CTC travels to Lisbon 06/01/2012

Back in November, I joined 7 other participants from the UK on a week long trip to Lisbon, Portugal.This was part of a Youth in Action exchange project for young people led by Lisbon based environmental organisation 5elemento with the CTC acting as the UK partner orgnaisation

The aim of the trip was for 8 UK participants to team up with 8 Portuguese participants and take part in a week long project taking part in a variety of activities centred around the idea of bicycle recycling and to explore cycling in Lisbon.  It was also an opportunity for 5elemento to develop a bicycle repair project within the Èstrela de Africa community in de Maiohis  – a slum neighbourhood in the centre of Lisbon

The week was varied and made up of a series of site visits, workshops and social activities that covered experiences of cycling in Portugal, Lisbon and in the UK.  Participants shared their own experiences from the cycling projects they are involved with plus a seminar with a cycling expert from Lisbon.   During the week we visited a school in de Maihois, met with some of those working in the Èstrela de Africa community, visited the community centre the project would be based in and had a go at fixing some of the bikes (However this was mostly left to those participants who had a background in bike mechanics).

Once the bikes were back in working order we were able to go on a tour of Lisbon by bicycle.  We had a few mechanicals along the way, and finished off the day by taking part in a Critical Mass Ride in the city centre.  The week ended in all participants taking part in Bike Polo – some people made it look remarkably easy but I guarantee it is not something you can pick up quickly.

The trip was quite an eye opener for me and in reflection has made me realise how far we have come in the UK to make cycling more mainstream.  Those working for 5elemento were inspired by our experiences of getting people on bikes in the UK and have taken this on board to develop their own projects and hopefully get more people in Lisbon cycling.

Amy Hickman – Bike Club Officer