Getting to the IMBA Europe Summit- What is sustainable?

16 May 2022

Getting to the IMBA Europe Summit- What is sustainable?

One of the challenges many destinations face, particularly the ones in Alpine regions, is finding sustainable travel alternatives to offer guests. Current public infrastructure lacks the capacity to connect European countries with one another in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Unless you’re willing to spend sometimes 20+ hours travelling, and spending more money on a train ticket than a plane ticket, this form of travel can seem unappealing (for most).

 

All that being said, a focal point of our Summit is sustainability, with the Friday plenary sessions focusing on ‘ Sustainable MTB Tourism’ and ‘ Sustainable trail design, construction and management’.

 

Sustainable travel: What’s realistic, and how can our individual action create change?

 

Part of IMBA Europe’s work is involving ourselves in meaningful projects that are seen as relevant in creating positive change to the mountain biking community. One such project is the ‘Sustainability and Environmental Education in Outdoor Sport’, a transnational Erasmus project. The recent report released from the SEE Project- Report into the broader sustainability issues of Outdoor Sports identified nine key areas where outdoor sports can work to mitigate our impacts on the environment. They are as follows:

 

  1. Mobility and Travel
  2. Equipment and consumption
  3. Waste and use of unsustainable materials
  4. Infrastructure
  5. Food and drink

 

The focal point of this article will be mobility and travel. Based on common knowledge of CO2  it’s obvious that the most energy efficient way to travel to Folgarida would be by foot, bicycle or other human powered mechanism. However, unless you can take a week off work, for many this is not feasible. Table 1, sourced from the SEE Project (McClure et al, 2021) demonstrates the total quantity of greenhouse gases emitted per KG per passenger per form of transportation. Evidently and not surprisingly, domestic short haul flights are the worst contributors in terms of emissions. What is interesting and relevant is the comparison between short haul flights and large petrol cars (refer to table 1 & 2). Both short haul flights and large petrol cars emit almost the same amount of carbon dioxide per km, taking into account that the figure from the short haul flight is per person. Most people travelling to Summit will opt for the plane / car or train option, as it is the quickest option, and sometimes the cheapest.

 

Table 1

  Flight  Unit  Emissions
Domestic / short haul  passenger.km  0.255 kg CO2e
Long-haul  passenger.km  0.15 kg CO2e
Train  passenger.km  0.041 kg CO2e
Bus  passenger.km  0.105 kg CO2e
Coach (long distance)  passenger.km  0.028 kg CO2e
Ferry (foot passenger)  passenger.km  0.019 kg CO2e
Ferry (car passenger)  passenger.km  0.13 kg CO2e

 

Table 2 The differences in greenhouse emissions from a range of vehicle sizes

DieselPetrolHybridPlug in hybrid
Type  kg CO2e per km  kg CO2e per km  kg CO2e per km  kg CO2e per km
Small car  0.1420.1540.1050.029
Medium car  0.1710.1920.1090.071
Large car  0.2090.2830.1320.077
Campervan   0.2650.313No dataNo data

 

Highlighted below are the suggestions made from the SEE Project. The top tips and takeaways is to try and coordinate your travel with other Summit attendees. Rather than driving alone in your car, why not offer a seat to someone who is coming in by plane or train. Not only is this more beneficial in terms of CO2 footprint, but you’ll also be helping someone else out.

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Mobility and Travel

  • Travel overland– Travelling by train is the most sustainable form of travel overland in terms of limiting one’s carbon footprint. 
    • Thinking of travelling by train? You can reach the “Trento station” via the high-speed Frecciargento, Italo, Deutsche Bahn, and ÖBB trains or the regional and interregional services. 
    • Then take the connecting Trento-Malé-Mezzana line to Val di Sole, from where there are regular coach links to all the towns
    • More information on the Train

 

  • Travel together- Instead of driving alone, why not travel together. Find out who is joining the Summit from your region, or perhaps someone on the way. If you’d like to ‘Find a ride’ to the Summit, join our Facebook group here.

 

  • Make the journey an adventure – If you have the time, and you love an adventure, why not look at making your trip to Val di Sole by bike? This might look like a train-bike-train scenario. 
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Travel by train:

 

If you’re landing into any of the major surrounding airports, Trento station is the last major station in the valley. From Trento, you can take the bus or the train up to Val di Sole. If you reach Dimaro station, we can organise a transfer to the Summit hotels- Hotel Luna & Hotel Caminetto. 

 

You can reach Trento Station using the high-speed Frecciargento, Italo, Deutsche Bahn, and ÖBB trains or the regional and interregional services. Then from here take the Trento-Malé-Mezzana line to Val di Sole, from where there are regular coach links to all the towns. 

 

Reaching Trento Station:

 

Milan Malpensa airport:

 

Available every 15 minutes from Milan Malpensa Terminal One → Trento

4hr+ of travel

 

Milan Bergamo airport:

 

Available every 20-40 minutes from Milan Bergamo Terminal One →  Trento station

3 hr+ of travel

 

Verona airport:

 

Shuttle service- Alto Adige Bus (4 times per day)

Bus transfer from Verona airport to Verona station, every 30 minutes (15 minute transfer)

Verona Porta Nuova to Trento every hour (54 minutes transfer)

 

Bus transfer

 

Flix Bus:

Milan Bergamo airport → Trento centre

17:35 departure→ 20:15 arrival

Milan Malpensa Airport

15:50 departure → 19:20 arrival

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Trento to Folgarida:

 

Once in Trento, you can transfer up to the mountain town of Folgarida via the train or bus. Based on what we have researched, the train is the best way up to Folgarida. Folgarida is 10 km by car from the station of Dimaro. The event organisers – Visit Val di Sole- will organise a free transfer to the partner hotels- Hotel Luna and Hotel Caminetto- if needed. Please contact us via email to organise this transfer with your estimated arrival time in Dimaro.

 

Train: Every 2 hours, 1hr 50 minute transfer

Bus- Only one bus per day, and it takes 2hr’40 minutes

 

Once in Dimaro contact an IMBA Europe representative for a transfer to Folgarida.

 

You can track your trip down to Val di Sole using Polar steps, or Komoot. We recommend checking out the polar steps app which incorporates all forms of travel (bike, car, train). Document your travel through your social media channels and tag imba_europe so we can follow your journey to the Summit!

Are you the most environmentally conscious mountain biker at this year’s Summit?

 

The individual who arrives at Val di Sole with the lowest Carbon footprint will win a great prize for their efforts!

You can track your trip down to Val di Sole using Polar steps, or Komoot. We recommend checking out the polar steps app which incorporates all forms of travel (bike, car, train). Document your travel through your social media channels and tag imba_europe so we can follow your journey to the Summit!

 

Calculate your footprint HERE