Actions with children in CiViTAS CARAVEL Burgos
One activity remained to be developed within the 2006 CiViTAS CARAVEL Marketing Campaign, following the promotional gifts and the postcards campaign that targeted the general public, were the children’s workshops. They were a great success and received positive appraisals from educators, teachers and pupils.
In January and February 2007, after a very detailled preparation, the CiViTAS CARAVEL children's workshops were held in selected colleges, among different groups and age groups. One of the workshops explained to the children the problems caused by drivers parking their cars badly, blocking access routes and traffic flows, and in some cases endangering pedestrians. It stressed the idea of remaining aware of good parking habits and telling their parents when they park, so that they would do it correctly. After the theoretical explanation, the children placed symbolic fines on badly parked cars. When the drivers returned to their cars they saw that these were not police fines, but fines placed by children asking them to park properly in everybody’s interest, thereby bringing their poor parking habits to their attention. The second workshop consisted in a theoretical class to explain the different signs and the difference between triangular, round, and square signs. The workshop ended with the children designing imaginary signs that they would like to see exist. They had to use their imagination which is why the activity was called “impossible signs”. Some of these non-existent signs referred to animals, others to children or to elderly people, and they all reflected the children's concerns over road safety. The workshop was also used to promote alternative vehicles and to explain the precautions that they should take if, for example, they use a bicycle.
