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Message from 2021-06-07

Green Mobility Survey: How did our Exchange Students Travel 2017 – 2021?

Green Mobility Survey: How did our Exchange Students Travel 2017 – 2021?

As part of the Green Mobility Week, the International Office was curious about how our outgoing as well as incoming students travelled to their destination in the past four years and whether sustainable travel option played a role in their decision.

 

We have shared the survey with all our Incoming and Outgoing students since 2017 and 95 students responded.

Question: Which option did you chose to study abroad?

  • 70,2% went abroad as part of the ERASMUS+ programme.  
  • 12,3% went on an internship supported by the ERASMUS+ programme.
  • 10,9% went on an exchange with one of our global partner universities.
  • 5,4% went abroad as a free-mover. (Free-movers can study any university around the world, get no financial support and have to organise everything by themselves).

Would you like to be part of this statistic and also want to study abroad? Click here to find out what partner universities we have and where you can go.

Question: How did you travel to your destination?

This is how the students travelled from A to B:

  • A majority of 45,6% travelled by plane,
  • 28,1% chose the train,
  • 17,5% used a car and,
  • 8,7% decided to take the bus.

Why did 45,6% choose the plane?

It is fast, easy, the only or the cheapest option (see the images above for a word cloud summarising the answers).

Why did 28,1% choose the train?

The train is cheap, sustainable, sometimes faster and the time can be spent more usefully as well as enjoying the scenery and more comfort (again, see the images above for a word cloud summarising the answers).

 While planning your study abroad trip, did you think of sustainable travel options?

  • A relative majority of 35,1% said sustainable ways to travel are important to them,
  • 25,6% said that yes, it is important to them but it was not an option, as the destination seemed too far away.
  • 17,5% said no, it wasn’t an option as the destination was too far away.
  • 5,4% chose a more sustainable way to travel but not for sustainability reasons and
  • 16,2% said it was not important to them.

Overall, we were surprised that most of the people asked had thought about the impact of their mode of transport. We were also delighted to see that less than half flew. We hope that this trend will continue and soon flights will no longer be used for destinations that can be easily reached by train. We will continue to think of ways to try and incentivise and support more sustainable travel options. Got ideas? Let us know!

 

Written by Ramona Szymczak, Student Assistant, International Office

Overview

Die Universität Witten/Herdecke ist durch das NRW-Wissenschaftsministerium staatlich anerkannt und wird – sowohl als Institution wie auch für ihre einzelnen Studiengänge – regelmäßig akkreditiert durch: