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).

Naturally we try (and go) to make the people aware of the importance of sustainability. But how, that still seems to be the big question. Governments allready do their utmost, more or less, but for some reason everybody is hoping for an evolutionary change, while we need a revolutionary one.

So? Reward the people. Give them incentives, don’t just tell them it would be better for the enviroment to drive electric, but make ab-so-lu-te-ly clear what benefit they will have. A car is not anymore a vehicle that brings you from A to B, it is a way of freedom. And yes, we know how important freedom is, and that in fact it is something very scarse. But remember, folks, your freedom is also a part of the freedom of your children and of their children… And while the world is changing, freedom needs to change as well. We offer you our solution. Don’t agree if you don’t like, but also don’t turn your head. We invite you to discuss with us, and eventually make you and your thaughts a part of the solution.

In other words: let’s socialize!

Nalden
This morning Nalden, one of the most famous Dutch bloggers, learned us the importance of socializing. We now think of it like this: yes, when finally arrived in Copenhagen we will hand over our Manifesto to politicians. But then we have reached the top of the food chain. Must we wait till they spread the word, our word (your word!) among ‘their’ people. Or should we, in the meantime, give them a helping hand, and, even better, give the good example by telling through social platforms, forums, etc, that waiting belongs to the past, enjoying life belongs to the future, and acting belongs to today!

Join us on the Road to Copenhagen’s official start on Wednesday 2 December at Den Bosch (Parade)!

Wednesday 2 December

08h30 - 09h30 Arrival scooters, participants and guests of The Road to Copenhagen at the ‘village de départ’. Students from Willem I College will perform technical checks of electric scooters, while participants have typical ‘Brabants’ breakfast.

09h30 - 10h15 Opening programme, with a.o. mayor Rombouts of the city of Den Bosch, aldermen Bart Eigeman en Jetty Eugster and provincial executive Lily Jacobs. Host: Andrew Makkinga.

10h15 - 10h30 Bishop Hurkmans of the Den Bosch diocese blesses de scooters en mayor Rombouts sees off the caravan.

10h30 – 12h00 Caravan (scooters, e-ambulance, segways, and electric and hybrid cars) drives from Den Bosch (Parade) to Berghem (De Merx).

* 12h00 - 15h00 Berghem (De Merx): workshop, first exploration of the three angles of The Road to Copenhagen. These angles are consumerism, automotive industries and infrastructure.

* 16h30 - 18h30 Molenhoek (Hotel Van der Valk):  Workshop on sustainable campaigning by Kay van de Linde

* 19h30 - 22h00 Molenhoek (Hotel Van der Valk): Lecture of Prof.dr. Michael Braungart, co-founder of the Cradle to Cradle concept.

Programme items marked with * are for R2C guests and shift 1 participants only.

www.theroadtocopenhagen.com

Join us on the Road to Copenhagen’s prologue in Leeuwarden!

Tuesday 1 December

* 09h00 - 09h30 Townhall: Alderman Isabelle Dirks of the city of Leeuwarden welcomes The Road to Copenhagen’s participants

09h30 - 10h30 Outside of townhall: Fitting jackets & helmets

* 10h30 - 12h00 Lecture by Jip Lenstra, program manager Environment at the Energy research Center of the Netherlands

* 12h00 - 12h30 Lecture by Bouwe de Boer, energy co-ordinator of the city of Leeuwarden

* 12h30 - 13h30 Lunch at (electric!) boat

13h30 - 14h00 Townhall: Welcome for press and invitees

14h00 - 14h15 Townhall: Official start prologue by mayor Ferd Crone, goal keeper Stanley Menzo and alderman Isabelle Dirks

14h15 - 16h00 Driving from Leeuwarden (townhall: Hofplein) to Grouw on electric scooter

Programme items marked with * are for R2C guests and shift 1 participants only.

www.theroadtocopenhagen.com

Join us on the Road to Copenhagen’s prologue in Amsterdam!

Tuesday 1 December

* 08h00 Stayokay Vondelpark: Welcome R2C participants

08h10 - 09h00 Nieuwmarkt: Fitting jackets & helmets

* 09h10 - 09h25 Stopera: Press and invitees meeting with alderman Marijke Vos of the city of Amsterdam

09h25 - 09h45 Driving from Stopera to Nieuwmarkt on electric scooter

* 10h00 - 11h00 Lecture by Maarten Linnenkamp, program manager electric mobility of the city of Amsterdam

* 11h00 - 12h30 Lecture by Aart van Veller, sustainable entrepreneur

14h15 - 16h00 Driving from Amsterdam (Nieuwmarkt) to Vinkeveen on electric scooter

Programme items marked with * are for R2C guests and shift 1 participants only.

www.theroadtocopenhagen.com

Join us on the Road to Copenhagen’s prologue in Hilversum!

Tuesday 1 December

09h00 - 09h30 Beeld & Geluid: Meet & Greet with Dutch minister Timmermans of European Affairs

* 10h00 - 11h00 Lecture on by Kjell Biezen, manager Electric Transportation at Essent

* 11h00 - 12h30 Lecture by Joop Oude Lohuis, head of department at The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL)

13h00 - 14h00 Beeld & Geluid: fitting jackets & helmets

14h00 - 15h30 Driving from Hilversum (Beeld & Geluid) to Utrecht (Rabobank office, Croeselaan) on electric scooter

* 15h30 - 16h30 Lecture at Rabobank Utrecht

Programme items marked with * are for R2C guests and shift 1 participants only.

www.theroadtocopenhagen.com

The names of the participants in the sustainable scooter event The Road to Copenhagen are now known. The organisation has selected 300 Dutch, German and Danish ‘roadies’ who are to ride to the Copenhagen climate summit in stages.

‘Judging by the latest rumours, this will perhaps not result in a legally concluded climate treaty, but hopefully proper agreements will be made concerning the global reduction of CO2’, said Alexandra van Huffelen from the energy utility Essent, the initiator of The Road to Copenhagen. ‘With the manifesto that the participants will write during the electric scooter trip, they want to emphasise the importance of the climate summit, plus draw attention to the contribution that electric transport can make to this. We received a lot of applications for The Road To Copenhagen, which shows that young people wish to make a contribution to a sustainable world.’

UN Climate conference
During the UN climate conference COP15, which will take place in Copenhagen from 7 to 18 December, world leaders will be working on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol.

As it turns out, we have room for a small number of extra roadies in our Road to Copenhagen caravan. Due to this, we have reopened recruitment of potential roadies for one week.

Should you know of anyone (from The Netherlands, Germany of Denmark) interested to come along, please let them know of this possibility by directing them to www.theroadtocopenhagen.com. There, they can sign up as a potential roadie. They can do this ultimately Friday 20 November.

There will not be another selection event, but we will give everyone who signs up a telephone call for a short selection interview.

Right now, The Road to Copenhagen is looking for participants from Denmark and Germany. Potential ‘roadies’ from these countries can apply until Friday 13 November (not a creepy date at all ;-) We are actively recruiting in German and Danish universities. And, we published an ad in the Danish newspapers Urban (see page 12) and MetroXpress (see page 10). Are you German or Danish, and 18 - 25 years old? Join us!

So, where exactly is this road trip taking the 300 roadies on their electric scooters?

Tuesday 1 December
Prologues in Amsterdam, Hilversum (Mediapark) and Leeuwarden

Wednesday 2 December
Official start in Den Bosch

Wednesday 2 December - Monday 14 December
Stops in Arnhem, Essen, Münster, Osnabrück, Bremen, Hamburg, Kiel, Odense

Tuesday 15 December
Destination Copenhagen (UN Climate Change Conference COP15)

The Dutch participants for The Road to Copenhagen (R2C) are known! They were selected Tuesday 20 October during a special event that was held in the Tivoli venue in Utrecht.

We had a blast at Lowlands!

During the last weekend of August, the Lowlands’ festival saw the starting shot for the Road to Copenhagen, a spectacular ‘road trip’ through the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark on electric scooters, ending in Copenhagen. In the Danish capital 300 participants will be contributing to COP15, the international UN conference in Copenhagen where the climate agreements from Kyoto will be reassessed.

37,821 kg C02 offset!
During Lowlands the festivalgoers were able to compensate for their presence (carbon footprint) onsite and this resulted in a total of 37,821 kg of C02 being offset. Essent, initiator of The Road to Copenhagen, will achieve this offsetting in two ‘Gold Standard Label’ projects in Turkey and China. Of the overall CO2 emissions caused by all the festivalgoers, this is still modest (nearly 1.5%), but it is the first step towards a completely carbon-neutral Lowlands.

Gold Standard
The Gold Standard is a hallmark for CDM (Clean Development Mechanism), JI (Joint Implementation), voluntary projects that produce renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Bit by bit these projects are yielding significant benefits for sustainable development.