Children and youth are the society of tomorrow. If we want them to be able to look forward to their future, we have to act now. As numerous studies show, young people, feel helpless in the face of the climate and health crisis, and they feel left behind by older generations. They believe that politics don’t take climate and environmental protection seriously enough.
Motorized transport is one of the main causes of climate change and it entails a series of other environmental and health burdens, such as physical inactivity and air pollution. Children and youth are affected by this the most. There is an urgent need for action to draw greater attention to the health and needs of children and young people, to take them into account in transport planning, and to create appropriate child- and youth-friendly services. Young people should also be able to have their own say in the matters at hand.
Ministers of member States in the pan-European region recognized that fostering climate-friendly habits during childhood and adolescence is hugely important, as these form the basis for behaviour in adulthood. Consequently, they decided to launch a new Partnership on child- and youth-friendly mobility.
Building on experience in the field of child- and youth-friendly mobility in Austria, the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, and the Austrian Federal Ministry for Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection as well as the Austrian Federal Chancellery launched THE PEP Partnership on Child- and Youth-friendly Mobility. This partnership was officially established by the fifth High-level Meeting on Transport, Health and Environment on 18 May 2021 in Vienna, based on the adopted Declaration.
Young representatives from 13 member States presented at the High-level meeting a Youth Position Paper as an impetus for further steps.
Priorities: creating awareness of the importance of child- and youth-friendly mobility and the needs of this target group, facilitating the exchange of good practice and of knowledge transfer, supporting the development and implementation of measures for child- and youth-friendly mobility, and elaborating guidelines, tools, and practical workshops in the field of child- and youth-friendly mobility.
The areas in which THE PEP Partnership on Child- and Youth-friendly Mobility operates are: Awareness-raising; spatial planning; transport infrastructure, including public transportation services; health promotion; mobility management; and participation of children and youth.
Contact: Ms. Kathrin Chiu, pcy[at]energyagency.at
For more information see the document submitted
Meetings under the Partnership
- Second meeting of the Partnership on Child- and Youth-friendly Mobility
- Third meeting of the Partnership on Child- and Youth-friendly Mobility, Lisbon, 29-30 September 2022
- THE PEP Partnership on Child- and Youth-friendly Mobility, Vienna, 27 April 2023