Erasmus by bike: a sustainable journey from Padua to Granada

He set off on his journey last Friday, 22 July 2022, fromthe Ancient Courtyard of Palazzo Bo, riding a bicycle, his sustainable and healthy means of transport. His name isAmedeo Girardi, aka ‘Otterider’,a student on the Master’s degree programme in Cultural Pluralism, Social Change and Migration at the University of Padua. In summer 2020, his passion for cycling, cultivated since childhood, inspired him to make his first solo journeys around Italy by bicycle to explore enchanting natural landscapes and places rich in biodiversity. From the Dolomites to the Po Valley, to the Tuscan hills, all the way along the Adriatic coast to Santa Maria di Leuca, the most extreme tip of Apulia.

Recently, Amedeo was also part of the‘Scholares Vagantes’ cycling team, which cycled across Europe from April to June 2022, touching the oldest universities and consolidating the link between them as a celebration of the University of Padua’s 800th anniversary.

The idea of undertaking a trip that communicates the values ofsustainable mobility,wellnessandsports,student mobilityandinternational mobility, is not new for this young student, but the destination and the goal are: “I decided to leave from Padua and go all the way to Granada, my Erasmus destination, sharing the experience through social channels in order to leave an inspriing trailfor other young students who, like me, want to experience university life to the full, even outside academic facilities,” says Amedeo.

Indeed, on reaching Granada, he will start his Erasmus semester thanks to the Open Arqus Mobility project, sponsored byArqus. The University of Padua adheres to this project, which offers students the opportunity to experience a study period abroad.

But there is more to it. The backdrop of this amazing sporting and sustainable initiative is not only theeighth centenary of the University of Padua, but also the first35 years of projectErasmus+, which was created to strengthen relations between European universities and their student communities.

Hence, a journey that converges sustainability, student mobility, sports and wellness. It can be followed on the official Instagram profiles of@amedeo.girardi, and@unipadovasostenibile. This initiative skilfully captures the invitation to‘release your future’,the motto of the 800th anniversary of Unipd!