The “Bicicleta goes to School” project already started last week at the EB1/JI Professor Manuel Alves School, in Loulé, in an initiative of the local council under the European funding for the “Healthy Cities” project by Urbact.
This initiative is aimed at children who attend pre-school and 1st cycle (from 3 to 10 years old) in the municipality's educational establishments and aims to provide them with the knowledge and skills that allow them to use the bicycle regularly, in a way autonomous and safe, not only in technical terms, but also in terms of traffic signs and rules.
At the end of the teaching cycle – 4th year of schooling – each student will receive a “Driving License” which will prove the skills of these cyclists.
In addition to the component associated with sports and physical exercise as a way of promoting healthy lifestyles, cycling mobility is one of the vectors of the environmental policy of the Municipality of Loulé with the aim of reducing the ecological footprint.
However, as noted by municipal officials, «the percentage of children who do not know how to ride a bicycle is still high».
Despite the commitment that the Loulé Municipality has made to the use of bicycles as a means of transport combined with sports, the truth is that «the percentage of the population, in particular children and young people, who does not know how to ride a bicycle is quite high ( some studies indicate that this figure is around 70%), either because of the parents' lack of time to teach their children, the lack of spaces to practice or even road safety issues».
Tiago Guadalupe, coordinator of the “Healthy Cities” project, highlights the fact that «this and other actions that will take place in schools will promote the safe integration of young cyclists in the context of mobility in urban areas».
Within the scope of bicycle promotion, Loulé City Council has been creating cycle paths, as well as a network of public bicycles for shared use, and has invested in urban regeneration that promotes sustainable mobility, adapting public space, implementing new spaces greens and recreational areas.
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