Good practice:

Online painting and photography contests for pupils on sustainable mobility

The aim is to raise awareness among children regarding sustainable urban mobility, so as to adopt its principles on the way to and from school (travel on foot, by bicycle, or scooter). Their familiarization and active involvement with this concept were sought by asking them to produce creative paintings and photographs under the title “Let's go to school; Eco-friendly transportation to school!”. The contest was addressed to all schools of the Region of Central Macedonia and ran online due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. Pupils were asked to share how they travel to and from school or how they imagine such "sustainable" travel to/from school. It was a painting competition for the children attending primary school, while teenagers of secondary schools participated with photography and digital image processing contributions, claiming different prizes as well, e.g. bicycles, helmets, smartwatches.
An online poll platform (pollunit.com) was used both for the submission and for the public voting process which followed for selecting the winners. No account was needed, just a valid adults’ email for activating participation, so it was rather easy to use. GDPR consent was necessary to proceed with the submission on the poll platform. Participation and voting were limited to one per IP with the view to avoid cheating phenomena. Exceptions were made manually after telephone communication with parents, so as to be able to submit participation for more kids, in the case of families.

The cost of the prizes was almost 1000E including bicycle and helmet for the winners of both contests, helmets for 2nd and 3rd place of painting contest and smartwatches for 2nd and 3rd place of photography contest. The cost of the online platform is per month and depends on the features unlocked.

Despite the challenges (below), 83 paintings and 13 photographs were collected, gathering more than 3660 votes which highlight the public’s interest and awareness achieved. The results would be much different if schools weren't closed due to pandemics and pupils could be reached and motivated by teachers to take part. Warm feedback was received along with testimonials of parents about rethinking the way they take their kids to school. Also, the online technical support was proved very helpful.

-Schools in Greece closed 1 week after the contest was launched, due to the COVID-19 pandemic which hit RCM hard. Teachers were too busy organizing online classes and confronting relevant problems, so it was difficult to reach them to promote the contest.
-Teenagers seemed unwilling, needed a"push"

The transferability is high in the case of this practice, which was conducted in the frame of the E-smartec project of Interreg Europe program, since no serious limitations were identified during its implementation. It is an inexpensive and uncomplicated activity. The content and/or target groups can be easily adapted in other regions, either by being more specific or wider.

Raising awareness to the pupils, the "adults of tomorrow", and familiarizing them with the concept and the principles of sustainable urban mobility is of great importance nowadays. Using playful and colorful competitions can ensure success, along with good timing. Towards this direction, similar contests, either online or not, can be promoted and implemented in Europe aiming to engage the educational community with sustainable travel to and from schools, as well as to highlight the issues of protecting the environment and adopting a healthy lifestyle from a young age (with the relevant support of families).