The Strong Towns Podcast How Bottom-Up Action Is Connecting People Across the World
Nov 13, 2025
Norm Van Eeden Petersman, Member Advocate with Strong Towns, connects local efforts worldwide, from the Bahamas to Mongolia. He discusses the power of citizen-led action versus centralized projects, emphasizing how collective understanding of street design can unite people in Colombia and Uganda. Norm shares insights on converting local conversations into action, making Strong Towns principles applicable even in unitary governments. Finally, he highlights how to empower listeners to become local change agents through community-driven experiments and toolkits.
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Focus On Local, Not National Storms
- Centralized vs. citizen-led frames local problem-solving as fundamentally different and actionable.
- Norm says focusing on block and neighborhood scales lets citizens make real progress despite larger political storms.
Bahamas Members Asked About Local Impact
- A group in the Bahamas wondered if Strong Towns applied under a unitary government and found citizen-led tactics still worked.
- Norm used their question to show local scale action translates across government structures.
Start At The Block Or Neighborhood
- Find reachable scales like the block or neighborhood where you can act and influence outcomes.
- Norm advised focusing locally to make civic work feel achievable and to start tangible change.