Educational, sports and mobility activities.

Despite the current restrictions and health measures affecting mobility, there are some exceptional cases in Catalonia that allow travel for sporting competitions, educational or leisure activities.  We are not referring to professional leagues, but to entities and clubs that have federated teams in training categories or educational centres that have programmed educational, cultural, leisure or environmental study activities.

There is no immediate return to normality and the sports, leisure and education sectors must also adapt to the new regulations and the restrictive and health safety measures imposed. It is true that the professional teams and the national leagues of the different sports have been competing for months and have been adapting to this situation. In the mobility measures that come into force on 9 April, there will be a return to regional confinement and the entry and exit of people from each region will be restricted. There are exceptions for essential mobility which are indicated in the report on the measures in force and which affect sporting and educational or leisure entities:

• Movements outside the comarca and within Catalonia for teaching activities, socio-educational intervention activities for the care and training of people with disabilities, special needs or vulnerability that involve leaving the educational centre, and activities in the field of educational leisure allowed at all stages, provided that they do not involve overnight stays.
• Overnight stays are only authorised during outings when the watertightness of the school bubble groups can be guaranteed.
• All federated competitions are permitted.

The Covid19 pandemic and its effects on the economy and especially on the tourism, sport, leisure and education sectors have led to an unprecedented crisis of the model. Some of the strategies that have been applied until now when it comes to travelling or moving teams are no longer valid and we must reinvent ourselves to face a new scenario in which we want to take advantage of the situation to promote more sustainable and environmentally friendly actions.

Sport, education and leisure organisations will have to take into account current and future economic, social and environmental impacts in order to meet the mobility needs for their various activities. The situation ahead forces the tourism, education and sport sectors to rethink their mobility proposals until we can return to a normal situation. Although they are currently having to adapt to the new normality in order to maintain social distances and the presence of the public in the different sports venues is highly regulated, the necessary health measures are applied in all activities. In the coming months, there is an opportunity to make a firm commitment to sustainable and responsible transport. The future of mobility will not be an extension of the past and everything will be very different from what we have known until now. Although educational or sporting activities, whether for leisure or competition, will continue to be necessary, we will have to join forces and work together to structure new proposals to promote sustainable and safe mobility, more respectful of the environment and, incidentally, encourage the use of public transport or other low-emission vehicles and update routes or itineraries. It will also be necessary to measure the carbon footprint of each activity that is carried out in order to involve sport practitioners (professional or not), amateurs, collaborators or those who are simply interested in attending a sporting event or carrying out an educational or leisure activity. The reports and studies that measure the carbon footprint of each journey should be thoroughly reviewed and this can change the whole framework of existing transport options. The principles of sustainability refer to environmental as well as economic and socio-cultural aspects. Sustainable development requires the participation of all relevant actors. It will be an ongoing process and will require constant monitoring.

Sustainability in travel has been under discussion for months and now the demand for societal change has accelerated. The demand for more sustainable travel programmes is increasing. Travel management companies and sports and leisure event organisers have the opportunity to play a key role in making these activities, whether for competition, study or leisure, more sustainable. In any activity, it will be necessary to consider mobility options. In this sense, public transport makes an additional effort in adapting vehicles to be more sustainable. The innovation process has been very important and has facilitated the management of transport services for organisations, companies, educational centres, sports clubs and even individual passengers who share similar routes.

Avant Grup, always aware of environmental needs and climate change, backed by European regulations, has Euro V and Euro VI engines in its fleet, the new generations for coaches with the very lowest CO2 emissions.

Carbon dioxide emissions from transport in the European Union currently account for 3.5% of global CO2 emissions. Against this background, a change was needed to promote this hopeful future. The development of EURO VI engines has achieved a new milestone, combining outstanding performance with low fuel consumption and exemplary environmental compatibility.

The AVANT Transport Group has worked intensively on innovation and technology, which has enabled customers to have very detailed information on the management of each service or journey. We highlight some of the processes:

• OnLine booking platform.
• Operational Control. Driver’s App / User’s App / Client’s App
• Service monitoring. Service tracking and vehicle positioning.
• Cost optimisation, with continuous analysis of the mobility needs of each centre, company or entity.
• Complete digitalisation of each transport service to guarantee maximum traceability.
• Reduction of environmental impact and greater sustainability. Effective reduction of CO2 emissions
• Online and real-time route information. Vehicle tracking and notification system

Specialisation and professionalisation has led the company to a leading position in customer service, with extensive experience in passenger transport services and fully committed to a quality service with strategies that enable a reduction in CO2 emissions.