Sustainable Mobility: a European value that begins with your own experience
Sustainable mobility is one of the central themes for the European Union, nowadays considered essential to building a fairer, more inclusive, and above all environmentally friendly future.
When we think of sustainable mobility, we imagine cycle paths, electric buses, car sharing, or greener cities. However, sustainable mobility is much more than this; it concerns our quality of life, social equity, and people's health, as well as caring for the environment by reducing emissions. Designing sustainable mobility means rethinking the way we organise cities and territories, reducing dependence on private cars and creating urban spaces that are safer, more accessible, and more human-centred.
The EU has been committing for years to making international mobility increasingly sustainable. Programmes like Erasmus+ offer thousands of young people the chance to study, do internships, or volunteer abroad, developing transversal skills, knowledge, and new visions. For this mobility to be truly sustainable, it must consider the environmental impact of our movements and daily choices, from travel methods to consumption habits.
When we live for a period in another country, we have the opportunity to experience a different transport system, observe innovative policies, and bring back ideas and practices useful to improve our community once we return home. By taking part in a mobility programme, we can thus contribute to change not only by choosing less polluting means of transport, but also by promoting awareness of sustainability among the people we know.
Sustainable mobility, in fact, is not just a way of moving, but a path to building a fairer and more aware society, where resources are used with responsibility and respect for the environment.
What is the overall environmental impact of an Erasmus+ experience? Which aspects contribute to it most (transport, accommodation, daily consumption, events)?
Are there alternatives to air travel that you could consider for your future journeys? What advantages and disadvantages do you perceive with these choices?
Many European cities are investing in integrated public transport, safe cycling infrastructure, and policies to reduce emissions. The EU supports these transformations because it believes that mobility is a right that enables people to grow, study, work, and build a better future.
How can your international mobility experience become a concrete example of sustainability?
During your experience and once it is over, how could you help raise awareness among others about the importance of choosing sustainable transport modes?
How does sustainable mobility connect to your personal values and what you wish to contribute to society in the future?
Develop the topic in the form of a short essay, interpreting and comparing the documents provided, with the help of the questions included in the prompt.
Support your discussion also with references to your personal knowledge and studies.
Begin the essay with a title consistent with the content and topic.
Remember to cite the documents within the text to support your reflections.
Do not exceed the limit of:
one protocol page (maximum 4 columns)
or four pages in Arial 12 font, double line spacing and standard margins.
Document #1
1. SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY AND INTERMODAL TRANSPORT – Luca Marfoli
Data provided by the TERM 2009 Report (Transport and Environment Reporting Mechanism) of the European Environment Agency (EEA, 2009) reveals a rather worrying picture, characterised by an increase in the volume of goods and passengers transported, concentrated particularly in road and air transport modes. The TERM 2011 Report instead shows that there has been progress in terms of efficiency (for example, new cars in 2010 were about one-fifth more efficient compared to cars in 2000); however, these (relatively modest) improvements have often been offset by the growth in demand, despite the recession having slowed down production and growth activities in some economic sectors.
In the face of a growing demand for mobility between 1990 and 2009, the 2008 economic crisis moderately slowed down the transport of goods and people, and thus the negative externalities that derive from it. See: Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, Guide to fuel saving and CO2 emissions of cars – 2012, “In the period 1990-2008, passenger transport demand increased by 34% (although recording a 7% decrease in 2008 compared to 2007 due to the economic crisis), while goods transport recorded an increase of +20.4%. In the period 1990-2009, in our country there was a significant increase in transport demand (+31.9% for passengers and +5.5% for goods, limited to national carriers; if foreign road carriers are included, the increase is about 32%).” See also: ISPRA, VII Report on the quality of the urban environment, 2011, p. 215.
https://www.giureta.unipa.it/2013/1_Marfoli_DirNav_16042013.pdf
Document #2
2. Green Erasmus - Travel
The round trip to/from your Erasmus destination is a fundamental part of your mobility experience. The way you do it though, makes a difference. As the most extensive mobility scheme in the world, the Erasmus programme moves thousands of students who inevitably contribute significant carbon emissions. Emissions from aviation in particular have been rising rapidly over the past two decades. Technical solutions, such as transitioning to sustainable aviation fuels are still far from being mainstream, and still do not eliminate emissions entirely.
Therefore, we need to consider changes in behaviour when it comes to travel choices. Before starting your Erasmus+ exchange, consider measuring the carbon footprint of different transport options and check how your journey affects the climate.
Actions you can take
Take a train or a bus to reach your Erasmus mobility destination, as low-carbon alternatives to short-haul flights. By doing so, the Erasmus+ programme foresees an extra 50 euros and up to 4 days of additional individual support for your journey. Ask your international/mobility office for more information about this funding opportunity.
Rail and coach connections vary considerably across Europe, therefore, for some destinations it may not be feasible to take a train, bus or coach. If you do need to fly, opt for airlines with more efficient fleets and routes with fewer stopovers. Direct flights are less polluting. When feasible, fly to places close to your final destination and switch to alternative transport modes for the final stage of your journey.
Travel by train and/or bus requires a mental shift (welcome to the world of slow travel!) as it can take one or few more days to reach your destination. If you are looking for a place to stay ‘en route’, use an eco-friendly booking site for accommodation or opt for homestays.
Travel prepared! A lot of disposable plastics are avoidable. To reduce plastic waste generated while travelling, make sure you have a reusable kit: a water bottle and a cup for hot drinks, a reusable shopping bag, reusable cutlery, toiletries in refillable bottles and/or soap bar. Become a Traveler Against Plastic!
Find out about students' public transport cards or bike rental systems to move green once you reach your destination. You might need that passport photo in the drawer of your bedside table…
https://www.greenerasmus.org/before-mobility/travel
Document #3
Andrew Savage - Vice President of Sustainability & Founding Team, Lime
We need to rethink the outsized role private cars have in our biggest cities. By 2050, 70% of the world‘s growing population will be urban. Cities can be the most carbon-efficient place for people to live, but there’s a right and a wrong way to grow. If we are able to rethink the dominant role of cars, which sit idle and parked 95% of their lives, we can free up enormous space for affordable housing, parks, protected bike lanes, and other things that make cities far more livable, while also significantly reducing carbon pollution.
https://time.com/7172572/andrew-savage/
Document #4
Cycling is the healthiest way to get around cities - Hayley Dunning
Cycling has been found to bring both the best physical and mental health benefits in a study carried out in seven European cities.
People who cycled in cities were found to have better self-perceived general health, better mental health, greater vitality, lower self-perceived stress and fewer feelings of loneliness.
The study formed part of the EU-funded PASTA project and was carried out in seven European cities: Antwerp, Barcelona, London, Örebro, Rome, Vienna and Zurich. Published in Environment International, it was led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and included Imperial College London researchers.
The second-most beneficial transport mode, walking, was associated with good self-perceived general health, greater vitality, and more contact with friends and family.
Dr Audrey de Nazelle, from the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial, said: “This study adds to existing evidence that walking and cycling for transport is good for your health, and also makes people interact socially more. Combined with other issues like air pollution, it makes sense to think much more holistically about the impacts of our urban policies.
“For example, as London is trying to grapple with major health problems such as air pollution, social isolation, and obesity, why not tackle them together and get a bigger bang for our buck by promoting walking and cycling?”
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/187688/cycling-healthiest-around-cities/
Document #5
Implementation Guidelines - Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps green transition and sustainable development strategy
To promote the use of sustainable means of transport, the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes encourage participants to pay attention to environmental sustainability at every step of a project’s lifecycle and to translate this attention into practical action. Routinely incorporating environmental considerations into projects encourages organisations to work together for sustainability and to exchange good practice, developing joint initiatives in this area.
In both Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps, this commitment to the environment and the fight against climate change forms part of the criteria for granting financial support, thus confirming the commitment to contribute to the green transition.
The European Solidarity Corps funds projects that promote solidarity as a value and respond to societal challenges, and climate change is a clear example of these. Organisations and groups of young people can create projects to make a difference in their communities. More specifically, the Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps programmes include the following actions, features and mechanisms to support the green transition and sustainable development:
By providing financial support for mobility, Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps encourage participants to use the most sustainable means of transport (for example train, bicycle, bus or car-pooling) to and from their destination. These programmes provide increased financial support for the use of more sustainable means of transport and support additional daily allowances to adapt to longer travel times. As a result, participants reduce their carbon footprint and experience another way of travelling, fostering a change of behaviour, for example, considering those means of transport when travelling for leisure or work. The journey starts the moment you leave home, and sustainable travel can help make it even more memorable.
Document #6
Research on the habits of Erasmus students: consumer, daily life, and travel habits of Erasmus students from the perspective of their environmental attitudes and beliefs - Green Erasmus
One aspect of international student mobility that has already been discussed and explored is the ecological footprint related to the transportation choices of students when going to and returning from the mobility destination. Research so far has indicated that most international students are likely to travel by plane, as the aviation sector accounts for the overwhelming majority of international transportation (Shields, 2019:596). The Green Erasmus research findings confirm this trend. The plane seems to prevail as the preferred means of transport among Erasmus students, both when they are going to (73.1%) and when they are leaving from (69.8%) the mobility destination. Its use is, by a large margin, the most prevalent among all other transport options (coach/bus, train, ship/ boat, other). These numbers are also in line with recent research conducted by Eurail (in cooperation with ESN) on Erasmus students’ travel behaviour. The results showed that 75% of students use planes to move to their Erasmus destination and 79% to return from their mobility (Eurail, ESN, 2020:4), drawing a similar picture with the results of the Green Erasmus survey.
Continuing on the topic of transport, students were asked about their daily commuting choices to university (home and away). Participants’ responses provide some insightful findings regarding students’ choices while on mobility and while at home. Findings show that there is a considerable increase among those who choose to walk to university (28.3% at home to 43.2% on mobility) and a subsequent decrease in the use of public transport or a car to commute, especially car use drops from 5.8% to 0.7%. This change cannot and should not be immediately attributed to an increased environmental awareness, as only 21.5% of the respondents said that they considered the ecological footprint of the transport when choosing transport, but it is nevertheless a good indicator of a decrease in students’ ecological footprint. Rosentrater et al, (2017)” also stated that 52% of the students (participating in their research) prefer to walk to the university campus. The authors justify this choice with the fact that most students live near the campus. Given the fact that cost/price plays an important role in students’ consumer choices, it is no wonder that walking, as a free commuting choice, is preferred in the case that distance allows it.
https://project.greenerasmus.org/documents/GE-report.pdf
Document #7
GreenComp - The European sustainability competence framework
High-quality and inclusive education and training can help improve social and environmental conditions. Socio-ecological problems, such as biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution and inequalities, can prevent access to education and employment. This in turn aggravates such socio-ecological issues in a vicious cycle.
Sustainable lifestyles require a shift in mindset and behaviour. We must put equity and justice for current and future generations at the heart of our societies. Our relationship with the environment must be based on a sense of being connected with nature. Learning for environmental sustainability should empower individuals to think holistically and question the world-views underpinning our current economic system.
At the same time, it should encourage them to take action individually and with others to transform our society and shape sustainable futures for everyone. Lifelong learning should incorporate sustainability competencies across disciplines to train the systemic thinkers and ethical agents for change who are needed to promote a sustainable society.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IEI8vQjcfMnX8hFukFYfHbRIZGfAL1-O/view?usp=sharing
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