Rheine/Kaarst. This school year, students from Rheine have been working with great enthusiasm for climate protection and sustainable mobility. For three weeks, they cycled together with teachers and parents to collect kilometers in the “School Cycling” competition. With success! In the elementary school category, the Marienschule Hauenhorst came in 2nd place with 31,874.1 km. The principal of the Marienschule, Christian Hülsmann, was delighted with the success: “I am incredibly proud of the classes. Everyone involved has thus shown that they not only talk about climate protection, but also do something about it.”
The award ceremony took place on December 8 at the cycling track in Kaarst. The certificates and cash prizes were presented by State Transport Minister Oliver Krischer, who was enthusiastic about the great commitment of our students: “Climate protection requires the consistent promotion of cycling. The high number of participating students shows the potential of cycling, also among children and young people, as an essential contribution to the mobility transition in our cities and communities. But the enthusiasm of the schoolchildren also shows that the mobility shift is a winning topic.”
In total, more than eight million bike kilometers were covered in this year’s state competition “Schulradeln NRW”. A total of 72,700 students, parents and teachers at 1,269 schools took part, almost twice as many as last year. During the three-week competition period, which runs parallel to the STADTRADELN competition, the participants saved a total of around 1,304 tons of CO2.
Making meters for the climate
The principle of “school cycling” is simple: students, parents and teachers of a school collect cycled kilometers either individually or as a class for the school team. All kilometers ridden count, regardless of whether they are on the way to school or during leisure time. This year, elementary and secondary schools competed for prizes for the most miles biked and the largest team. For secondary schools, there was also a creative competition for the best bicycle project. The first-place winners received 1,000 euros, the second-place winners 750 euros and the third-place winners 500 euros.
Background
“Schulradeln” is based on the annual “Stadtradeln” (city cycling) event organized by the Climate Alliance network and is an important component of the municipal mobility revolution. Under the motto “Power meters for the climate!”, it is about promoting mobility among children as well as promoting cycling in general. In this way, adults can play a role model in the competition and are explicitly invited to join in.
Part of sustainable mobility promotion
School cycling” in NRW is coordinated by the office of the NRW Future Mobility Network, the state-wide network for establishing municipal mobility management in cities, districts and communities. The coordination offices are located at the state’s transportation associations and special-purpose associations as follows:
- Westphalia-Lippe Coordination Office (Nahverkehr Westfalen-Lippe)
- Rhine-Ruhr Coordination Office (Rhine-Ruhr Transport Association)
- Rhineland Coordination Office (Rhine-Sieg Transport Association)
The office for higher-level tasks is also located at Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS) in Cologne. Its goal is to promote sustainable mobility options in the state. School cycling” fits perfectly into the portfolio of offers: With the campaign, municipalities can specifically promote sustainable locomotion for youngsters and get them excited about climate protection. The Future Network Mobility NRW is supported by the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Unfallkasse NRW.
The following schools won prizes in the “Schulradeln NRW 2022” competition:
Secondary schools
Category: Most kilometers cycled
1st place: Alexander-von-Humboldt-Gymnasium Bornheim (108,798.5 km)
2nd place: Pascal-Gymnasium secondary school in the city of Grevenbroich (85,584.9 km)
3rd place: Münster-Mitte Municipal Comprehensive School (82,409.3 km)
Category: Most active cyclists
1st place: Heinrich-Böll-Gymnasium Troisdorf (1001)
2nd place: Mathilde-Anneke Comprehensive School Münster (819)
3rd place: Alexander-von-Humboldt-Gymnasium Bornheim (699)
Category: Creative Competition
1st place: Gymnasium Frechen
2nd place: Europaschule Bornheim
3rd place: Lise-Meitner comprehensive school Duisburg
Elementary schools
Category: Most kilometers cycled
1st place: Gemeinschaftsgrundschule Eick – Moers (34,657.7 km)
2nd place: Marienschule elementary school Hauenhorst – Rheine (31,874.1 km)
3rd place: Hollingen Elementary School Emsdetten (25,633.2 km)
Category: Most active cyclists
1st place: Eick Community Elementary School – Moers (472)
2nd place: Primary school Wiesenstraße Kempen (306)
3rd place: Liebfrauenschule Emmerich am Rhein (305)
Photos (Future Network Mobility NRW/Smilla Dankert): State Transport Minister Oliver Krischer presented Marienschule Hauenhorst with the prize and certificate for 2nd place in the statewide “School Cycling” competition.