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Universities and students ask EU to make Erasmus+ travel greener

   

Petition launched to increase allowance for sustainable travel

A consortium of universities and student representatives is calling on the EU to increase the amount of funding allocated to environmentally friendly travel by its Erasmus+ programme for academic mobility.

At present, students and teachers can receive an extra €50 to choose greener travel options for their trips abroad, but the Green Erasmus consortium thinks this is not enough.

On 8 July, consortium members including the European Students’ Union launched a petition to increase the allowance to €250.

“The goal is to collect 5,000 signatures and make green travel a possibility for all students,” the ESU said.

It cited research by the consortium which found that most students seem concerned about climate change, but that the cost of environmentally friendly travel is “a big limitation [that] greatly affects students’ decisions” and might be hindering the development of more sustainable habits.

“Immediate action is needed” to resolve this problem, the ESU said.

The petition also calls for increasing individual support for extra travel-related costs from four days of coverage to seven.

Research Professional News has contacted the European Commission for comment.

As of 11 July, the petition had collected more than 900 signatures. Other consortium members include the European University Foundation, the Free University of Brussels and the Technical University of Cologne.