"It makes no sense that today Portuguese children spend most of their time indoors and cannot play in the street like their parents and grandparents did when they were their age", said the ambassador for mobility in Portugal of the European Climate Pact, António Gonçalves Pereira.

António Gonçalves Pereira considered it "imperative that mayors in Portugal create areas in cities, and in medium and smaller towns, where this can happen" and argued that "playing in the street is a right, it is a condition of children's citizenship that local democratic power must guarantee".

The proposal to create areas for children to play in the street will be presented on Sunday morning, during the "Kidical Mass" initiative, in which hundreds of families are expected to ride their bikes, on a route starting at Quinta da Alfarrobeira, in Benfica, and ending at Quinta das Conchas, in Lumiar, in Lisbon.

According to a press release, "what will be proposed to the municipal councils throughout the country is that, in a first phase, they create areas next to existing schools where it is safe for children to cross the roads without adult supervision and to play in the vicinity".

"What we demand, first and foremost, are safe school environments free from air pollution, noise and through motor traffic", said António Gonçalves Pereira, one of the organisers of "Kidical Mass", who also defended that it is "essential to guarantee safe routes to schools, on foot and by bicycle, child-friendly road traffic laws and a 30 km/hour speed limit in towns and in most streets with people".

On the other hand, "wide, continuous cycle paths with safe crossings, on main roads" are also necessary, as well as "more public space dedicated to active mobility and for being and playing", added the ambassador for mobility in Portugal of the European Climate Pact.

"Mayors must look at the child population as citizens with the right to freedom, independence and safety", stressed the also coordinator of Ecomood Portugal - Association for the Solidarity Promotion of Sustainability in Human Mobility and one of the organisers of "Kidical Mass".

The European Climate Pact is a central initiative of the European Green Deal promoted by the European Union and aims to mobilise communities for investments, activities and processes that are progressively less dependent on fossil fuels, promoting the transition to safer and healthier lifestyles, and to a sustainable economy.

"Kidical Mass" is a global movement that seeks to respond to and give visibility to the need and desire of families to use active modes in their daily commutes, such as cycling, walking, rollerblading or skateboarding.

This movement, whose motto is "Space for the next generation", demands the improvement of cycling infrastructure and the pacification of streets, especially in areas surrounding schools.

The "Kidical Mass" initiative takes place throughout Europe, and in Portugal it has been held since 27 April in more than 30 locations, "with thousands of children and parents demonstrating for safer streets".

Since 2022, when the project was launched in the country, "Kidical Mass Portugal" has been running the petition "Safe cities for all people", addressed to the Government and parliament, in which it calls for the amendment of "the maximum speed limit from 50 km/h to 30 km/h in urban areas, where motor traffic interacts with pedestrians and cyclists".

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