Members of the Technische Universität Ilmenau have been honored for their sporting achievements in the Climate Alliance's "City Cycling - Cycling for a Good Climate" campaign. Twice, the university's team took the top spot for the highest number of kilometers covered and for the most participants among all participating companies and businesses. With 20,000 kilometers cycled and a CO2 saving of more than 3,000 kilograms, the TU Ilmenau achieved second place overall in Ilmenau. 50 teams and more than 900 cyclists took part in the city cycling event in the Goethe city in May.
For 21 days, 86 professors, employees and students left their cars behind and covered as many distances as possible by bicycle - with the aim of setting an example for sustainable mobility in Ilmenau and saving carbon dioxide. An app from Climate Alliance was used to record all the kilometers traveled and then added up for the TU Ilmenau. The CO2 savings were calculated automatically.
Georg Peter from student health management and captain of the TU Ilmenau cycling team sees city cycling not only as a contribution to climate protection, but also to his own health promotion:
The positive effects of the campaign cannot be denied. You not only become physically fitter, but also mentally. Cycling is a great way to switch off. The stress level goes down and one's own well-being is increased. In addition, the bicycle is very efficient and you can get everywhere quickly.
Isabella Liedtke, health manager at the TU Ilmenau, was also very pleased with the cyclists' commitment:
It's great that the cycling competition exists and that the university participates in this campaign every year. Many thanks to everyone who took part and cycled so many kilometers for the TU Ilmenau! This shows a high level of health awareness.
Campus well accessible by bike
Even outside the city cycling program, many university employees use their bikes to get to work or lectures - including Maria Illing, a advisor at the Center of Micro- and Nanotechnologies (ZMN) at TU Ilmenau. For her, the daily commute to work by bike is a matter of course:
Taking the bike to work almost every day is not such a big feat as one might often think. With the super developed bike path located between Ilmenau and Langewiesen, my daily commute goes through greenery. That's usually motivation enough.
She has been participating in the city cycling competition since 2018, and in 2020 she joined her own ZMN sub-team.
Tom Kaufmann, a master's student in technical cybernetics and systems theory, also likes to do his daily commute by bike. The active cyclist also appreciates the beautiful landscape Ilmenau has to offer:
In addition to the fixed route to the university and the athletic challenge, cycling also offers the opportunity to explore Ilmenau's surroundings in small everyday adventures. After last year, I was very happy to participate in the city cycling again to collect vigorous kilometers.