In the bilateral school partnership project of the grammar school IES San Blas in Añover de Tajo (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain) and the Handelslehranstalten in Lohne (Lower Saxony, Germany), 3 to 4 teachers and 10 to 15 students of the 11th grades participate in an exchange program which has been planned for a period of two years. Whilst the IES San Blas is a grammar school, the applicants of the Handelslehranstalten attend a business college. The applicants of both schools are between 16 and 19 years old. In both rural regions there is just a very rudimental public transport system which results in a high dependency of the population on the car as a method of transportation since there are no alternative mobility options. The mobility deficits in rural areas affect pupils as well as numerous parents, who are often used as ‘parent taxis’ to take children and young people to school, sports or friends. For both, parents and students, dependence on the car can therefore mean a loss in quality of life. In addition, in both regions the nearest bigger city centres can be reached by car in about 30 minutes and by public transport in about 45 - 60 minutes. At present, the private car is often the only way to reach services of general interest in both regions within an acceptable time. Based on the analysis of the described mobility problems in rural areas, the two project partner schools splitted the goal of the project into three parts: At first, the participating pupils, teachers and other school staff become aware of their own behaviour regarding their mobility. Afterwards, different alternative mobility concepts are presented to them. Finally they are supposed to change their mobility behaviour in a sustainable way or make it more resource saving, healthier and independent. This primarily refers to the daily way to school, which many of the participants could manage by taking a bicycle. Hence, a major goal of both schools is to significantly increase the proportion of people who come to school by bicycle or e-bike during the project period. Especially for larger distances, a carpooling app to be created during the project should be an additional offer to make the way to school more resource saving. Due to the rather rural organisation of school bus transport in both regions, the journey is often covered by car. The introduction and use of the carpooling app intends to reduce the number of individual car journeys and increase the number of carpools. At the beginning of the two-year project period, the participants will create a mobility diary in which they enter their daily distances. The analysis of the diaries, the statistical evaluation of surveys which have been filled out by students, teachers and school staff as well as the excursions and action days in Spain and Germany are intended to raise the participants' awareness of alternative mobility concepts and contribute to change their behaviour. During the excursions in Germany the participants will get to know the local mobility concept moobil+, the bicycle manufacturer Derby Cycle and the Hub Chain project. The excursion to Madrid will be themed "Mobility in a metropolis" and the World Heritage city of Toledo will be visited under the aspect of "Mobility in a historic old town". The action days "Bicycle for Future" and "El día de la bicicleta" are intended to highlight bicycles/E-bikes as a resource saving and healthy form of mobility and to encourage a switch to the two-wheeler as a means of transport for the way to school. As a result, the participants will create a mobile action plan in which they will consider how they will change their mobility behaviour and which of the alternative mobility concepts they will use. During a business game, the participants slip into the role of various stakeholders (e.g. politicians, citizens' initiatives, transport companies) who want to ensure long-term mobility in a fictitious rural town. In the long term, the circle of users of the carpooling app can be extended to other schools, but also to the companies of the trainees or apprentices of the schools. At the end of the project, a written concept for a resource saving and healthy way to school should be created. This concept should in the long run serve as a guidance for both schools and be included in the school programme. The positive outcomes of a sustainable, healthier and more independent mobility do not simply regard the ways to school but also those to sports and leisure time activities. Consequently, the project is supposed to support more independence from the car on the whole and therefore to have a positive impact of the appeal of rural areas in general.
In the bilateral school partnership project of the grammar school IES San Blas in Añover de Tajo (Castilla-La Mancha, Spain) and the Handelslehranstalten in Lohne (Lower Saxony, Germany), 2-3 teachers and 14 to 17 pupils from the 11th classes of the participating grammar schools and the 12th class of the Fachoberschule Wirtschaft of the applicant school, respectively, aged between 16 and 19 years, took part in the four pupil exchange trips over a project period of ultimately three years. In both rural regions, there is no acceptable local public transport service, the population is heavily dependent on cars as a means of transport and there is a lack of mobility alternatives. The mobility deficits in rural areas affect the pupils involved as well as numerous parents, who are often used as taxis to take children and young people to school, to sports or to friends. For both parents and pupils, dependence on the car can mean a loss of quality of life. In addition, in both regions the nearest major centres can be reached by car in about 30 minutes and by public transport in about 45-60 minutes. At present, the private car is often the only way to reach services of general interest in an acceptable time in both regions. Based on the analysis of the mobility problems in rural areas, the two project partner schools set themselves the goal that the participating pupils, teachers and staff of the schools first become aware of their own mobility behaviour at the beginning of the project, then get to know different alternative mobility concepts in the course of the project and finally change their mobility behaviour in a sustainable way or make it more resource-friendly, healthier and more independent. This primarily relates to the daily commute to school, which would usually be manageable by bicycle for many of the participants. Consequently, a major goal of both schools was to significantly increase the proportion of people who come to school by bicycle or e-bike during the project period. At the beginning of the project, the participants created a mobility diary in which they recorded their daily journeys. Both the analysis of the diaries, the statistical evaluation of surveys of pupils, teachers and staff of the schools as well as the excursions and action days in Spain and Germany have raised the participants' awareness of alternative mobility concepts and should contribute to behavioural change. During the excursions in Germany, the participants got to know the local mobility concept moobil+ and one of the largest specialist service providers for mail-order bicycle sales. The excursion to Madrid took place under the motto "Mobility in a metropolis" and the World Heritage city Toledo was explored under the aspect "Mobility in a historic old town". The excursions by bicycle in Münster and in Toledo focused on bicycles or e-bikes as a resource-saving and healthy form of mobility. In the further course of the project, the participants explored the question of how they will change their mobility behaviour and which of the alternative mobility concepts they will use in the future. Even though the concept for a resource-saving and healthy way to school planned for the end of the project could not be realised, mainly due to the pandemic and the constant changes in plans that came with it, the following pleasing results were achieved at the end of the project: Instead of the originally planned car-sharing app, which could not be created due to the pandemic, the car-sharing benches were presented to the participating schools and local politicians. Even though the installation of these car-sharing benches could not take place by the end of the project period, we are confident that this will happen soon and that the car journeys of the pupils will be reduced as planned. During the last mobility in Spain, local politicians in Añover de Tajo presented the project of a cycle path connecting the school village Añover de Tajo with the neighbouring village Alameda de la Sagra. Since the goal of a more resource-efficient, healthier and more independent mobility does not only refer to the way to school, but also to the ways to sports, leisure time and friends, we hope that in the long run the project will have contributed to a greater independence from the own car and to a certain extent to the preservation of the attractiveness of the rural area.