20 years of school travel plans – our school is on board!
The Brussels-Capital Region supports sustainable mobility, especially in schools. To help schools develop a climate conducive to soft mobility, Brussels has its own agency: Bruxelles Mobilité. It helps schools transform their environment to motivate pupils to walk, cycle or use public transport to get there. This commitment should raise awareness of the need to protect our planet and, ultimately, our lives. On 27 January, Bruxelles Mobilité celebrated twenty years of these school travel plans (PDS). EEB2 was on board and even contributed to a conference and workshop during this special school mobility fair.
First, all participants were warmly welcomed by Elke Van den Brandt, Minister for Mobility, Public Works and Road Safety. She praised the contribution of all the schools that are part of the PDS network in Brussels and are helping to transform the city. On average, we can see that the modal split (the distribution of transport mode) in schools participating in the PDS is changing – road traffic is decreasing and soft mobility is increasing. This is a success for the PDS. The minister warmly congratulated the participating schools, such as ours. She concluded her speech with the following summary: ‘Thank you for your commitment, thank you for your presence today. You are helping to make our beautiful capital city a better place to breathe!’
At the Mobility Fair, Antoine Moretto, physical education teacher, and Simone Silva, primary school environmental project coordinator, presented the cyclist and pedestrian manuals. It is important to note that from nursery school onwards, children are introduced to cycling, more specifically through the use of balance bikes. This early learning allows them to acquire the concept of balance at a very early age, thus facilitating the transition to the cycling lessons offered in primary school. This initiative arose from the observation that many P5 pupils still did not know how to ride a bike – a situation considered to be a cause for concern. The project will therefore be extended to P1, P2 and P3 classes in the coming years to ensure progressive and continuous learning. Knowing how to get around on foot in an urban environment is also a challenge: children must learn to be aware of many safety factors. That is why, this year, Year 1 pupils are taking the ‘Badge du Petit Piéton’ (Little Pedestrian Badge) course, an activity that aims to teach them the right reflexes for getting around town independently and safely. This programme will help to encourage walking and improve safety during various school trips.
The EEB2 secondary school then presented how the PDS was implemented in our school. Our Green Team students showed their actions and efforts to support soft mobility. For example, the Green Team distributes biscuits to everyone who arrives on foot or by bicycle several times a year to motivate our pupils. Another activity presented was the Green Team's campaign to raise awareness among parents who drive their children to school not to park their cars on the cycle path when they drop their children off at the main entrance. They also welcomed the reopening of Gate 1 for cyclists, a decision that the management supported after the intervention of experts from Bruxelles Mobilité, who helped to make our school more bicycle-friendly. Bruxelles Mobilité also gave us a gift – we received modern bicycle racks in the shape of an inverted U, which meet current standards for bicycle parking. The old racks, known as “tyre/rim killers” (Felgenkiller) in German, have fortunately been replaced. All this was only possible thanks to the Brussels Mobility Agency, which welcomed our school into its network aware of the challenges of soft mobility. The contribution of our Green Team students was warmly applauded by the audience.
On behalf of the entire school, we would like to congratulate our students: Maya Ludden-Griesse (President of the Green Team), Klara Sestini-Andersen, Denisa Burja, Nicola Enev and Nolan Caparros. They have made EEB2 shine among the schools committed to sustainable mobility in the Brussels-Capital Region.
