European Mobility Week is an annual initiative of the European Commission for Sustainable Urban Mobility, which invites European cities to devote at least one week to sustainable mobility. The campaign begins on September 16 and ends with Car-Free Day on September 22. This year’s theme was “Better Connections“. It focuses on people’s interaction with the urban environment in a way that promotes active lifestyle and green mobility.
The city of Burgas took part in the initiative for the 18th time, with several events taking place within the month of September as part of the mobility week activities – the Burgas Run marathon, an open yoga class on the beach for children with special needs, and the European Car-Free day. The team of Youth International Center was actively involved in the preparation and conduct of the Car-Free day. On September 22, Gladstone Street, located in the heart of the city became a vehicle-free zone. Instead of cars, the road way became a parking space for different kinds of sports equipment – table tennis, football loopholes, volleyball netting and various outdoor sports gear. Fitness and relaxation areas and a board games zone were available for the participants. Sports and dance schools also took part in the program with a demonstration and the opportunity for everyone to participate in an open lesson on site.
The Car-Free day in Burgas is a joint initiative of ”BG be active” in partnership with Burgas municipality, Youth International Center, Youth Cultural Center, with the support of BNR Burgas and local business companies.
2,925 cities from 48 countries took part in this year’s European Mobility Week. A total of 792 institutions – schools, NGO’s and business companies embraced the idea of testing new forms of sustainable mobility, meeting modern transport challenges and looking at more sustainable ways to move around.
Since 2002, European Mobility Week is aiming to improve public health and quality of life by promoting sustainable urban transport and less pollution for the environment. The campaign enables people to explore the role of the city’s streets and experiment with a variety of practical solutions for moving to populated areas to address urban challenges such as air pollution.
