Transport, Climate, Action! (Transport Action Network) – London

Inspiring people to share ideas about active travel, public transport, fighting new roads, and tackling climate change and air pollution

After our successful first ever grassroots conference last year in Birmingham, we thought there was such a good energy and vibe that we ought to hold another one. Our aim is to give local transport, climate and countryside and nature campaigners an opportunity to share ideas and inspiration. We want to celebrate our successes and work out what we need to focus on over the next 12 months or so before a General Election and in the face of some extraordinary backlashes to taking action on health and climate grounds.

Also, this year marks some notable anniversaries, it being the 30th anniversary of the first ever national anti-roads conference and major protests at Twyford Down, while it is the 60th anniversary of the infamous Beeching report. To mark the occasion Emma Must, a prominent campaigner from the 1990s and ALARM UK days has agreed to read some of her poetry about the anti-roads movement.

We’ve got some great speakers and contributors:

• Jonathan Bray – ex-director, Urban Transport Group
• Roxanne de Beaux – Executive Director, Camcycle (part of Cambridge Sustainable Travel Alliance)
• Roger Harrabin – former BBC environment correspondent
• Lisa Hopkinson – associate of Transport for Quallity of Life
• Professor Glenn Lyons – Mott MacDonald Professor of Future Mobility at UWE Bristol
• David Milner – Deputy Director, Create Streets
• Stefan Rollnick – Head of The Misinformation Cell, Lynn Global

We’ve gone for London to make it easier for those from the East and South East who found it difficult getting to Birmingham last year. The venue is close to Kings Cross and Euston so is still easy to get to from the North and the Midlands.

We aim to put the spotlight on the existential threat to public transport and active travel as the Government cuts funding in order to allow it to build more roads. This is while the potholes on local roads get ever bigger. At the same time The Government has ordered Network Rail not to replace worn out infrastructure, creating a short term saving but costing more in the long term. The Government’s obsession with making things worse is seen by its determined inaction on cutting carbon quickly enough as it now admits it won’t meet its international target to cut emissions by 68% by 2030.

We also want to run some sessions to give campaigners the understanding and skills to deal with some of the disingenuous and toxic messaging that is being used against cutting traffic.

We will have two sets of workshops, covering a variety of topics as follows, so there should be something for everyone:

1. Lessons from Welsh Roads Review & road policy changes in England
2. Where to next for buses?
3. The future of rail
4. Active travel – achieving the 2030 target
5. Air pollution: What next for Clean Air Zones and more?
6. Nature / biodiversity / roadkill
7. Planning and transport
8. Campaign messaging – mythbusting and reclaiming the narrative
9. Media training – how to write a press release, appear on radio / TV

The event will provide the perfect opportunity for networking and meeting people you mostly only ever see on a screen. We hope it will cement friendships and empower the large number of people who have been campaigning at a grassroots level over the past few years.

If you would like to reclaim your entrance ticket and rail fare we do have a small amount to pay for bursaries. Information about this will be in your confirmation email.

Register your place (£15 – £109.05) via Eventbrite

Event Details