If one day you go to Loulé and see the mayor Vítor Aleixo passing by on his bicycle, there is no reason to be surprised. This Tuesday, the city of Loulé offered bicycles to three schools in the city, which any member of the school community can use free of charge, and also bought some for its employees and managers, who are now the preferred service vehicles for travel. short.
Basically, it is about applying the maxim “to be the change you want to see in the world”. Because that's what Loulé Adapta is all about, the program that includes this project to promote the use of bicycles: acting locally, to help fight a global problem, in this case, global warming.
“This is a project for the future. We want this first phase of awareness and start-up to have the school population as its target audience. And we have no doubts that, from now on, nothing will ever be the same in the daily life of the city of Loulé», considered Vitor Aleixo, who yesterday took to the road, on one of the City Council's new bicycles, to officially launch the Loulé Adapta in the schools of the City.
The delegation visited the schools EB 2,3 Padre João Cabanita and Eng. Duarte Pacheco, as well as the Secondary School of Loulé, to officially launch the project. Each establishment received ten vehicles, which students, staff and teachers can request and take home, free of charge.
The local authority gave a first ride here, of what you want it to be, a take that takes the project much further. «This first phase is centered on this fringe of the population, in the city of Loulé. But we plan, in subsequent phases, to take this experience to Quarteira, Almancil and, eventually, to Salir and Boliqueime», revealed the mayor, in a conversation with the Sul Informação.
This work to promote sustainable mobility will not stop at schools. “In September, during Mobility Week, we are going to spread stations like the ones we have installed in schools all over the city, not just for students, but for everyone who wants to join. I plan to do it myself, because I make a point of setting an example. It's even going to do me good», he considered.
Providing free bicycles is just one of the many measures Loulé wants to take to be an active force in combating climate change (see box below).
More than promoting sustainable mobility, with the benefits it brings to the environment and even to family budgets, this project encourages healthy lifestyle habits and the practice of physical activity.
For the initiative to have a greater reach, conditions must be created so that citizens can move in this type of vehicle, in safety. Loulé Adapta also thought about this aspect and, in addition to awareness and awareness programs aimed at students, it also includes the organization of group trips, between previously selected meeting points and schools, with escort of soldiers from that police force.
It will also be defined, "later, some priority routes for mobility by bicycle". In addition to more bike paths, it will be possible to create zones for exclusive or shared use (bicycles and motor vehicles) in some arteries of the city of Loulé.
The directors of the three schools contemplated praise the measure and believe that, soon, the municipality will have to increase the number of bicycles, to keep up with the increase in demand. Each establishment will have its own regulation, for the temporary transfer of vehicles, but all will have as a common denominator the free and universal service.
And, so that no one gets off, bicycle repair and maintenance points were installed next to the parking areas installed in the three schools, where, in addition to the tools needed to deal with the most common breakdowns, there is an air point, which allows filling the tires.
Loulé wants to be an example for other municipalities because "we have no alternative!"
The delivery of bicycles to schools is one of the most visible aspects of Loulé Adapta, a program that aims to prepare the Municipality of Loulé for Climate Change. Altogether, there are 28 adaptation options, which were presented last Monday, in the Hall of the Municipal Assembly of Loulé.
After a study, as part of the ClimAdaPT.Local project, which identified the greatest risks for the municipality of Loulé arising from climate change, a strategy was defined to mitigate its consequences.
In the case of Loulé, high temperatures and heat waves, droughts, rising mean sea levels, excessive precipitation leading to floods and floods, rising ocean temperatures, strong winds and low temperatures and cold waves, were the impacts and vulnerabilities identified by the municipality's technical team.
After defining the strategy already presented, «there is now a second stage that involves the implementation and monitoring of the concrete measures that are proposed in the strategy itself. These measures cover many aspects of current municipal management and will be incorporated in the management and planning instruments of the territory, in the terms of reference for municipal works, in public tenders. They will also be incorporated in the decisions we take regarding the energy consumption of all energy consumption meters in the public network, namely in the evolution to LED technology.», he explained to Sul Informação the president of the Chamber Vítor Aleixo.
For the mayor, this "is a very important step and we want that, in the future, he can set a time before and after".
Loulé is a pioneering municipality in adopting measures to adapt to climate change and Vitor Aleixo admits that some of the measures may not be understood, but for the mayor, «what is at stake is so important for our children and grandchildren that it is worth a pity to be ahead, if it has the price of not being understood right away and taking risks».
For Aleixo, «whoever manages the public “thing”, must have as a first concern to manage with a sense of responsibility and to manage taking care to leave a more habitable and sustainable world for children and grandchildren. We are doing our part and I am sure that others will follow us in the region, in the country and in Europe. We have no alternative!” he concluded.
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