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Marienschule wins the competition “School bikes NRW

Foto („Zukunftsnetz Mobilität NRW/Smilla Dankert“): Udo Sieverding (Abteilungsleiter „Mobilität der Zukunft, Radverkehr, ÖPNV“ im Ministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Verkehr des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen) mit Schüler/innen und Lehrerinnen der Marienschule.

Scholars achieve 3rd place with 43,150.5 kilometers kilometers by bicycle

RheineIt is a clear sign of climate-friendly and independent transportation for the next generation: Marienschule Rheine-Hauenhorst has won the state competition “School Cycling”. Together with parents and teachers, they cycled 43,150.5 kilometers and thus reached 3rd place in the national comparison in the category of most cycled kilometers among elementary schools.

In total, more than 11.5 million kilometers were cycled this year in the national competition “School Cycling NRW”. The best-placed teams received prizes and certificates, which were presented on Dec. 11 by Udo Sieverding, head of the “Mobility of the Future, Cycling, Public Transport” department of the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Traffic of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, in front of around 100 guests at the German Sport & Olympic Museum in Cologne: “Early mobility education makes an important contribution to greater road safety. The high number of participants shows the potential that cycling in particular offers children and young people as an important contribution to the mobility transition in our cities and communities. But their enthusiasm also shows that cycling is a winning business.”

NRW in first place in a national comparisonAtotal of 87,542 students, parents and teachers from 1,493 schools participated in this year’s “School Cycling” competition, 20 percent more than last year. During the three-week competition, participants saved a total of about 1,900 tons ofCO2 compared to the usual means of transportation in everyday life. This makes NRW the state with the most schools, cyclists and also the largest amount ofCO2 saved in a comparison for all of Germany.The invited team representatives only found out about their actual rankings during the event.

Theo Jansen, head of the Future Mobility Network NRW at the Rhine-Sieg Transport Association, said, “If the goal of transport policy is to get more and more children cycling in our cities and towns, then it can’t just remain appeals and campaigns. We need many more safe and convenient bicycle routes that encourage cycling. This requires political courage to prioritize walking and cycling over car traffic when allocating space. We at Zukunftsnetz Mobilität NRW are happy to support local authorities in this endeavor to create the necessary framework conditions.Making meters for the climateTheprinciple of “school cycling” is simple: pupils, parents and teachers of a school collect cycled kilometers individually or as a class group for the school team. All miles biked count, whether on the way to school or in free time.This year, elementary and middle schools competed for prizes for the most miles biked and the largest team. For high schools, there was also a creative competition for the best cycling project, with first-place winners receiving 1,000 euros, second-place 750 euros and third-place 500 euros.

Background“Cycling at School” is based on the annual program “Cycling in the City” of the Climate Alliance Network and is an important part of the municipal mobility transition. Under the motto “Make meters for the climate!” the goal is to promote mobility among children and cycling in general. Adults can play an exemplary role in the competition and are explicitly invited to participate. In the CITY CYCLING podcast, you can hear why cities, counties and municipalities also benefit from the contest and what last year’s winners have to say about biking to school.

Part of the promotion of sustainable mobility“Cycling to School” in NRW is coordinated by the office of Zukunftsnetz Mobilität NRW, the national network for the development of municipal mobility management in cities, districts and municipalities. 318 local authorities in NRW are already members. The coordination centers are grouped into Land traffic associations and special-purpose associations as follows:

– Westphalia-Lippe Coordination Center (Local Transport Westphalia-Lippe).

– Rhine-Ruhr Coordination Center (Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association)

– Rhineland Coordination Center (Transport Association Rhine-Sieg).

The office for umbrella tasks is also located at the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS) in Cologne. It aims to promote sustainable mobility services in the state.The “school cycling” program fits perfectly into the service portfolio: With this campaign, local authorities can specifically promote sustainable transport for young people and interest them in climate protection. Zukunftsnetz Mobilität NRW is funded by the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Traffic of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Unfallkasse NRW.

The following schools won a prize in the “School Bicycle NRW 2023” competition

Secondary schools

Category: Most kilometers cycled

1st place: Pascal-Gymnasium of the town of Grevenbroich (131,573.9 km)

2nd place: Konrad-Adenauer-Gymnasium in Kleve (119,008.7 km)

3rd place: Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium of the city of Kleve (118,703.3 km)

Category: Most active cyclists

1st place: Mathilde-Anneke-Gesamtschule der Stadt Münster (1,073)2nd place: Pascal-Gymnasium der Stadt Grevenbroich (867)3rd place: Heinrich-Böll-Gymnasium der Stadt Troisdorf (780)

Category: Creative competition

1st place: Europaschule der Stadt Bornheim

2nd place: Gymnasium of the city of Frechen

3rd place: Ratsgymnasium of the city of Gladbeck

Elementary school

Category: Most kilometers cycled

1st place: Josefschule Ahaus (50,916.8 km)

2nd place: Astrid-Lindgren-Schule in Borken (46,046.7 km)3rd place: Marienschule Hauenhorst in Rheine (43,150.5 km)

Category: Most active cyclists

1st place: Josefschule in Ahaus (1,130)

2nd place: Ostwallschule in Lüdinghausen (505)

3rd place: Eilermarkschule in Gronau (492)