The successful Flemish campaign Traffic Snake Game enters a new era. Aim of this game is to stimulate young children to walk and cycle to school. Starting next school year, after summer holidays, the campaign will be implemented in at least 18 European countries. Preparations behind the scenes have just started as the kick-off meeting of the newly installed Traffic Snake Game Network took place in Leuven, Belgium.
The Traffic Snake Game was created by Mobiel 21 and started as small campaign with only a handful of schools in Flanders, Belgium. Evidence had shown that the campaign successfully increases sustainable transport modes and reduces CO2. These days, the campaign reaches yearly around 1.000 schools, 200.000 children and 15.000 families in Flanders alone. The Netherlands and Austria were early adopters, but now no less than 18 countries are ready for their own flavour of this successful strategy that encourages parents to try alternatives to the car for home-school trips. The campaign is fun, effective and easy to implement. The new Traffic Snake Game Network has been established in order to spread and support the good practice across Europe. This Network with National Focal Points in each country will replicate, transfer and expand the uptake of the campaign. As such, they actively stimulate the demand for sustainable transport concerning home-school trips, resulting in an increase of low-carbon transport, a more sustainable mobility culture and a reduction of energy consumption and emissions. It is aimed to be the beginning of a EU-wide success story. The first few years the international campaign will start small, aiming to be represented in at least 3 active cities and 60 active schools per country, implicating over 1.000 new schools to join the campaign throughout Europe. They will aim at an 15% increase of sustainable trips and matching CO2 reduction. This should deliver up to 2.500.000 of cancelled car kilometres in favour of walking and cycling kilometres. As the campaign grows, it could over the time reach millions of children... Cities and schools in the currently represented countries can contact their National Focal Point for more information on how and when to join the campaign. If the country does not yet have a National Focal Point, organisations and authorities with an interest can contact Mobiel 21. Contact details can be found <link nc projects projects-details project traffic-snake-game.html>here or at <link http: www.trafficsnakegame.eu>www.trafficsnakegame.eu. Follow the campaign at Facebook (link: <link https: www.facebook.com trafficsnakegame>www.facebook.com/TrafficSnakeGame) or Twitter (link: <link https: twitter.com thetrafficsnake>twitter.com/TheTrafficSnake). TSG Network is lead by Mobiel 21 (BE), partners are WYG Ltd (UK), DTV Consultants BV (NL), Association of Self-Mobilized Citizens (PT), Euro Project Consult (FR), Club “Sustainable Development of Civil Society” (BG), Institut for Traffic Education (AT), Transport Research Centre (CZ), Centre for renewable energy sources and saving (EL), Paragon Europe (MT), SINERGIJA (SI), Group for Studies and Alternatives 21 (ES), Regional Environmental Centre (HU), Empreintes asbl (BE), The Romanian Energy-Cities Network (RO), Euromobility (IT), Environmental Centre for Administration and Technology (LT) and Rupprecht Consult (DE). TSG Network is co-funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe programme of the European Union. Rupprecht Consult acts as national campaign leader for Germany and as cycling policy expert.+49 221 6060 55 14
