The Lens
Dosy Bikes
Cycling toward women’s freedom
By: Anshaj Ahuja, QS ImpACT
In Cairo, the challenges women face in getting around are layered and complex. Safety concerns on public transport, limited infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, air pollution that makes walking difficult. These aren't small inconveniences, they're obstacles that regularly prevent women from accessing education, employment, and full participation in society.
Nouran Farouk refused to accept the status quo she saw every day.
By turning this challenge into her initiative “Dosy Bikes”, an initiative that provides women with scooter and bicycle training for safe mobility, she showed how sustainable transport can drive women’s freedom and economic empowerment, earning her the 2025 QS ImpACT Woman SDG Leader Award.
From Barrier to Breakthrough
Nouran’s initiative addresses these challenges by creating access to safe transportation options. Women who once struggled to reach their workplaces or classrooms now have alternatives that put control back in their hands.
But this isn't just about getting from point A to point B. It's about dignity, independence, and the ability to move through public spaces without fear or limitation. When women can travel safely and sustainably, entire communities benefit.
Dosy Bikes also understood that handing someone a scooter, bicycle or transit pass was not enough. Real change requires knowledge, confidence, and community support.
That's why Nouran runs workshops and training programmes through Dosy, where women learn not just how to use sustainable transport, but also why it matters. By building confidence and practical mobility skills, Dosy is helping women claim their basic freedom of being able to move independently, while also encouraging more sustainable forms of urban mobility.
The ripple effects are significant. Women who participate in the programme take what they've learned home to their families. They share it with neighbors. They become voices for change in their communities, pushing for safer streets and greener infrastructure.
By building both skills and confidence, Dosy Bikes encourages women not only to move more freely but also to become advocates for safer and more inclusive public spaces.
Sustainable Impact Starts at Street Level
Urban transport is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and Cairo’s congested streets make the challenge even more visible. Long commutes, traffic jams, and dependence on fuel-powered vehicles shape everyday life in the city. Through Dosy Bikes, women are given access to scooter and bicycle training, opening up safer and more affordable ways to move through the city while encouraging small but meaningful shifts toward more sustainable transport.
By promoting mobility alternatives such as cycling and electric scooters, this project directly reduces Cairo's environmental footprint. It also does more than that: it changes how people think about getting around their city.
Community engagement sits at the heart of this work. Local partnerships ensure that solutions reflect Cairo's culture and context. Residents aren't passive recipients of a top-down programme, they're active participants shaping what sustainable mobility looks like in their neighborhoods. This approach creates ownership. When communities help design solutions, those solutions stick.
Nouran’s initiative also demonstrates something crucial: social justice and environmental sustainability aren't separate issues. They're deeply intertwined.
Women in Cairo face mobility barriers partly because urban planning has historically ignored their needs. Fixing that requires both gender-conscious policy and climate-smart infrastructure. You can't solve one without addressing the other.
Dosy Bikes aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 13 (Climate Action), but it also touches on sustainable cities, decent work, and reduced inequalities. It's a reminder that the most effective solutions tackle multiple challenges at once.
Youth Leadership, Global Impact
Nouran’s recognition through the QS ImpACT Awards highlights what's possible when young leaders refuse to accept the status quo. Her work in Cairo is part of a broader movement of youth-driven change happening in cities around the world, showing how local action can inspire global change.
The QS ImpACT Awards exist to celebrate exactly this kind of innovation, grassroots, community-focused solutions that create real impact.
Join the Movement
Are you driving change in your community? Applications for the QS ImpACT Awards 2026 are now open.
Whether you’re leading climate action, driving sustainability innovation, improving community well-being, or advancing impactful SDG projects, QS ImpACT wants to hear your story. Apply now: https://tinyurl.com/5eb55yte
Join a global network of young changemakers driving solutions for a better future.
QS ImpACT is a UK-registered charity and the global SDG incubator for a better world. Our global community of young people grows and earns recognition for driving positive social and environmental impact. Through strategic collaborations with universities, organisations, and communities, we equip young leaders with the skills, networks, and platforms needed to turn purpose into action. To date, QS ImpACT has engaged young people across 120+ countries, contributing 235,000+ volunteer hours and impacting 383,000+ people globally.
The culmination of the 2025 calendar year was marked by the first ever QS ImpACT Youth Summit 2025, our flagship global sustainability event designed for and by young leaders. Held alongside the QS Reimagine Education Awards, the Summit brought together youth, universities, educators, and forward-thinking organisations to explore how leadership, technology, and innovation can accelerate progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Summit also featured the QS ImpACT Awards 2025, celebrating outstanding youth-led initiatives and innovations across sustainability, climate action, education, health, gender equality, and community impact. Together, these programmes highlight the power of young changemakers to drive meaningful change and address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.