Promoting winter cycling and walking
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN50613079 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN50613079 |
| Sponsor | Tampere University |
| Funder | Research Council of Finland |
- Submission date
- 16/12/2025
- Registration date
- 16/12/2025
- Last edited
- 16/12/2025
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Overall study status
- Ongoing
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
Multilevel active travel intervention on children’s and families’ travel practices (CHIFAM Travel) is a research project that aims to better understand the potential influences of prioritizing walking and cycling with winter maintenance and combined multilevel interventions on year-round active travel practices of children and their families. The CHIFAM Travel project conducts a clustered quasi-experimental controlled before–after study to understand if environmental, individual, social and organizational level changes influence children and their families’ everyday active travel practices.
Who can participate?
Eligible participants are 4th and 5th graders (at baseline) from the four enrolled study schools and the guardians of these children.
What does the study involve?
The CHIFAM Travel project conducts a clustered quasi-experimental controlled before–after study to understand if environmental, individual, social and organizational level changes influence children and their families’ everyday active travel practices. There will be winter maintenance interventions taking place in three study school neighbourhoods. One of these schools will also receive multi-component intervention, including group interventions at school with children and information campaign for guardians and children. One school serves as a waitlist control school, receiving the built environment level intervention only after the follow-up measurements.
The participants will take part in measurements at four timepoints: two pre-intervention baselines (winter and summer time) and at two post-intervention follow-ups (12- and 24-months post wintertime baseline.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The study provides valuable insights into children and their families active travel practices and the factors influencing their travel choices. This information can be used to plan winter maintenance practices, active travel policies and physical activity related services in cities areas. Participants will gain experience in scientific research and using measurement devices.
The potential risks of participating in this study are minimal and are not greater than those experienced during normal daily activities and transportation. However, the device used to measure physical activity will be attached to the thigh with adhesive tape, which could cause minor skin irritation for some participants.
Where is the study run from?
Transport Research Center Verne at Tampere University runs the study.
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
The intervention study starts 01/2026 and is expected to end at 08/2028.
Who is funding the study?
The study is funded by the Research Council of Finland under grant number 363010
Who is the main contact?
Dr. Tiina Rinne
Assistant Professor, Academy Research Fellow
Transport Research Center Verne
Tampere University
Contact information
Public, Scientific, Principal investigator
Korkeakoulunkatu 5
Tampere
33720
Finland
 ORCID ID |
0000-0001-8680-2263 |
|---|---|
| Phone | +358404544624 |
| tiina.rinne@tuni.fi |
Study information
| Primary study design | Interventional | |
|---|---|---|
| Allocation | Non-randomized controlled trial | |
| Masking | Open (masking not used) | |
| Control | Active | |
| Assignment | Due to the strong real-life environmental level intervention element (winter maintenance) embedded in the project the cluster assignment and intervention strategies are informed by context-sensitive approaches, considering variations in school-level factors such as school availability for the interventions and the socio-demographic, built environment and travel mode profiles of the schools (A, B, C, D). School B has specifically requested to participate in the study as a waitlist control school receiving the built environment level intervention only after the follow-up measurements, thus school B will be assigned as the control group. Based on the background characteristics, school A serves as a best match for school B, thus school A will be assigned to a multi-level intervention cluster receiving built environment level intervention combined with multiple other intervention elements. The two remaining schools (school C, school D) receive only the built environment intervention. This design enables us to compare between no intervention and built environment component, with a no intervention and a combined multi-component intervention and with built environment and multilevel intervention components. | |
| Purpose | Basic science, Prevention | |
| Scientific title | Promoting winter cycling and walking: a clustered quasi-experimental multi-component intervention in Oulu school neighbourhoods | |
| Study acronym | CHIFAM Travel | |
| Study objectives | The overall aim of the CHIFAM Travel intervention is to examine if prioritizing cycling and walking in winter maintenance can increase children and their families’ wintertime active travel practices. We expect this intervention to promote children’s active travel mode use, reduce the private vehicle chauffeuring of children and increase children’s physical activity levels. | |
| Ethics approval(s) |
Approved 12/09/2025, Ethics Committee of the Tampere Region (Kalevantie 4, Tampere, 33100, Finland; +358 (0) 294 52 11; heikki.eilo@tuni.fi), ref: 155/2025 | |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Increasing active travel (walking and cycling) among children in winter conditions. | |
| Intervention | The same participants will be followed at two pre-intervention baselines (winter and summer time) and at two post-intervention follow-ups (12- and 24-months post wintertime baseline). We follow the same pupils in the four study schools (three intervention, one control) at wintertime and summertime baselines, then assess within-subject changes at two time-points in wintertime follow-ups, accounting for school-level clustering. The intervention and the measurements are administered and delivered by the researchers, who adjust the details of the activities and timetables in cooperation with the school principal and teachers. The intervention activities mainly take place during school hours. The control group receives a delayed built environment intervention and the schools receive the materials for their own use, after the end measurements. Communication between the researchers and the participants and their guardians is facilitated by direct email and phone contacts, as well as by using the schools' application for communication with the guardians. Built Environment level intervention Winter maintenance on cycling and walking paths as well as on those roadways shared with cycling and walking in the neighbourhood areas around intervention schools will be improved. Together with the City of Oulu Transport Planning and Road maintenance authorities we will assign certain driveways and cycling and walkways belonging to the winter maintenance classes II and III to better maintenance categories. Individual and Familial level intervention Families will be engaged through an information campaign designed to enhance their understanding of the positive effects of active travel on physical health, well being, and the environment. The campaign will use flyers that include maps highlighting the accessibility of school areas, along with educational content about the benefits of active travel. Researchers will also aim to deliver a presentation during a parent evening (vanhempainilta) at the school, sharing insights into children’s active travel habits and their impact. Social-Organisational level intervention The social-organisational level intervention element will be conducted as per the principles of Participatory Action Research (PAR). Here, the intervention process and design will be collaborative, involving researchers and pupils in designing the intervention. This approach emphasizes co-learning, empowerment of children and adds contextual relevance to ensure that the intervention is as relevant and meaningful as possible for the participating school and pupils. The intervention element will be designed with pupils based on the baseline data results which will be analysed and interpreted in collaboration with the pupils. Thus, the baseline findings will be used to create and design an intervention element that the pupils find most appropriate and relevant to increase wintertime active travel practices. | |
| Intervention type | Mixed | |
| Primary outcome measure(s) |
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| Key secondary outcome measure(s) |
| |
| Completion date | 31/08/2028 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Lower age limit | 9 Years |
| Upper age limit | 14 Years |
| Sex | All |
| Target sample size at registration | 400 |
| Key inclusion criteria | 1. 9-12year-old child (at baseline) who attend classes in the study schools 2. Give informed consent and have their guardian's consent to participate 3. Additionally, from amongst the participants, a sample of 9- to 12 years old (at baseline) children with diverse travel habits and their guardians will be recruited for the semi-structured interviews 4. Additionally, from amongst the participants, a sample of 9- to 12 years old (at baseline) children will be recruited for accelerometer measurements 5. Additionally, a guardian of a participating child will be recruited to participate in the participatory mapping survey |
| Key exclusion criteria | Not meeting the inclusion criteria. |
| Date of first enrolment | 02/02/2026 |
| Date of final enrolment | 31/03/2028 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Finland
Study participating centres
Results and Publications
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
|---|---|
| IPD sharing plan summary | Stored in publicly available repository |
| IPD sharing plan | After the research project ends, fully anonymized data will be stored in the publicly available repository (Zenodo / https://zenodo.org/) as open data for 5 years. However, all respondents’ home locations and background information classified as personal data will be completely removed from the anonymized dataset. The published spatial dataset will include everyday location markings, which will also be anonymized in accordance with a validated protocol (1) for anonymizing spatial participatory mapping data. 1. Hasanzadeh, K., Kajosaari, A., Häggman, D., & Kyttä, M. (2020). A context sensitive approach to anonymizing public participation GIS data: From development to the as-sessment of anonymization effects on data quality. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 83, 101513. |
Editorial Notes
16/12/2025: Trial's existence confirmed by Ethics Committee of the Tampere Region.
