CULTURA - For a new Mobility
est Practise
est Practise
ROAD SAFETY FRIENDS
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Road Safety Friends
Problem description: Starting from the year 2001, Criciúma city began a plan to restructure the transport and traffic administration, aiming to adapt it to the new federal legislation – Brazilian Traffic Code -, that brought to the municipal district the function of Traffic Authority and the amplification of the actions related to this field, as well as the development of a new concept for the urban mobility Global actions in the administration, planning, infrastructure and control levels are projected by this new proposal and, mainly, actions addressing the education and promotion of sustained urban mobility, because to make possible any of the actions mentioned, these should be supported by changes in the behaviour and, consequently, in the values and culture accepted in the relationships in public and private mobility fields. In this sense, we chose as main target group, in the years 2002, 2003 and 2004, the children and teenagers, students of the elementary school, in the age group from 3 to 14. In this age group we developed and focus our main projects, trying to work with them in a complementary and integrated way, to strengthen the actions and to reach the largest possible public and consequently disseminate the information and its multiplier effects in the fastest possible way. We also believe that by educating children and youths we will be preserving their lives, considering that Brazilian statistics presents that the largest number of deaths happens among the youths, and children and youths are also powerful multipliers of new concepts. In addition, this age group is less resistant to the new, and they want to justify themselves and be different from the last generations, presenting new proposals and ways of doing things, and different social behaviour. With these foundations and presuppositions, we developed the Project “Road Safety Friends”. We searched the reference for the project in the strongest values of our society. Firstly, we took the reference of infantile and juvenile affirmation by means of a group, the “gang”, forming that group with the same students elected by the school to be its representatives. Subsequently, to get this group identified with the values and culture of the city - once the proposal is the transformation at this level - we tried to approximate the project with the main cultural manifestation of our society, which is the ethnic party. Once the city of Criciúma possesses a cultural diversity, brought by the immigrants, which possesses a strong aggregation and identification power, we proposed that the reference “gang” incorporate and represent the several ethnic groups that compose the social tissue, to rescue the values and propose its transformation, linked to the individual's transformation as human being who belongs to a society and is its legitimate builder and responsible.
Objectives: The main objectives of that project were the following: To develop a program of multiplier agents inside of the school and support to the education projects developed by CRICIUMATRANS; To create in the education programs a reference for the children; To create empathy of the city with the education programs, through the valorisation of its main cultural reference, which approximates children and adults: the folkloric bands of the ethnic groups coming from Europe and Africa, which form the population of the area; To valorise the education of the students of public schools.
Best Practise – Road Safety Friends 2
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Description of the campaign / measure: Elaboration of the friends' project, where each friend represents an ethnic group coming from Europe or Africa, which form the local population; Elaboration of the friends' magazine, where the friends present the concepts of sustainable mobility and safe traffic, teaching with plays, games, tales etc; The friends' election in the public elementary schools, involving parents, teachers and direction; The instruction of the friends to be multipliers of the education for the traffic in the programs developed by CRICIUMATRANS; The friends' participation in events and education activities promoted by CRICIUMATRANS.
Who is the driving force behind it? Who is the beneficiary? The Criciuma Public Company of Traffic and Transport S. A. - CRICUMATRANS -, was the main responsible for the development of the project, through its direction and Education and Citizenship Consultantship, involving technicians of the pedagogic and communication & marketing fields. We counted strongly on the participation of the school direction and its teachers, as well as on several parents. It was also important the support of the employees of CRICIUMATRANS. The main beneficiaries are the children and preadolescents in the age group from 3 to 14, direct participants of the project, as well as the other students of the schools where the works were developed; teachers, parents and the society in general.
Main slogan / statement: “Road Safety Friends, join this gang!”
Results: The project is in its third year: in the first year, 7 preadolescents took part, accomplishing their function from September 2002 to September 2003. In the second year, 8 took part, being in charge up to 2004. From 2004 to 2005, there are 7, all from the elementary school, with ages between 9 and 13.
Best Practise – Road Safety Friends 3
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We could observe an important involvement of the parents, directors and teachers of the preadolescents that took part in the project, giving a high value to the students and to the role they were playing as agents of changes of the society. Referring to the parents, many of them had a surprisingly effective actuation, giving an important contribution to the project. We observed that although someone doesn't show a high interest, on the other hand we see a portion eager for opportunities to participate, to give their contribution, people that want to mark their generation, making part of the transformation and construction of the society where they live. A lot of times, the manager agencies don't get to identify these important partners and they end up losing the opportunity of developing actions, often at reduced costs, counting on those agents' contribution. The project offered an opportunity to the preadolescents of developing their potentials, to actuate as actors in the puppets’ plays of the “friends”, music, in the lectures and as assistants in the dissemination of the transforming knowledge. The friends were formed as advisors and multipliers of the principles of a preventive education in the traffic and the concepts of the urban sustained mobility. They took part in the projects and education events for the traffic and transport during the whole year. In this sense, the participants, coming from public schools, sometimes from the more distant communities, could take part in projects, as “The Traffic is Going to the School”, which was developed at schools like the high middle-class Colégio Marista, offering integration opportunity and valorisation for both sides. Also, they actuated on interviews in radio, newspapers, TV, and in several occasions as official municipal district representatives of education programs, offering them an opportunity to get in touch with a new world, arousing and opening horizons for these preadolescents. In the evaluations it was verified the retainment of values of the culture of life valorisation in the traffic and the increasing of self-esteem. The friends' magazine is in its third edition, with circulation of 10.000 copies and, among the education programs, it is the material that generates the highest interest. Valorisation of the preadolescents that took part in the project, with public recognition by the parents, teachers and friends in the school, authorities and the society. The high identification of the preadolescents in formation with the friends. Recognition, by the preadolescents who took part in the project, of its importance for their formation. At the end of the period in charge, many preadolescents do not wanted to stop their participation.
Best Practise – Road Safety Friends 4
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Opportunities / barriers:
Possible barriers: In the beginning, some schools resisted to participate, induced by the lack of tradition in take part on projects outside the classroom and also due the resistance of some of them to innovate their plans.
As it is a permanent program, it demands the teachers', directors’ and parents’ involvement; some of them don't participate because they don't want to spend time.
Lack of involvement and consciousness of this subject’s importance, once they are children and preadolescents of public schools, and most of them doesn't possess a car and besides, traffic and mobility for them are related with the individual transport by car and being a driver.
Ignorance of the importance of the public transportation for the people in general and of the several forms and means of transportation, leads to an absence of perspective for the discussions on the theme. They see it as a subject that is responsibility of the city hall and the bus companies.
Lack of tradition in doing participant and citizenship actions. We also observed the need for the development of programs for the youths, because all the participants of that stage became motivated to continue their participation.
Solution: Explanation about the mobility in general: the role of pedestrians, bicycles and other transport modes in the traffic and circulation, aiming at the change of the current culture;
Participation of the team of CRICIUMATRANS in the directors' meetings to elucidate the project objectives;
Valorisation of the schools that participated;
We believe that the continuity of the project begins to change the participation culture and valorisation of the subject.
Steps for implementation – Frequently asked questions:
Working steps for introduction: Definition of the working team counting on professionals of technical, pedagogic and communication & marketing fields;
Development of the project, aiming at analysing the cultural and social values, to adapt them to the goals of the work as fortresses in the dissemination of the information and development of support links and partnerships in the community; Production of pedagogic and communication materials;
Best Practise – Road Safety Friends 5
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Training of the participants in the mobility concepts to be worked on and in all activities developed; Development of a calendar with the activities or making a link with the city calendar of cultural and educational events; Implantation; Evaluation.
Time of implementation: It is a permanent program, and the friends' election happens every September, during the Traffic National Week. The friend’s time in charge lasts one year.
Three months were necessary to develop the pilot project.
Cost / Benefits: The major difficulties found were related to material resources, as a vehicle for transport, and financial, that made impossible a larger circulation of the friends' magazine and the dissemination of the project in the communication means, with campaigns using the characters of the magazine as cartoons in an education program on TV, radio and newspapers, or the development of other products with the brand “friends”, which could carry the concepts of the sustained urban mobility.
“Road Safety Friends” 2004/2005 crew With Rainer Rothfuss, coordinator of Net 8 URBAL, and Natália Martins Gonçalves, president of CRICIUMATRANS,
Best Practise – Road Safety Friends 6
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