BIKE-ABLE! - our first Erasmus Plus Project

As an association of organizations aiming to promote climate-friendly initiatives and the quality of life of citizens in the EU and beyond, we are happy to announce that we have received funding for our BIKE-ABLE project. Inspired by the EU Declaration on Cycling and the societal changes throughout the EU, we are spreading the cycling culture among young people from immigrant backgrounds and those with fewer opportunities. Cycling daily can be of great benefit to the cyclist, the community and the planet, giving us strong and healthy bodies, reducing air and noise pollution and our impact on the environment and the climate. On top of that, it is very economical and often the fastest way to move around cities.

BIKE is supporting young people in their daily cycling adventures, providing them with resources on safety and tips on how to get a bike, and how to use properly it and maintain it regularly. This approach we are multiplying with our BIKE-ABLE project, and bringing the same practices to Tramonti in Italy, and Purchena in Spain. Our partners Illipula and ACARBIO are going to build BIKE corners in their premisses and promote the Youth and Commute Outcomes that our founding partner InterAktion coordinated, ensuring multilingual materials for young people on cycling, safety and traffic rules.

We from BIKE have made the arrangements for our BIKE corner in the Youth Center DON BOSCO in Graz, where we start with the workshops already in April, making sure many young people coming to the centre start doing it by bike. The BIKE Corner will offer a FREE BIKE REPAIR once a week on Wednesdays, and resources and training on traffic rules from Austria and cycling safety for young people mainly those without a driving licence. We will also support those who want to purchase a used bike, with ideas on where to find it, how to test it if the bike is well-functional and equipped to be 'legal' in traffic, as well as how to lock it properly and keep it safe.

To deliver all the activities, we are starting with a TPM in Italy, that ACARBIO will host in April this year, where we will discuss our plans and the development of the project, as well as the details behind the adaptation and translation of resources of the Youth and Commute project in Spanish and Italian.

We are excited about this project and looking forward to the next wave of warm weather to open the workshop in Don Bosco officially and BIKE together!!! (pun intended) :)

Our first Erasmus+ project has began!