October 2, 2021
A team of teachers from Bielefeld (Germany) accepts the challenge and travels emission-free to Loulé (Portugal) to take part in a teacher exchange of the EU climate project “Three4Climate” in the Algarve.
How can you cover a distance of almost 3,000 kilometers without local emissions? Tobias Dewald and Jens Ohlemeyer, the participating teachers from Friedrich-von-Bodelschwingh-Gymnasium in Bielefeld/Bethel, had an idea of the challenge the answer to this question would pose. The two teachers from Bielefeld took the goal of the Three4Climate project of the three successive EU Council presidencies of Germany, Portugal and Slovenia to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 very seriously. The teachers from Bielefeld were convinced that a holistic and innovative approach was needed for this journey. So they developed the ambitious plan to undertake the long-distance journey using three different types of locally emission-free means of transportation: Electric car, train and electric bicycles. The first 2,300 kilometers from Bielefeld/Germany to the project partner school in Braga/Portugal were to be covered in an electric car (Mercedes-Benz EQV) with enough space for the two teachers and their school e-bikes. The journey was to continue from Braga via Lisbon to Beja (another 500 kilometers) by train. From Beja to Loulé, two of the Friedrich-von-Bodelschwingh-Gymnasium’s electric bikes were to serve as means of transport for the last 150 kilometers.
On Friday, October 1st at 4:00 a.m., Tobias Dewald and Jens Ohlemeyer started their electric road trip in Bielefeld. They had to stick to a very strict plan to reach the available HPCs (hyper-charging stations) along the way in order to be in Braga on time on Sunday. Fortunately, all the HPCs in Germany, Belgium and France were working perfectly and the battery could be charged from 10 % to 100 % in 45 to 60 minutes. In Brussels, Tobias Dewald and Jens Ohlemeyer met with Katerina Fortun from the European Commission to hand over the urgent demands of the Three4Climate students for more climate protection measures in the European Union. On Sunday morning, October 3, the two teachers were welcomed by the partner school in Braga and took their e-bikes and the train to Porto and Lisbon. On the comfortable train, they were also able to recharge their personal batteries after two days of traveling without much sleep. On the last day of the trip, Monday, October 4, the team of teachers took the train from Lisbon to Beja and cycled 50 kilometers to Aljustrel/Messejana. There they visited a large 13.9 MWp solar power plant (electricity for around 8,000 households) to show and communicate where the energy of the trip should come from and that our future is electric and emission-free. From there, it was another 100 kilometers by e-bike to Loulé on the Algarve coast. Due to the very hilly terrain of the Algarve and the amount of luggage, the last part of the journey was very strenuous despite the electric support of the bikes. In addition, 23 kilometers before the finish in Loulé, the first battery of the e-bikes was empty and then both batteries 10 kilometers before Loulé. Hungry and exhausted, but determined to reach their destination by bike on the planned route, the two teachers pushed their bikes with heavy luggage the last 10 kilometers up the hilly Algarve and arrived in Loulé at around 11 p.m., shortly before midnight. Tobias Dewald and Jens Ohlemeyer were overjoyed with their successful zero-emission journey when they were welcomed by their partner school in Loulé on Wednesday, October 6, and worked together with the teachers from Braga on projects to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050. Vitor Aleixo, the mayor of Loulé/Salir, invited the mayor of Bielefeld, Pit Clausen, to Portugal to continue the exchange with young people from both countries and cities. The project schools of Braga, Loulé and Bielefeld will continue their school cooperation beyond the Three4Climate project with official school partnerships for future projects. From the perspective of the EU climate protection project, the exchange was a great success. Many inspiring ideas for effective climate protection measures emerged with the call for increased education for sustainable development in schools. In addition to the climate protection goals and measures, the Three4Climate project also strengthened relations between the three participating countries Portugal, Slovenia and Germany, as new friendships were forged across Europe.