Lifelong Learning To Achieve Pedestrian Priority and Safety EU Project started in Antalya

Walking is definitely the most environmentally friendly and democratic way to get anywhere. No equipment is needed and it is open to everybody. However, pedestrians are threatened and coralled into smaller and smaller spaces in our urban areas. 

The City of Antalya as a centre of tourism, cultural activities, yearly receives about 10.5 million people increases its population density many times. Moreover, it is Turkey's biggest international sea resort. That makes Antalya in the top 10 most visited cities in the world, and the third after New York and Paris in 2012. The dominance of motorized transportation, however, excess traffic affect the quality of public spaces, making critical the infrastructure capacity for mobility, causing extremely slow intra-urban displacements. Short journeys are also affected by the lack of safe routes for cycling and reduced opportunities for adequate and comfortable walking.

As Turkey’s most modern city, in Antalya, pedestrians priority programme is lunched by the Governorship of Antalya in 2011. Within this context, a project was prepared by CEUPA for European Union Life Long Learning Programme and it was funded by European Commision by the coordination of Turkish National Agency in Minisitry of EU Affairs in 2011.

The objective of the Life Long Learning to Achieve Pedestrian Priority and Safety in Antalya (APPSA). Project is to implement the EU standards for pedestrian priority in big cities, showing the applicability of these standards in pilot areas by dissemination activities. Being a Transfer of Innovation and Vocational Training project to be partnered with 5 local and 3 European organisations, it aims to provide pedestrian safety by creating a learning model that will teach the traffic culture to pedestrians and pedestrian culture to drivers through vocational trainings.

The scope of APPSA will not be limited with the outputs of similar earlier projects, additional innovative instruments will be developed which will increase the number of beneficiaries and expand the impact area by involvement of the public. As the Project Consortium will be composed of the key staff from the local authorities, Governorship of Antalya, Metropolitan Municipality, Directorate of Security, Directorate of National Education, Driving Schools Assc., there will be strong emphasize to implement the proposal through traffic regulations. With the vocational education the participants’ market value in labor market will increase. The outputs and the model developed will further be shared with 80 provinces of TR and all across EU.

Thanks to this Project, when tourists come to Antalya, they can walk on the streets in peace.

The Governor of Antalya, Ahmet Altiparmak

The Governor of Antalya, Ahmet Altiparmak pays attention to and supports this project. The project will last for two years. Three pilot zones in Akdeniz University Campus, Old City (Kaleiçi), and Konyaalti Street Training and Educational activities by MEM and Driviers Schools  have started. The Coordinator of Center for EU Projects of Governorship of Antalya (CEUPA), Baki Karacay and Project Specialist at CEUPA, Meryem Zincirli are doing a very great contribution to the Project.

 

As the best and the most followed blog of Antalya, Antalya City Blog supports Lifelong Learning To Achieve Pedestrian Priority and Safety Project of Antalya.

 

You can also support this Project on Twitter: @onceyaya or @CEUPA_ANTALYA

 

For more information, please visit: www.ceupa.gov.tr and http://www.onceyaya.info

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3rd National Lycian Way Trekking

01-04.10.2011

Lycia:

Lycia is the historical name of the Tekke Peninsula, which juts into the Mediterranean on Turkey's southern coast. The mountains rise steeply from the wooded shore and tiny bays, giving beautiful views and varied walking. The Lycians were a democratic but independent people, with a unique art style and a high standard of living. They absorbed Greek culture, and were later conquered by the Romans. Their graves and ruins abound on the peninsula and the walk passes many remote historical sites.

The Route:

The Lycian way is a 509 km way-marked footpath around the coast of Lycia in southern Turkey, from Fethiye to Antalya. The route is graded medium to hard; it is not level walking, but has many ascents and descents as it approaches and veers away from the sea. It is easier at the start near Fethiye and gets more difficult as it progresses. We recommend walking the route in spring or autumn; February-May or September-November; summer in Lycia is hot, although you could walk short, shady sections. The route is mainly over footpaths and mule trails; it is mostly over limestone and often hard and stony underfoot.

On the route, except the highest sections you can stay in pensions or small hotels or village houses. On Mt Olympos, on the route to Hısarçandır and above Demre-Fethiye, you have to camp out. There are plenty of camping places with nearby water mentioned in the book; you do not have to ask permission.  The Sunday Times has listed it as one of the world's top ten walks.

Lycian Way

Highlights of the Lycian Way are:

• Spectacular walks on the slopes of Baba Dagi, beneath the flight path of the paragliders.
• Stunning descent to Faralya, above the cliffs of Butterfly Valley.
• The 12km long beach at Patara.
• Spectacular views over the coast from above Kas and Kalkan.
• The castle, harbour and sunken ruins at Ucagiz.
• The church of the Angel Gabriel in the hills above Myra.
• A fabulous ridge top walk to Finike.
• Staying at the lighthouse at Cape Gelidonia.
• Climbing Mount Olympos - 2388m.
• Splashing in the canyon at Goynuk.
• The ruins of hidden Lycian cities, the friendliness of the villagers, the quaint old houses in deserted corners, the deep forests and white rocks, and the blue Mediterranean.

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