-level interventions. Although we focus on school travel, our research is also interested in leisure trips, important places in children's living environment, and the modes of transport they use in their daily lives.

Our primary data collection method is participatory mapping (PPGIS). Collected spatial data is supplemented with physical activity data from accelerometer measurements and interviews with school staff, students, guardians, and city’s urban and transport planners.