Mobility Management: Education
In Gdansk, more and more parents bring their children to school by car, which significantly contributes to congestion, pollution and safety risks during peak times. To address this situation, the city decided to run an educational programme to encourage school children and their parents to opt for more sustainable modes.
Implementing sustainable mobility
As part of the city’s efforts towards sustainable mobility, Gdansk is running a series of educational activities to change mobility habits of daily trips to school among children and their parents. The rapid rise in parents who drive children to school is detrimental to the children’s health and contributes significantly to congestion during peak times. Another problem is an increase in accidents near schools.
The goal of the measure is to:
>> Raise awareness of transport issues among children and their parents; and
>> Encourage the use of sustainable modes.
More precisely, Gdansk wants to make school children and their parents aware of health and safety issues, their carbon footprint and problems of congestion and pollution. The city hopes that greater awareness will lead children and their parents to reflect on their transport choices and switch to sustainable modes. To this end, Gdansk decided to develop educational tools, communication and campaign materials. Educational programmes and games for schools, as well as an online social network are part of the measure. There will be the possibility for inter-school games.
How is the measure progressing
Gdansk investigated state-of-the-art tools for the promotion of sustainable transport in schools and tailored the most appropriate products to the city’s needs. The city has decided on a programme called “Return home safely” that consists of a series of press publications on safety issues, gadgets and two art competitions. Gdansk produced for example a “Cyclist Manual” on DVD that initially comprised 1,000 copies. On 30 May, 2010, there was an educational “Biking safely” activity in cooperation with the police. Further events were held during the MIMOSA Mobility Week in 2010.
What are the expected results of the measure
The measure is expected to influence transport choices of school children and their parents in favour of sustainable modes such as cycling and walking. Another outcome will be increased safety around schools.
Gdansk projects:
>> A 10 percent reduction in car use;
>> An attitudinal shift of 10 percent among children included in the programme towards a positive perception of sustainable modes;
>> 20 percent of children using the web network regularly; and
>> The successful demonstration of a “walking school bus”.
Contact: Marzena Kocik
