“GREEN ERASMUS”: PROFESSORS TO TRAVEL BY BIKE TO THE UNIVERSITY OF PÉCS

The representatives of the Faculty of Sports and Physical Education of the University of Novi Sad, Assist. Prof. Dr. Valdemar Štajer and Assistant Nikola Todorović, will begin their Erasmus+ mobility period by travelling by bike to their academic destination – University of Pécs, Hungary.

The idea to use “green travel” as a new option promoted by the Erasmus+ programme arose with the aim to set an example to other members of the academic community about the two-fold significance of this kind of physical activity. Apart from its role from the individual health prospective, their message is also directed toward raising awareness about the positive impact of this alternative mode of travel on the environment and the reduction of the pollution.

Before their start of the travel, the Rector of the University of Novi Sad Prof. Dr. Dejan Madić organized a meeting 21 April 2023 to mark this special event. The meeting was attended by the Vice-Dean of the Faculty Prof. Dr. Borislav Obradović and one of the mobility participants, Nikola Todorović.

The Faculty of Sports and Physical Education has an active agreement on academic staff mobility with the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Pécs. The UNS academics will hold several lectures within their mobility period there, and promote their Faculty for the mobility opportunities it currently offers to foreign students.

The mobility period of the two professors has been financed with the support of the UNS Erasmus+ KA131 project, which acknowledges the category of “green travel” and offers additional financial support for its realization in order to encourage “green policy” in international cooperation at the University. “Green travel” represents an expression of individual sense of responsibility toward nature and local community. It can encompass sustainable travel modes with low emissions, such as bicycles, trains, buses, or carpooling with other mobility grant holders.