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FAST AND FURIOUS BUT SAFE AND GREEN

2022-3-PL01-KA152-YOU-0000975652022Mobility of young peoplefinalized
Countries: PL|LT|CZ|ES|PT|TR · Grant: €31,760
Green transport and mobilityGreen skillsEnvironment and climate change

Objectives

In order to properly indicate, the goals of the project, it is worth discussing the prologue of its creation. The idea for the project was born during the youth exchange that took place in Tarnow in June 2022, which was attended by people who were members of the Polish, Lithuanian and Spanish groups during the present project. During one of the workshops, a discussion spontaneously arose among the participants about how the issue of traffic safety is handled in their countries, especially when it comes to pedestrians, cyclists and people using electromobility solutions, such as scooters. This led us to the conclusion that there would be a project on promoting green transportation while promoting traffic safety, since apparently this was a problem for young people in Europe. We saw the need for educational activities on the issue of traffic safety among young people (very often young people were injured in traffic accidents due to their little experience, for example, in moving on scooters, or insufficiently attentive in pedestrian traffic, preoccupied with the use of a smartphone). Confirmation of our assumptions on these issues was provided by information contained in several reports, such as "TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS IN POLAND IN 2021." of the Police Headquarters, in which we read: "About 40% of all road accident victims in Poland were 'vulnerable' road users. Special attention should be paid to this group, because unlike those moving in cars, these people were not shielded by the body of the car and could not rely on the operation of airbags or seat belts. The main causes of hit-and-run pedestrians and cyclists were failure to give priority to pedestrians at pedestrian crossings. It should be noted that pedestrian hit-and-runs caused by failure to adjust speed were characterized by tragic consequences - in almost every fourth accident a person was killed." We placed a very strong emphasis in the project on promoting appropriate attitudes on the road and prudent use of shared public roads, but also on promoting the use of bicycle helmets whenever and wherever possible to ensure greater safety. This is where the report compiled by Czech scientists, "Cycling fatalities: When a helmet is useless and when it might save your life," Safety Science 2018, came in handy, in which we read: "The helmet could help the most for those who died in accidents not involving other vehicles. This refers to cases in which cyclists fell off their bicycles, hit obstacles, or some other cases in which the main cause of the cyclist's death was intracranial damage. The situation in which a helmet would have saved a life involved 44 of the 119 cases of cyclists who died (37%)." Another goal of the project was to develop awareness among participants about how energy transition can change the daily habits of people in Europe and contribute to reducing the negative human impact on climate change. This was another topic arising from the joint reflections of participants and members of partner organizations. The previously mentioned topic related to safety evolved into a consideration of what the future of transportation in Europe will look like through the prism of environmental challenges and the increased role of public transportation and the shift away from individual transportation. In this light, education on safety in the use of eco-vehicles, such as bicycles and scooters, for example, both regular and electric, again received special attention. Confirmation of our assumptions about the legitimacy of measures in this regard was found in the report "POLAND NETZERO 2050: The role of public transport in light of the Fit For 55 package and the outlook for 2050," in which each scenario implementing the package's assumptions involved changing the habits of road users and placing emphasis on the implementation of green solutions by every European. In summary, the main objectives of the project were based on the realization of educational needs in the field of green transformation, covering such issues as green transportation, recycling, ecology and the formation of appropriate attitudes to ensure the safety of traffic participants. All activities of the project were to strengthen the knowledge of the participants in the aforementioned issues, build the right attitudes among them, thus permanently increasing safety and pro-environmentalism among the project participants after the completion of the activities. It should be noted that the project's goals included specific objectives for youth exchanges such as fostering cultural dialogue, increasing the sense of being European, developing the skills and attitudes of young people, strengthening European values and breaking down prejudices and stereotypes. All of these goals were a key point of the project, for which the project was created.

Project partners (6)