Best Practice Abegondo
In the Transit project we decided to highlight two best, or good, practices that have been implemented, or was about to be implemented, that we want to share with a broader audience. Our intention is to present a set of practices, practically usable in different context and different time. As the partner organisations in Transit differ contextually, we assume that potential students that engage in our e-learning modules also are active in different contexts. Please. enjoy, be critical, and reflect upon whether this set of practices could inspire you for actions and support towards a better future.
Abegondo municipality presented two practices that have been useful for them. Consider that Abegondo is small village on the country side, sparsely populated and with narrow roads and an elderly population
Sharing taxi for free
Biosphere Ecotourism Trails
In Abegondo, the intra-municipal public bus service is uneconomical due the strong population dispersion: 132 small village with an average of 43 people/each. As an alternative, the municipality offers free service of sharing
taxi on demand to the old citizens without private car, to go to the health center, pharmacy, bank, shops, and town hall.
The citizen calls the town hall requesting a taxi, the social services worker transfers the request to the available taxi driver, according to the established shifts. The service is offered two days a week: Monday and Wednesday, to coincide with the analysis of the health center.
The pick-up time is at 8:15 in the morning at the stop closest to the home and the return at 11:30 at the health center.
The target groups are old citizens. 30 percents of the population are over 65 years. An about 20 percent of them live alone.
Currently, a total of 77 families have signed up for the service. The average monthly demand is 10 round trips.
Concerning impact evaluation and potential for learning transfer: For Abegondo, this is a good example of how to support elderly people to a low cost, avoiding more expensive and polluting means of transport.
If you want more information please contact: Isabel Manteiga (isabel.manteiga@abegondo.gal)
The objective of Biosphere Ecotourism Trails is to improve the active mobility of the territory of the Biosphere Reserve, connecting urban municipalities with rural ones and the coastal territories with those of the interior, through the recovery of traditional paths.
Currently, Abegondo lack a network of paths with preference for walkers and bicycles, which allows connecting the main attraction nodes of the municipalities.
The action consists of identifying the main mobility “nodes”, designing paths, and signaling them, to encourage their use by both the local population and visitors, promoting an ecotourism model in the territory.
Additional, the activity consists of developing new products based on local resources and culture, which contribute to economic reactivation, enabling a network of paths with safety guarantees for pedestrians and cyclists,
agreed with the local population.
The target groups are local population and visitors of the Biosphere Reserve
“Mariñas Coruñesas and Terras do Mandeo”.
Important aspects to think about before implementing the activity: Defining the itineraries. Collect information with the help of surveys, that will define the points of interest of the population and their receptivity to the proposal.
Engage the public in environmental hearings for sharing information among neighbors and competent bodies. Improve the infrastructure in justified cases. Disseminate the project among the population.
For more information, pleas contact: Diego López, (diego.lopez@marinabetanzos.gal)
The project has been illustrated in a video published on You Tube. (see below)