Rachel Aldred is Professor of Transport at the University of Westminster, and Director of the Active Travel Academy. Rachel has published more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and her research has been funded by NIHR, ESRC, AHRC, TfL, DfT, Road Safety Trust, British Cycling, Sport England, and others. She has won prizes including the Economic and Social Research Council's Prize for Outstanding Impact in Public Policy for work including The Near Miss Project, the first UK study calculating a per-mile collision risk for cycling. The Near Miss Project was also awarded the Cycling Initiative of the Year 2015 by Total Women’s Cycling, while another (the Propensity to Cycle Tool) was in 2019 awarded the Transtech Open Data Award. 

Additional Information available: http://rachelaldred.org/

Publications: http://rachelaldred.org/publications/

Isabelle Clement MBE is the CEO of Wheels for Wellbeing, an award-winning charity, based in London, which supports disabled people to discover or rediscover cycling. Established in 2007, the charity provides cycling opportunities in South London; it has also become the UK-wide campaigning voice of disabled people who cycle or wish to cycle. As an urban commuter handcyclist, Isabelle has extensive experience of what it takes to create the right environment so everyone can cycle. She works tirelessly to bring an understanding of disability to active travel stakeholders and of active travel to disability groups. She co-created #BeyondTheBicycle, an alliance with cargo cyclists and with parents who cycle with young children, who all encounter many of the same issues as disabled and older cyclists. She has become a leading influencer in the field of inclusive cycling and active travel. In March 2023 Isabelle was appointed Non-Executive Director of Active Travel England. Active Travel England is the government’s executive agency responsible for making walking, wheeling and cycling the preferred choice for everyone to get around in England”.

Additional Information: https://wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk/honorary-mbe-awarded-to-wfws-director/

Publications: https://www.cyclinguk.org/sites/default/files/document/migrated/publication/201503031.pdf

Hari Clough: Disabled cyclist and accidental activist. Former Salisbury resident, courtesy of more than one military posting and still a regular visitor. In love with their return to cycling and frustrated with how difficult to manage said return has been. 

Additional background information: https://wheelsforwellbeing.org.uk/my-cycle-my-mobility-aid-hari-and-her-clip-on-e-handcycle/

Emily Kerr has lived in St. Mary’s ward (Oxford) since 2015. She is the founder of Share Our Cars, a national campaign encouraging people to ‘borrow, not buy’ new cars, and lives with her partner and their three young children. She works as a sustainability consultant, most recently on Marks and Spencer’s net zero carbon strategy and is a great believer in the power of both business and grassroots community initiatives to make change.  With a background in science, Emily is extremely concerned about the impact of climate change on current and future generations and joined the Green Party to make a difference on climate and social justice at the local level.  She loves cycling, and campaigns locally for improved cycle and pedestrian safety and empowering people to reduce private car use. She was recently recognised as a Climate Change Hero by the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire.

Additional Information available: https://mycouncil.oxford.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=8934

Publications: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/23660984.oxford-sensors-tracking-vehicle-movements-along-streets/

Caroline Thomas is the Cabinet Member for Transport, Street Scene, and Flooding at Wiltshire Council.

As an ex-Army Officer, Caroline has used multiple forms of transport from boots and Land Rovers to horses and boats but became a keen cyclist during her Financial Services career, undertaking charity bike rides around the world in the 2000’s from Brazil to India. Finding retirement a little too quiet, Caroline became a Wiltshire Councillor in May 2021 and, after a period as the Finance Portfolio Holder, took on Cabinet responsibility for Highways, Transport, Streetscene and Flooding in January 2023 and has been keen to promote the council’s work on Active Travel ever since. To support her in this role she has asked Cllr Tamara Reay, the Portfolio Holder for Climate Change to extend her work across Sustainable Travel, with the aim of creating real choices for residents.

Development of the 4th Local Transport Plan this year provides the Council with a clear opportunity to build on recent progress to create safer and more accessible infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, reduce traffic congestion, improve public health, and contribute to environmental sustainability.

Additional Information: https://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=11114

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolinesthomas/?originalSubdomain=uk

Graham is a  Professor of Politics at the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) in the School of Social Sciences (University of Westminster). Currently, he spends much of his time working as the founding Chair of the Knowledge Network on Climate Assemblies (KNOCA) funded by the European Climate Foundation.

His main research interests are in democratic theory and practice, particularly democratic innovations / participatory democratic institutions and their relationship with climate governance and other long-term political challenges. Graham's book Democratic Innovations: Designing Institutions for Citizen Participation is widely recognised as key to the establishment of this area of study. He has been recognised by Apolitical as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Academics in Government.

Graham will act as the facilitator for our periods of reflection between the different presentations.

Additional Information: https://www.westminster.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/directory/smith-graham

Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Graham-Smith-2079133249

Ian Walker is a Professor in environmental psychology and behaviour in the areas of transport, energy and water (University of Surrey). He particularly specialises in working on bringing user needs into multidisciplinary projects with engineers and architects. He is psychology lead for the VSimulators building motion simulators and has worked extensively on in-home displays for energy and water that take end-user understanding into account. He also has a long-standing interest in choices and behaviours around sustainable active travel.

Additional Information available at: https://www.surrey.ac.uk/news/meet-academic-professor-ian-walker

Publications: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=kxfsI6YAAAAJ&hl=en

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dr.-Ian-Walker/e/B003VN2O98%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

Peter Walker is the deputy political editor for the Guardian and runs its popular bike blog. As a news journalist he has reported from places ranging from Iraq to North Korea. Walker has also been named one of the fifty most influential people in British cycling. He has been a regular cyclist since working as a cycle courier in London and Sydney.

Presentation: Having more people cycle for everyday transport makes a country healthier, fairer, less polluted and more safe. And yet cycling levels in the UK have stayed more or less static for years. This talk goes through the many reasons why ministers should back pro-active travel policies – and some of the reasons why they don't.

Additional Information available: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/32304/peter-walker/

Publications: https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/228037/peter-walker

https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/peter-walker-miracle-pill