An invitation to present current and recent initiatives on the theme of motivating young people in Hamburg to choose sustainable forms of transport to get to school, revealed a very wide range projects.
The occasion was the 25th meeting of the members of the “Hamburg lernt Nachhaltigkeit” (Hamburg learns Sustainability) initiative in September 2009.
It was organised by the Hamburg Behörde für Stadtentwicklung und Umwelt - BSU - (the Hamburg Department for Urban Development and Environment).
Mr Gunter Bleyer from the Hamburg Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung (Department for Schools and Vocational Training) outlined the reasons that the subject was important.
The transport choices people have while young and the decisions they make, influence their thinking and practices throughout the rest of their lives. Children and young people who don’t get into the habit of walking, cycling or using public transport will find their personal mobility restricted later in life. The way children and young people get around or are ferried about, affects the levels and patterns of traffic in Hamburg which further impacts upon their lives.
Mr Bleyer set out some uncomfortable statistics… Just 30 years ago children and young people were responsible for their own mobility. In 1970 there was one car in circulation per child, by 2008, the figure was four cars for each child.
Mr Gorch von Blomberg described projects to increase the uptake of cycling in Wilhelmsburg.
In 2006, the initiative Aktiv-Rad (realised with "Ein-Euro-Jobs") saw 50 young people and three teachers exploring their locality by bike. Despite its success, the project could not be repeated in subsequent years as insufficient pupils had access to a bike or knew how to ride one. To address these issues a new project was devised: “bikes 4 kids – Fahrradspenden für Wilhelmsburger Schulen” (bikes 4 kids – bike donation scheme for schools in Wilhelmsburg) and “Ein-Euro-Aktive-Jobs”.
The occasion was the 25th meeting of the members of the “Hamburg lernt Nachhaltigkeit” (Hamburg learns Sustainability) initiative in September 2009.
It was organised by the Hamburg Behörde für Stadtentwicklung und Umwelt - BSU - (the Hamburg Department for Urban Development and Environment).
Mr Gunter Bleyer from the Hamburg Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung (Department for Schools and Vocational Training) outlined the reasons that the subject was important.
The transport choices people have while young and the decisions they make, influence their thinking and practices throughout the rest of their lives. Children and young people who don’t get into the habit of walking, cycling or using public transport will find their personal mobility restricted later in life. The way children and young people get around or are ferried about, affects the levels and patterns of traffic in Hamburg which further impacts upon their lives.
Mr Bleyer set out some uncomfortable statistics… Just 30 years ago children and young people were responsible for their own mobility. In 1970 there was one car in circulation per child, by 2008, the figure was four cars for each child.
Mr Gorch von Blomberg described projects to increase the uptake of cycling in Wilhelmsburg.
In 2006, the initiative Aktiv-Rad (realised with "Ein-Euro-Jobs") saw 50 young people and three teachers exploring their locality by bike. Despite its success, the project could not be repeated in subsequent years as insufficient pupils had access to a bike or knew how to ride one. To address these issues a new project was devised: “bikes 4 kids – Fahrradspenden für Wilhelmsburger Schulen” (bikes 4 kids – bike donation scheme for schools in Wilhelmsburg) and “Ein-Euro-Aktive-Jobs”.
The aim is to enable and encourage people living, working, studying and attending school in Wilhelmsburg to use bicycles. Not only is cycling a way to improve physical and mental health, it is indisputable that personal mobility is also key to enabling people to be able to get back into work or to have access to a wider variety of employment opportunities.
One source of bikes is abandoned or unclaimed bikes from police stations. However, if you have a bike you no longer need, the organisers would like to hear from you. Please contact aktiv-rad@sbb-hamburg.de or 040-2190367-45.
Mr Martin Wachowiak showed attendees the materials that the Hamburger Verkehrs Verein (Hamburg Transport Association) produces for use in schools as part of its “Mobilitätsbildung – HVV-Schulberatung” (Mobility education – HVV Schools Advisory Service).
To further encourage children and young people to see public transport as an attractive and practical way of getting around, he goes into schools to talk to pupils. There is no charge for this service and the sessions are active and, as participants saw, the materials are comprehensive, attractive and socially inclusive.
Fear was one reason given for young people’s lack of enthusiasm for using public transport. Dr Andreas Huber, a colleague of Mr Wachowiak at the Hamburger Verkehrs Verein (HVV), outlined a project “Theater macht Schule” (Taking teaching onto the stage) run as a competition and which involved pupils performing in the city’s underground, buses and on ferries, for example.
The aim was for the young people involved to ‘reclaim’ public spaces and populate these in a way that made them comfortable using them. Dr Huber showed two of the results from the 2008 competition – ‘Underground Clips'. They were not only entertaining for his audience but had clearly engaged a great many of the passengers who were travelling when the pieces were performed.
One source of bikes is abandoned or unclaimed bikes from police stations. However, if you have a bike you no longer need, the organisers would like to hear from you. Please contact aktiv-rad@sbb-hamburg.de or 040-2190367-45.
Mr Martin Wachowiak showed attendees the materials that the Hamburger Verkehrs Verein (Hamburg Transport Association) produces for use in schools as part of its “Mobilitätsbildung – HVV-Schulberatung” (Mobility education – HVV Schools Advisory Service).
To further encourage children and young people to see public transport as an attractive and practical way of getting around, he goes into schools to talk to pupils. There is no charge for this service and the sessions are active and, as participants saw, the materials are comprehensive, attractive and socially inclusive.
Fear was one reason given for young people’s lack of enthusiasm for using public transport. Dr Andreas Huber, a colleague of Mr Wachowiak at the Hamburger Verkehrs Verein (HVV), outlined a project “Theater macht Schule” (Taking teaching onto the stage) run as a competition and which involved pupils performing in the city’s underground, buses and on ferries, for example.
The aim was for the young people involved to ‘reclaim’ public spaces and populate these in a way that made them comfortable using them. Dr Huber showed two of the results from the 2008 competition – ‘Underground Clips'. They were not only entertaining for his audience but had clearly engaged a great many of the passengers who were travelling when the pieces were performed.
In addition to offering reduced price travel for school classes travelling on the HVV network and staff to accompany them, the Hamburg Transport Association sets out to engage young people between the ages of 12 and 20 (classes 7-13) and teach them about sustainable mobility by means of a competition - the Futuretour.
Other areas of the site starting with the 'Info-Pool' page, offer information on the themes of 'mobility', 'traffic' and 'environnment', from the local and the global perspective.
For more information or to take part in future discussions
Teachers and others who can influence young people in their choice of transport are invited to attend the forum. Guests with an interest in the subject are also welcome. The contact is Mr Jürgen Forkel-Schubert at the BSU.
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