Young people want clean and cool mobility
Copenhagen, 15 December 2009 – A manifesto with 12 concrete recommendations to ensure that mobility will be clean, affordable and cool. That is what the participants in the Road to Copenhagen delivered today in Copenhagen to Minister Cramer, the Dutch Minister of the Environment.
The manifesto was written during the electric scooter trip that was undertaken by around 300 Danish, German and Dutch young people over the past 2 weeks. The trip was made in various stages from Den Bosch (the Netherlands) through Germany to Copenhagen, where the UN climate change conference COP15 is currently underway.
In the manifesto, the young people call on the negotiators in Copenhagen to ensure that, amongst other things, sustainable mobility is included as a subject in schools and that car driving lessons are offered in electric cars. They also state that sustainable mobility can be encouraged through suitable tax measures, cool vehicles and uniform charging systems.
‘On the one hand, the Road to Copenhagen made it clear to me how great the need for change is and, at the same time, this trip has inspired me to effect that change’, said Peter Hardy, one of the participants and writers of the manifesto.
Anne Schoemaker, one of the participants: ‘On the one hand the past two weeks has seemed like two years, but on the other hand it seems to have only lasted for two days. When I consider that we are now in Copenhagen, it seems like only yesterday that we were still in Den Bosch. But if I think about how often I have felt cold, how much I have learned and how many fantastic people I have become acquainted with, then it seems like two years. However long it lasted, it was fantastic!’
Although the ‘road trip’ to Copenhagen has come to an end, this does not mean an end to the Road to Copenhagen, because, as the participants state in the manifesto: ‘ It’s not about how we got to Copenhagen, but where we will go from there.’
Read the manifesto
The entire manifesto can be read at www.theroadtocopenhagen.com.
Video: Road to Copenhagen
The manifesto (1.58 min)
Arrival in Copenhagen (3.36 min)
Visit to the UN Climate Conference COP15 (3.44 min)
More videos of the Road to Copenhagen
About the Road to Copenhagen
The Road to Copenhagen was a trip by electric scooter that was made in three five-day stages between Den Bosch and Copenhagen. The participants, approximately 100 per stage, attended lectures and workshops given by scientists, politicians, energy experts and specialists from the automotive sector. They also visited innovative projects and held discussions about climate objectives, a more sustainable world and about practical solutions that will make our lives more pleasant and more sustainable. Using the knowledge and experience gained whilst ‘on the road’, they worked on the manifesto which they delivered today to Minister Cramer.
The Road To Copenhagen is an initiative of Essent and is supported by:
Alfen, BKB, Boers & Co Fijnmetaal groep bv, Breeman Automotive Groep, Buys Business Events,
CBR, Dong, Enexis, Epyon, Fabrique, FietsNed, the municipalities of Amsterdam, Den Bosch,
Leeuwarden and Delft, Kema, Klimaat voor ruimte, Loesje, Mister Green, OV- Fiets, PGGM, Pro-Rail, the province of Noord Brabant, Rabobank, RWE, TU Delft, UMCG Ambulancezorg, Valence, XERO Technology.