Looking back at European Mobility Week 2020 at BePark

European Mobility Week took place on September 16-22. Since 2002, this initiative has aimed to raise awareness of the existence of alternatives in terms of sustainable mobility. This year's theme was "Zero-emission mobility for all".

BePark decided to participate in this mobility week on its own scale. Different challenges were taken up by the BePark team during these 7 days so that we could discover and adopt gentler mobility.

Why a challenge within BePark?

Like all companies, we are familiar with the issues and problems related to mobility. As a player in the mobility sector, it seemed essential to make all teams aware of the different mobility offers available in the area. What better way to do this than to participate in Mobility Week in our own way? The main objective was not only to discover mobility means that we already knew in theory but above all to raise awareness of more sustainable mobility without the use of the car.

What did this challenge consist of?

The challenge took place in 3 stages. At the end of the week, the points collected by all the participants were counted in order to designate the people who had adopted the gentlest and most varied mobility.

The "micro-mobility discovery" challenge

In order to enable employees to discover multiple means of transport, we have partnered with the company Modalizy to offer a complete solution to companies' mobility challenges and the management of their travel expenses. The subsidiary offers different types of cards that can be used by employees to manage their mobility expenses. Thanks to this collaboration, a Modalizy card with a predefined budget was distributed to everyone. This amount was, following BePark's request, only intended for the use of various means of transport without a petrol engine.

Once these cards were in their possession, the challenge to use as many different means of transport as possible within a deliberately low budget was launched.

Walking + cycling challenge

The second challenge was to walk and use more bicycles for commuting. How to do this? By keeping track of the kilometers traveled through the use of an application to record journeys. This challenge was certainly a little more sporting, but it also enabled the discovery of the new cycling infrastructures that had been put in place. It also gave people who already own a bicycle or those who already walk to work the opportunity to avoid being devalued.

Daily challenges

In order to encourage everyone on a daily basis and to create team cohesion, daily challenges have been announced and proposed. Here are these challenges:

• Mobility Quiz
• Send the most original photo of yourself on a mode of transport
• Leaving your car keys in the office for 24 hours
• Running or biking to draw a picture on the map of a travel recording application
• Complete 12 kilometers by bike or on foot in one day

After a week of the challenge, what are the results?

Throughout the week, we remained motivated and gave our best in order to enjoy the experience of the Mobility Week to the fullest.

Following this participation, the BePark team answered various questions so that the lessons learned from the mobility week could be shared.

These challenges will have allowed more than half of us to test new modes of transport, such as the electric scooter.

More than 70% of us answered positively to the question: "Did the use of certain means of transport during this week make your daily life easier/more enjoyable?" It is therefore not surprising to see that 9 out of 10 people would recommend the use of these means of transport to those around them. When asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 10 the availability of transport in Brussels, an average of 7.5/10 emerged.

The most appreciated transportation method was the bicycle, as the positive feedback received on it was enormous. The challenge has enabled many of us to discover the shared electric bicycles available in the city. Its ease of use and the time saving it brings have made a positive impact.

Finally, when it comes to the expected result, i.e. a transition towards the adoption of gentler mobility, this week's results are more than satisfactory. Indeed, some people said they would completely change their daily travel habits as a result of this initiative. Some 70% of the BePark team are talking about a partial change in their means of travel.

BePark enjoyed a mobility week from which everyone drew positive results, with new experiences but also new habits and an even more cohesive team.

We look forward to next year's new challenges!