Tip!

Energy company Essent has handed over its Road to Copenhagen initiative to Vereniging DOET, the Dutch industry association for electric mobility. Vereniging DOET shares the Road to Copenhagen’s aim, which is to promote sustainable e-mobility.

As a result of the handover, former participants of the Road to Copenhagen have been invited this week to join DOET in taking the next steps to create a breakthrough for electric transport in the Netherlands. The industry association is inviting all ‘roadies’ to become ‘Electric Transport Ambassador’. These ambassadors will work in teams to spread knowledge, generate awareness and introduce electric mobility at universities in the Netherlands.

Handover
Essent, initiator of R2C, is proud of what the project and especially its participants have done for the promotion of electric mobility during the trip to Copenhagen in December 2009. Because a lot of companies and organisations are active in the field of electric mobility nowadays, Essent feels the the Road to Copenhagen’s goals could not be served better than with an industry accociation’s backing. About DOET Vereniging DOET (Dutch Organisation for Electric Transport) is the industry association that aims to promote the electric transport market in the Netherlands. In short, DOET’s core activities are sharing knowledge of electric mobility, lobbying for better regulations and initiating projects that stimulate electric mobility.

More information
About the Road to Copenhagen
About Vereniging DOET (Dutch industry association for electric transport)

Now that the sollicitation process for the the position of R2C Ambassador has ended, it turns out that a lot of applicants have shown their interest in this job. This is great! In the coming weeks the R2C team will carefully sift through all applications and conduct job interviews after that.

About the R2C Ambassadors
The R2C ambassadorship is a paid part time job. Its goal is to promote sustainable mobility and to put clean, affordable and cool mobility issues it into practice.

‘We R2C The Future’, the successor to The Road to Copenhagen, is looking for Ambassadors. As an Ambassador you will promote the practical application of sustainable mobility by developing teaching materials for schools, organizing an electric car race, initiating urban green zones, and other means. Your development activities will be guided by the ideas from the manifesto of the Road to Copenhagen drawn up in December 2009. In short, you will be promoting clean, cool, affordable mobility. Read the complete job description!

We require:

- Young people with a passion for sustainable mobility
- True Ambassadors who have it in them to promote We R2C The Future
- Independent people with a sense of responsibility
- People with good communication skills and creativity
- Ambassadors with demonstrable familiarity with The Road to Copenhagen

We offer:

- An exciting position for one day a week
- Financial compensation
- The ability to set your own schedule and to organise activities on your own
- Necessary training and education
- An electric scooter for promotional purposes

More information?
If you have any questions about the position of Ambassador for We R2C The Future, please contact Yvette Teeuwissen at info@theroadtocopenhagen.com. For more information about We R2C The Future and The Road to Copenhagen, please visit www.theroadtocopenhagen.com.

How to apply
If you are interested in this position, please send your letter of application and curriculum vitae to info@theroadtocopenhagen.com.

Your application must be received by us no later than Friday, 5 March 2010.

Making the manifesto come true: that is what The Road to Copenhagen’s next phase will be all about. Soon, here you will find more information about WeR2CTheFuture’s ‘ambassador’ roles, and how to apply for them. Stay tuned!

VARA radio interview roadie Jesse did whilst driving his electric scooter.

Read the complete manifesto

We put one of our super stylish electric scooters up for auction at 3FM Serious Request, a very famous annual charitable fundraiser in the Netherlands. It is, of course, one of the scooters that came with us on our road trip to Copenhagen. The scooter is signed by all roadies that took part in the Road to Copenhagen.

All proceeds of 3FM Serious Request are going to the Red Cross this year, to a project fighting malaria.

Bidding on the scooter ends Tuesday 29 December 11.30 hrs. 

Check it out!
Check out the electric scooter on offer (and perhaps make a bid?)

Audio: Roadie Chantal offers the R2C electric scooter to 3FM presenter Giel Beelen (skip to 12.50 min; in Dutch)

Here are a couple of video clips shot by our ‘roadies’. These were all made during our road trip by electric scooter from Den Bosch to Copenhagen (COP15).

Here are a couple of short videos of speakers that gave lectures during the Road to Copenhagen.

Wednesday 15 December the Road to Copenhagen (R2C) caravan arrived in the Danish capital to present its manifesto on personal sustainable mobility.

Jacqueline Cramer
After being warmly welcomed into town by Danish MP Per Ørom Jørgensen, we were honoured by a visit of the Dutch Minister of the Environment ms. Jacqueline Cramer. She spoke to us enthusiastically not only about the efforts of the participants, but also of the usefulness and aptness of the statements that make up the manifesto.

Bella Center
Last but not least, a few of us were lucky enough to get into the Bella Center, where the COP15 conference was taking place. There, they spoke about the manifesto to a.o. Dutch Development Cooperation Minister Bert Koenders, Dutch MP Diederik Samson and alderman Marijke Vos of Amsterdam. Watch the videos here!

A manifesto with 12 concrete recommendations to ensure that mobility will be clean, affordable and cool. That is what the participants in the Road to Copenhagen delivered today in Copenhagen to ms. Jacqueline Cramer, the Dutch Minister of the Environment. The manifesto was written during the electric scooter trip that was undertaken by around 300 Danish, German and Dutch young people over the past 2 weeks. The trip was made in various stages from Den Bosch (the Netherlands) through Germany to Copenhagen, where the UN climate change conference COP15 is currently underway.

In the manifesto, the young people call on the negotiators in Copenhagen to ensure that, amongst other things, sustainable mobility is included as a subject in schools and that car driving lessons are offered in electric cars. They also state that sustainable mobility can be encouraged through suitable tax measures, cool vehicles and uniform charging systems.

‘On the one hand, the Road to Copenhagen made it clear to me how great the need for change is and, at the same time, this trip has inspired me to effect that change’, said Peter Hardy, one of the participants and writers of the manifesto.

Anne Schoemaker, one of the participants: ‘On the one hand the past two weeks has seemed like two years, but on the other hand it seems to have only lasted for two days. When I consider that we are now in Copenhagen, it seems like only yesterday that we were still in Den Bosch. But if I think about how often I have felt cold, how much I have learned and how many fantastic people I have become acquainted with, then it seems like two years. However long it lasted, it was fantastic!’

Although the ‘road trip’ to Copenhagen has come to an end, this does not mean an end to the Road to Copenhagen, because, as the participants state in the manifesto: ‘ It’s not about how we got to Copenhagen, but where we will go from there.’

About the Road to Copenhagen

The Road to Copenhagen was a trip by electric scooter that was made in three five-day stages between Den Bosch and Copenhagen. The participants, approximately 100 per stage, attended lectures and workshops given by scientists, politicians, energy experts and specialists from the automotive sector. They also visited innovative projects and held discussions about climate objectives, a more sustainable world and about practical solutions that will make our lives more pleasant and more sustainable. Using the knowledge and experience gained whilst ‘on the road’, they worked on the manifesto which they delivered today to Minister Cramer.

The Road to Copenhagen arrived in Copenhagen today.

The Road to Copenhagen is well on its way to Copenhagen, where we will present our manifesto on personal sustainable mobility at the COP15 climate conference. Our caravan of 100 scooter ‘roadies’, 100 electric scooters and 100 orange helmets has already crossed the Danish border. After Odense (Sunday 13 December) and Roskilde (Monday 14 December) we will arrive in Copenhagen Tuesday 15 December. Here are some of the highlights of our program that day.

09.00 - 10.00 hrs On our scooters from Roskilde to Copenhagen

10.00 hrs Arrival of our caravan of 100 electric scooters at the Danish parliament building Christiansborg. Here, we will hand over our manifesto to Danish member of parliament Per Ørum JØrgensen (of the Conservative People’s Party of Denmark).

12.30 - 16.30 hrs Presenting the manifesto at the Bella Center (COP15 venue)

14.00 - 15.30 hrs Arctic traveller and environmentalist Robert Swan talks to the participants at the Custom House. A few lucky roadies will get to go on a short boat trip with mr. Swan.

16.00 - 16.30 hrs At the Saga Queen boat, we will present our manifesto to Dutch Minister of the Environment, ms. Jacqueline Cramer.

17.00 - 17.15 hrs We will present our manifesto to Jürgen Grossmann, CEO of RWE.

17:30 - 18.30 hrs Talkshow with Per Meilstrup (Climate Director at Mandag Morgen/Copenhagen Climate Council), Prof. dr. Pier Vellinga (chairman of the Knowledge for Climate research program and vice chairman of the Climate Changes Spatial Planning program), Leo Meyer (IPCC) and a youth representative about the role of the new generation in the climate summit.

From 21.00 hrs Road to Copenhagen party at the Saga Queen boat (only for R2C participants, press and guests)

At this very moment, the Manifestos are being printed at the Danish Design School (Danmarks Designskole) in Copenhagen.

10 copies, which will be handed over to selected politicians and diplomats, amongst whom UN Climate Chief Yvo de Boer, and 100 small versions of the Manifesto made for the press.

So here we are, in Copenhagen. Countdown has initiated. Tomorrow is the big day. We have made it, obviously, but as our slogan says: It’s not how we got to Copenhagen, but where we’ll go from there!

“If you turn on the light in Denmark, 20% of the energy will be wind power.” This morning a lecture on energy by Hans Mogensen from the Danish energy comapny EnergiNet.

In four years there will be an increase of 30 to 40% of wind power and already Denmark leads by far compared with all the EU countries, when it comes to using wind power for electricity consumption. Today you can find somewhere around 500,000 wind turbines spread all over the country.

The three main challenges with wind power:

- What if there is no wind?

- What if there is too much wind?

- How to make sure there will always be enough energy from wind power?

Tools
Two of the most prospected tools the Danish are looking into is the heat pump (creates heat for in house warming) and the electric car. However, intelligence must be put into the system. When only electric cars are build, there still we be a great demand of coal power. Electric energy must be generated in large numbers, so it is necessary to build one or two more power plants for renewable energy.

Market leader
As a market leader Denmark has a respectable status, but there are still enough decisions to be made. Lower the use of coal power, and be careful with the turbines in the sense most people don’t want them in their back yard and their high costs.

COP15 is situated in one of the greenest EU countries. May all the delegates, diplomats and politicians be inspired!

Tonight we will have a lecture on media and environment by the Danish broadcasting organization TV2!