Teach & Ride: Empowering Educators for Active Mobility

Project Summary & Concept
To effectively encourage young people to choose cycling, a training course for educators must go beyond just "riding a bike." It needs to address youth motivation, community building, and overcoming practical, everyday barriers.

"Teach & Ride" is a KA153 Training Course designed for educators, youth workers, and teachers. The goal is to provide them with the psychological, practical, and advocacy tools necessary to transform their schools and local communities into bicycle-friendly environments.

Main Thematic Modules
Overcoming Mental & Physical Barriers: Equipping educators to handle common youth objections ("helmets look uncool," "sweating") and training them on how to communicate effectively with overprotective parents regarding traffic safety.

Gamification in Practice: Learning how to design engaging school challenges, using tracking apps (like Strava) for "Bike to School" competitions, and implementing classroom reward systems.

The Educator as a "Bike Kitchen" Mentor: Basic maintenance training (fixing flats, oiling chains, adjusting brakes) so educators can run afternoon workshops, fostering independence in youth.

Advocacy at School & Local Level: Training educators on how to lobby school boards and local municipalities for safe bike racks, lockers, or showers—because motivation fails without proper infrastructure.

Non-Formal Methodology & Activities
As a KA153 mobility project, the training strictly avoids frontal teaching, focusing instead on peer-to-peer learning and non-formal education (NFE):

Best Practice Sharing: A dedicated space for international participants (especially from advanced cycling cultures like NL, FR, PT, DE) to showcase successful models from their own countries.

Study Visits: On-site visits to local schools or NGOs with successful active mobility programs to see best practices in action.

Role-Playing Simulations: Simulating mock parent-teacher meetings to practice convincing skeptical parents about the benefits and safety of cycling.

Co-Creation of a Digital Toolkit: As a concrete output, participants will co-design a downloadable handbook filled with ready-to-use methods, games, and advocacy strategies to implement immediately back home.

Partner Profile Sought
We are looking for experienced NGOs, schools, youth centers, or educational institutions working directly with teachers, educators, and youth leaders.

Target Countries: Highly preferred partners from the Netherlands