On Sunday, in Lithuania, as in many European countries, the world's largest annual city campaign promoting population mobility - European Mobility Week - will begin.
The culmination of this week is Car Free Day, which will traditionally take place on the last day of the campaign, September 22, the Ministry of the Environment announced.
The purpose of the campaign is to draw public attention to the negative impact of transport on the environment and human health, to encourage residents, especially urban residents, to preserve clean air, drive as little as possible, walk more, use public transport, bicycles or choose another environmentally friendly means of transport.
The motto of this year's European Mobility Week is "Choose and move".
This year, 51 Lithuanian municipalities registered to become participants in this campaign. According to the Ministry of Environment, this is a record number compared to the previous year.
A total of 2420 cities from 51 countries will participate in the campaign.
Each participating municipality decides for itself which events to organize for its community. These include hiking or cycling, as well as various contests, competitions, concerts, public sports lessons, control of car emissions, etc.
In Lithuania, the campaign is coordinated by the Ministry of Environment. As Regina Kališaitytė, the chief specialist of the Ministry's Public Relations Department, said, the most agile participants of the European Mobility Week will be awarded with special prizes. The most active municipality, state institution, educational institution, pre-school education institution, most active employer and most active citizen will be selected.
The idea to announce Car Free Day once a year originated in 1998 in France. It was quickly adopted by other countries. This one-day campaign organized by cities was supported by the European Commission in 2000. The success of the car-free day led to the development of the campaign and to hold it throughout the week.
