The European Mobility Week, which takes place from 16 to 22 September every year, this year covered 2,767 cities from 45 countries.
Like every year, this year too, YMCA Bitola marks the European Mobility Week #EuropeanMobilityWeek with the aim of raising public awareness among young people, all citizens and decision-makers about the importance of alternative modes of transport for an active lifestyle, healthier citizens and environments and reduced congestion and pollution. The theme of this year’s campaign is shared public spaces. We are aware that our public space is unfairly usurped by over 90% of vehicles. This must change.
We held the first meeting with representatives of primary schools in order to understand the vision of the European Mobility Week. The event was attended by representatives of 7 primary schools from our city, who recognized and accepted the idea of greater inclusion, as well as raising awareness among younger students.
The second event was for 18 students from 6 primary schools in Bitola. We talked about the European Mobility Week, about the bicycle as a means of transport, we had four activities, and we had a workshop on basic safety checks and DIY repairs. It is important for them to learn why we should all stand for this vision and have a beautiful and sustainable city.
During the rest of the week, peer educators from primary schools carried out activities aimed at sharing this knowledge, so that as many young people as possible could get involved and contribute to the vision of healthy, active, mobile and independent youth. The education on traffic culture and cycling agenda covered the primary schools Sv. Kliment Ohridski, Dr. Trifun Panovski, Stiv Naumov, Elpida Karamandi, Todor Angelevski and Kole Kaninski.
Thanks to the schools, who are interested in implementing such activities, to the school staff without whom such activities would not be possible, to the training participants who joined us, participated, who we believe learned something useful and who implemented activities in their schools on this topic. Peer education activities are of great importance, both for the city itself for popularizing the topic, and for familiarizing students with their responsibilities in traffic. We thank the Go Green – Bidi Zelen association and the Fikamago Bike bike shop and service for their support!
