Gent parties with reduced CO2
How would you travel to the opera, or to the movies or to a techno party? By car would probably be the most obvious answer. Therefore the City of Gent launched a brand new campaign towards event visitors. The aim is to convince citizens to go to the movies, the museum, the theatre, a party, etc. and leave their car… at home. The tag line of this campaign is a word game in Dutch and refers to lessening your CO2 emissions by going to an event by foot, by bicycle, by using public transport or carpooling, or by sharing a taxi.
The campaign kicked off at the annual opening of the cultural season. With posters, flyers, postcards and ads on public transport, the public is stimulated to think about their own travel behaviour when they go out to have some fun. Event organisers hung up promotional posters and displayed a 3x4m banner on the facade of the theatre. However the real message of the campaign is actually to give tailor made travel advice to people who are willing, but don’t know how to change their age-old habits. By mail or telephone, people can seek advice on the different modes of sustainable transport when going to their event. The figureheads of the campaign are two very well known people. The man on the green funny bike is a Gent based singer. He will be the face of the campaign until August 2011. Next year a famous Gent actress will take over the job. She will be seated on a beautiful environmentally friendly horse. The actual photo shoot was covered by the “Red Carpet” (a national TV show on Belgian celebrities) and was the subject of a five minute report. The report was broadcast twice on prime time national television and even had a spin off on a well-known talk show. This campaign is part of the CIVITAS holistic event management measure.
Author: Mieke De Buysere
