Young people from La Baia (Elche) learn global citizenship through Bicirural and its educational cycling routes

Cycling routes allow rural youth to explore their territory, understand environmental challenges and strengthen community cohesion.

This micro-initiative is part of ACCESS, a European programme carried out in Spain, France and Hungary that brings global citizenship closer to young people with fewer opportunities.

La Baia, a rural district of Elche, is a territory that lives with a lack of infrastructure, educational alternatives and accessible leisure spaces for young people. In this context, BaiaJovens has created opportunities for them to participate, express concerns and become protagonists of their own learning. Among these proposals, Bicirural emerged as an initiative that turns the bicycle into an educational tool to rediscover the local environment, care for the landscape and strengthen community life through a transformative lens.

This local experience is part of ACCESS, a European initiative that seeks to bring global citizenship and European values closer to young people with fewer opportunities. Bicirural shows that this type of learning does not need to be abstract or distant: it can emerge from the territory itself, from a shared route and from conversations that link landscape, social justice and the future. ACCESS finds in this experience a concrete example of how global education can be inclusive, accessible and deeply meaningful.

Learning citizenship along the paths of the Camp d’Elx

Bicirural was created by a group of young people aged 13 to 18 who wanted to learn more about the Camp d’Elx and share that knowledge with their community. Motivated by this goal, they formed a working group that began researching rural paths, mapping trails, analysing the cycle-lane network and designing accessible routes for small groups. They also collaborated with environmental associations and neighbourhood organisations to identify sites of historical, landscape or natural interest.

The routes quickly became an educational space. As they travel through rural paths, the young participants identify the effects of climate change on agricultural landscapes, discuss water management, recognise species and analyse how territorial inequalities shape life in the rural districts. Each route opens questions about sustainability, environmental justice and rights, linking local challenges with global debates.

Bicirural turns the territory into a living classroom where global citizenship is learned through direct experience. What happens along these paths helps young people understand the interdependence between the local and the global, and how environmental and social challenges affecting Europe also appear in rural areas like La Baia.

The bicycle as a tool for inclusion and learning about rights, diversity and the future

One of Bicirural’s most valuable strengths is its inclusive approach. Thanks to the association’s electric bicycles, older people and those with reduced mobility can join the routes, contributing memories, stories and community ties that enrich the experience. This intergenerational coexistence turns each route into a space for dialogue, empathy and shared learning.

This is where the link with ACCESS becomes even clearer. The European initiative aims to ensure that young people with fewer opportunities can access topics such as human rights, diversity, democracy and sustainability. Bicirural offers a concrete pathway to achieve this: learning global citizenship while travelling through a familiar territory, observing how the landscape reflects challenges shared across Europe and reflecting on how European values are lived out in everyday life.

From territory to Europe, and from Europe back to the territory, Bicirural shows how ACCESS comes to life through real experiences. It is not a theoretical module or a distant training programme: it is a glocal activity where young people understand that caring for their environment is also an act of global citizenship.

Bicirural demonstrates that education for global citizenship can be built by following a rural path, sharing a cycling route and engaging in conversations about what we need to protect our present and our future. It embodies the spirit of ACCESS: inclusive education, youth participation and a connection between Europe and local realities.

ACCESS is an initiative led by Jovesólides, Anthropolis, y Le Partenariat, y and co-funded by the European Union.

Follow the latest updates with the hashtag #ACCESS.

Galllery of photos