We've been hosting this study abroad program nearly every summer since 2011, and have introduced 71 students to international concepts in sustainable transportation. Here are just a few of the things our program alumni have to say about their experience:

"I was amazed at how far I could walk and still be in a walkable part of the city. Walk far enough in Salem or Portland and you’ll eventually reach a point where it feels like pedestrians and cyclists are an afterthought. If there’s an equivalent place in Copenhagen, I imagine I'd have to go out of my way to find it."

- PSU Civil Engineering (2024 student)

"I am incredibly excited for the ways this time abroad will serve as a source of inspiration and contribute to an ethos that will guide my future career as a planner."

- PSU Master of Urban and Regional Planning (2023 student)

"I wanted to see Scandinavia’s multimodal sustainable infrastructure in action, to increase my knowledge so I can improve transportation design in my work as an engineer. What I found was a biking paradise in Copenhagen and a pedestrian's dream in Stockholm. From biking to and from the suburbs to five-minute cities; a train every three minutes to e-bike share; a power station run off of recycling, and so many ways to be sustainable. I found that the public transportation system was accessible to all, sustainable, and reliable."

- Transportation Engineer (2022 student)

"The Dutch use the bicycle in a very different way than we do in the US. Without helmets, without spandex, they use the bike as a functional means of moving, rather than for sporting... One of my goals for this trip is to bring some Dutch inspiration back to Portland and to the US. In particular, I'm interested in how road design for bicycling can appeal to not just the "strong and fearless" spandex riders, but to every day people making every day trips."
- Active Transportation Planner (2019 student)

"Riding and experiencing the cycling infrastructure was so important to understanding why it is so successful as was meeting residents and professionals in the Netherlands. As a planner, I found this course very useful for understanding how engineers, both American and Dutch, understand the street. I've also been able to bring back my experience to my practice not just for bicycle infrastructure but forward-looking research on micro-mobility as Europe has some very interesting light vehicles. This was definitely a trip I'd recommend to anyone interested in learning more about bringing cycling infrastructure back to North America."
- New Mobility Planner (2016 student)

"I’ve been Amsterdam and Copenhagen before; so I thought I absorbed most of the advanced pedestrian/bicycle facilities through walking or biking around. But then, I studied abroad with IBPI to The Netherlands and put my previous self-learning experience to shame. With IBPI, you’ll not only look at world class bicycle facilities, you’ll meet some fantastic American colleagues on your trip, live a high quality of life like the Dutch, and begin to accumulate an amazing photo library. If you are own the fence about going, jump off the fence and onto a Dutch bike with IBPI!"
- Transportation Engineer (2013 student)