Left the cars in garage for Mobility week in Novi Pazar

More than a thousand residents of all generations took part in marking European Mobility Week in Novi Pazar, riding bicycles down the city’s main street, walking, or going through a training course to improve cycling skills and road behavior.

The programme opened with training for the youngest participants, second-grade primary school students, who learned the basics of safe pedestrian behavior in traffic on a course set up in the Pedestrian Zone. Meanwhile, on the skills course set up on the City Square by the association “Tour de Fun”, participants tackled cycling obstacles and worked on improving their bike-handling skills.

The training was led by our Olympians, cyclists Ivan Stević and Milan Petrović.

“Anyone who has traveled outside Serbia has seen how much the world has turned to alternative modes of transport. Whether on foot or by bicycle, the message is clear: Mobility for All. We want to pass that idea on to children, so that road culture improves and fewer people get hurt. Children take in information more easily, they adapt easily. We need to do more”, said Stević.

After the successful training sessions, the children, together with older residents of Novi Pazar, set off on a recreational bicycle ride down Stevan Nemanja Street.

A prize draw was also held, during which 13 bicycles were awarded, which the local government received as part of the “City Move” project, supported through the “Interreg IPA ADRION” programme.

The Mayor of Novi Pazar, Nihat Biševac, briefly said that the local government’s goal is to create the best possible conditions for mobility.

“I’m glad to see young people and children here, because they are the future of this city. I want this to be a source of enjoyment, not competition, and I hope we’ll see each other again next year,” said Biševac ahead of the start of the recreational bicycle ride.

Novi Pazar wasn’t just about cycling, but walking too. Members of the “Bedem” Mountaineering and Sports Association promoted walking, environmental protection and a healthy way of life.

“We marked European Mobility Week by cleaning and marking the ‘Borići’ trail above Novi Pazar, as part of activities supported through the EU for Circular Economy in Serbia project. Our goal is to encourage citizens, young people above all, to spend more time in nature and to walk along well-maintained, marked trails. And, of course, to look after those trails,” said Remzo Gusinac, president of “Bedem”.

Photographs by participants of the “Movement in Focus” workshop, organized in previous weeks by Europe House Novi Pazar and led by award-winning photographer Irfan Ličina, were also exhibited in the city centre.

The authors told us that the main theme, mobility in Novi Pazar, was highly inspiring.

“It’s a great theme for Novi Pazar, which always has traffic. We have a lot of cars, a lot of cyclists, so it was interesting for me to photograph. I hope our photos will encourage residents to use bicycles more, or to walk. Novi Pazar isn’t that big, you can get around on foot or by bike. Let’s leave our cars in the garage,” said Kanita Metić, one of the workshop participants.

Milica Kontić added that, through her photographs, she wanted to draw attention to the reduced accessibility faced by people with mobility difficulties.

European Mobility Week in Novi Pazar was organized by Europe House together with the Youth Office, the local government and the Road Traffic Safety Agency.

European Mobility Week runs from September 16 to 22. It was launched by the European Commission in 2002 and has since grown into one of the world’s largest sustainable mobility initiatives. Last year, more than 2,700 cities from 45 countries took part.