France was surprised when Seinäjoki high school students came by train – cross-country travel is becoming more common in schools too

For the first time, student exchanges at Seinäjoki Upper Secondary School were environmentally conscious. Travelling across the country stretched the budget, but it was worth the effort.

Environmentally conscious travel is gradually increasing in student exchange institutions.

This is encouraged by the Erasmus programme, which supports international cooperation in education. The number of mobility projects in education supported through this programme has increased significantly in recent years.

Young people are interested in sustainable tourism, but what is needed now is a change in adult attitudes.

– Adults play a key role in implementing student exchange. Young people do not always know that traveling along the country would be possible, Petäjäniemi recalls.

A Finnish group was admired in France

At the turn of April and May, Seinäjoki High School students were on a return visit to the French school in the French school in Amiens.

As the theme of the student exchange was environmental awareness and recycling, the trip was made by train.

According to Olli, traveling to him and other adults along the country is familiar, so the environmental conscious way to make the trip was natural.

However, it stretched both time and Eurobudjet. Travel arrangements also require perseverance as it was not easy to find train options for the group.

– I contacted many travel agencies, and only the fifth or sixth came up with help.

Arriving at Amiens, the group was only a few days, as precious school days were already on traveling. We came back by plane.

Olli says that France was wondering about the enthusiasm of the Finnish group to move by train.

– They wondered this was a bit special. It would be faster when you fly.

“Travelling is just as much a part of the experience”

Of course, the train was long, and it took money, for example, to food, they admit. However, there are also good things about traveling along the country.

– The landscape changed all the time. He saw when suddenly green leaves came into the trees. There was also a good feeling to visit many countries, ”says Antila.

According to Lilja Panula, it is also worth choosing a travel method. If you want to be on the destination as long as possible, speed is definitely an important reason, he thinks.

– I think traveling is just as good part of the experience. If it were to take it as a fun trip and start appreciating the whole trip, Panula says.

Katariina Petäjäniemi of the National Board of Education reminds us that Erasmus is about sustainability education as a whole, although the aim of the European Commission is to encourage the exchange of flights to more low -emission tools.

– I hope that the train journey will also be seen as a learning environment.

The idea is that travel planning would also discuss how everyone’s own choices affect the environment.

– It gives you an experience of active agency and the opportunity to make environmentally friendly choices in the future.

Petäjäniemi believes that traveling along the country will increase in both travel agencies and educational institutions, as long as experience accumulates.

More challenging than in Central Europe

Low -emission movement is selected more often in Europe than in Finland. In Finland, geography is influenced by the issue.

Last year, in Europe, 28 % of the trips to mobility projects for mobility projects were selected in Europe.

For Finland, this year is 13 percent, which means that the support has been granted for mobility periods of 5,700 people, 740 is traveling along the country.

These are the aid of mobility, so they are not yet realized, Katariina Petäjäniemi recalls.

Support for low -emission travel was granted in 2021. For example, the implementation of the project issued in 2021 must take place between 2021 and 2023.

In Finland, most of the low -emission trips have been made in Estonia, Sweden, Norway, Germany and Denmark. In total, the top of mobility periods from Finland are Spain, Germany, Austria, France and Italy.