From Awareness to Action: Becoming a Cycling Advocate for Climate Change
"After MGG I became an ambassador for sustainable mobility, climate change and commute cycling. During the MGG I acquired a deep sense of urgency to act and contribute with individual actions to tackle the climate change agenda".
José Manuel Rivas Ochoa, Mexico, MGG 2007
José's change story:
After MGG I became a mobility, climate and cycling ambassador. The acquired sense urgency to act in climate change individual actions and the opportunity to fully immerse myself in a cycling-support society gave me a whole new perspective about bicycle commuting When I returned to my country, I became a full-time cyclist and since then I have convinced many friends about the benefits and possibility of putting our grain of sand to reverse global warming. I even started a business that handcraft bicycles and by now we are also building cargo bikes for bike messengers that save tons of CO2 emissions per year.
First of all, my close friends and family have become cyclist. My children are growing going to school in a cargo bike that we made. They love the ride, and I am pretty sure they will use sustainable mobility options by example. Maybe in Germany this bicycle culture transmission is a normal thing but in Mexico we have an intensive car-use culture. Additionally, we have made hundreds of bicycle frames that are displacing cars from the streets. Other influenced persons are my working colleagues that saw me every day arriving on a bicycle. Some of them have adapt this type of commuting and also benefit from health advantages of using a bicycle.
What makes the MGG Network successful in enabling change?
🌍 Knowledge transfer about SDGs
🌐 Global importance
⏳ The adquired sense of urgency
Why is your change story inspiring?
“I can easily divide my life into pre-MGG and post-MGG experience. Changing comfort (car) for sustainability (bicycle) is possible (as many other SDGs targets) and depends on your willingness and persevering.”
Find more MGG Change Stories here!