Kids behind the wheel: cleaning up the school run in Panevezys, Lithuania

Getting through the school run is a problem that all parents have to face, and it’s one with some thorny challenges: how can kids get to school safely and on time? Mornings with little ones can be stressful enough without having to worry about road safety awareness, air pollution or the risk of traffic accidents. But the flood of parents driving their students to school also has knock-on effects for other citizens too: big surges in traffic causing spikes in air pollution and delays to journeys.

But now, following its engagement in the SHARED GREEN DEAL project, one city in Lithuania is road-testing (!) a new solution to the school run challenge: asking the kids themselves. 

Setting out on the road

Making the journey more exciting

Members of the labs were empowered to engage directly with external experts on sustainable transport, allowing them to collaborate in co-creative sessions. These sessions aimed to understand the current mobility situation, identify problems, and develop ideas to promote sustainable mobility among young people.

But because many of the participants were children, novel methods were used to make the process both engaging and educational. Students mapped travel problems using coloured stickers and prioritized issues with coloured dots. Understanding that young people enjoy being active, the labs got the kids to map out their routes to school, and conducted “Walk audits” over the summer to analyse the most popular journeys. These findings were shared in forums, leading to active discussions and idea exchanges on promoting sustainable mobility in schools.

One of the key activities was the development of school travel plans (STPs) for the participating schools. These plans were designed to provide a structured approach to improving school travel and included guidelines for creating STPs, an education and activities toolkit, and policy recommendations for school travel strategies at the city level. 

And, to get schoolkids into gear, ECAT designed a fun game, “Let’s grow the sustainable trips tree”, which students could play to get them thinking about how their journeys might become greener and safer. 

All achievements and results were presented at a final conference, attended by teachers, students from other Panevezys schools, and various stakeholders, including municipal officials, police officers, and public health workers. Finally, ECAT conducted 10 interviews with students, teachers, and parents to better understand how the different stakeholders had felt about the project, and how they thought it could be improved for the future. 

A voyage of discovery

The impact of the experiment on children’s lives has been profound. By participating in the urban mobility lab and related activities, students gained a deeper understanding of sustainable mobility and its importance. They became more aware of the environmental impact of their travel choices and were encouraged to adopt more sustainable practices.

The experiment also fostered a sense of responsibility and active participation among the students. They were not just passive recipients of information but active contributors to the development of solutions. This involvement helped them feel more connected to their community and more empowered to make a difference.

As Lina Gelaziene, Director at ECAT, puts it, “Hopefully politicians will see that young people also want to do something for their city… and that there are ways to cooperate and make political decisions with public understanding and support.”

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