Soroca celebrates sustainable mobility
Soroca recently hosted its first European Mobility Day, encouraging citizens to adopt more sustainable transportation options like walking, cycling, public transport, and car-sharing.
This event aligns with European Mobility Week, an annual EU campaign promoting sustainable urban mobility.
Despite the rainy weather, children from Soroca's kindergartens eagerly arrived at the event on bikes and scooters. To learn more about traffic rules, young participants received valuable lessons from traffic police officers. Both children and parents supported the project, seeing it as a way to promote a healthy and active lifestyle.
"I came here on my scooter," one child shared. "Today we learned that when we cross the street, we have to look left and right to make sure there are no cars," another child said.
"It's our duty as adults to teach the younger generation about eco-friendly transportation, its benefits for our health, and for the environment," one participant noted.
"We walk everywhere, from work to home, and we go for walks with our children because walking is healthy. The more a person moves, the longer they live," another participant added.
The event aimed to highlight the benefits of car-free urban living and the importance of sustainable infrastructure.
"Soroca boasts a picturesque Nistru Riverbank, perfect for walking, cycling, and scooting. We want to encourage more young people, adults, and children to adopt a healthy lifestyle because we can see how much pollution is caused by excessive car use," stated Ana Ojog, Deputy Mayor of Soroca.
Moldova, alongside other European countries, annually commemorates European Mobility Day – a flagship initiative of the European Commission. The event encourages cities to implement sustainable transport measures and promote the use of alternative modes of transport to reduce traffic congestion and pollution.
"First and foremost, we want to teach children that public spaces belong to them and that they can move safely within them. We want to nurture a future generation that is less reliant on cars in their cities," said Rudolf Graf, GIZ Coordinator.
On August 28, Moldova adopted the Mobility Strategy 2030, aimed at ensuring the sustainable and safe development of transport and infrastructure, as well as efficient management in this sector to promote a healthy and safe environment.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
