About YWALK
|
Green Communities Canada and Urbanthinkers have collaborated to adapt the Active & Safe Routes to School program for high schools. The ideas and resources on this site were developed through:
|
- STEP (Sustainable Transportation Education Program): A pilot program in both urban, suburban and rural (Peterborough, Markham and Toronto) high schools in Ontario. STEP helped high schools tackle transportation problems while increasing awareness and education about air quality, climate change and healthy lifestyle issues.
- SEED (Students' Environmental Education Development): Ten Ontario high schools worked on water and soil quality monitoring through a series of workshops with mentors from Trent University.
These resources and activity ideas, designed by students, teachers and program coordinators, assist secondary school leaders get their peers walking, biking, blading, boarding, bussing and carpooling. Use these resources to address:
- traffic congestion around schools at drop-off and pick-up times
- parking issues on school property
- physical inactivity of students
- pedestrian and cyclist safety
- lack of youth friendly transit
- air quality problems
What is Sustainable Transportation?
Sustainable transportation is a name given to methods of transport that are good for the earth. These are ways of getting around that have a minimal impact on the environment, are people-friendly and economically affordable. Some would include: walking, biking, skateboarding, rollerblading, taking public transit, riding a school bus, and carpooling. Driving alone in a vehicle is NOT an example of sustainable transportation – so let’s get out of our cars, out of the traffic, and back to being active!
Why should we do this?
- it reduces traffic congestion
- it reduces pollution
- it requires the use of fewer natural resources
- it can be done by people of all ages
- it promotes social interaction
- it encourages activism
- it is good exercise