Overview
School mobility is a hot topic: in a framework where transport-related CO2 emissions continue to increase, school traffic accounts for about a 15% of the total traffic at urban level. Researches in different EU countries show that kids driven to school by car range from 30 to 60% according to country and school grade
School Chance aimed to explicitly incorporate children’ independent mobility into regional policies. Not only safe routes to schools, bike/walk to school campaigns and other unstructured mobility management initiatives: within SCHOOL CHANCE, partners developed a comprehensive strategy for making sustainable mobility at school an essential element of their mobility policy and increasing sustainable mobility by changing the behavior of schoolchildren-and the next generation’s mindset towards sustainability.
School Chance focused on policies that support cleaner transport modes and promote alternative behaviours in children’ mobility to and from school, working to develop an integrated set of tools to incorporate school mobility strategies at regional level. The objective was to reduce carbon emissions by finding innovative and coordinated ways to systematically address the 4 most pressing challenges in the development and implementation of school mobility policies: information, education, promotion, infrastructure. Partners worked together and learnt from each other how to encourage safe, healthy, autonomous and sustainable travel to school. It was done by:
- working across public authorities at different levels and other stakeholders to ensure that resources and policies are well-aligned
- identifying good practices that will improve the policy instruments via Regional Action Plans,
- developing a sound interregional learning program, a toolkit of best practices, and a certification of “mobility friendly schools”,
- developing a financial model funding sustainable solutions to be implemented within the RAP.