Open City: A Charity for All

26th January 2022 / Posted by CRP Team

Open City’s motto is “a charity dedicated to making London and its architecture more open, accessible and equitable.” Open City grew out of Open House London, a festival that has run for over 30 years and grown into a global movement.

London is a city not just formed from its physical built environment, but also by centuries of people and their voices. Open City focuses on London’s stories as much as its fabric, looking at reformers, architects, politicians and public bodies who shaped the city we know today. They champion issues of social equality, education, health and environmental issues and promote considered and successful spaces, both historical and new.

Now Open City produces podcastspublicationsfilms and all-year round events. They also run educational and mentoring programmes, including Accelerate for aspiring built environment professionals, particularly from under-represented backgrounds. Architecture and the built environment is often seen as an elitist profession or interest, and Open City sets out to change that perception.

Their mission is to encourage all people to engage in London and its architecture. Public health starts with the built environment.

For more information, please contact CRP Project Officer Eleanor Marshall.

 

Spotlight on: Victoria BID

26th January 2022 / Posted by CRP Team

This month the spotlight is on CRP Partner Victoria BID!

Victoria BID are one of the 26 partners for CRP’s Clean Air Villages 4 programme, and they have been committed to improving the wellbeing of their businesses and all those who visit the shops by reducing their carbon emissions.

There’s still time to join them for the last week of their January Health Reset, a series of online events focused on health and wellbeing to help kick those January blues, recharge your batteries and start 2022 off right.

Cargo Bike Delivery Service in Willesden Green

26th January 2022 / Posted by Isidora Rivera Vollmer

As part of Clean Air Villages 4Cross River Partnership and London Borough of Brent will soon launch a cargo bike and rider service for deliveries for local businesses in Willesden Green.

This service will be available for businesses to book via an online platform, with a set number of pre-paid hours available for businesses to use the cargo bike scheme. The service will aim to encourage behavioural change, showing businesses the ease of switching to cargo bikes for deliveries, ultimately reducing local air pollution and saving costs.

CRP will share more details on how to sign up and use this free service in Willesden Green as soon as it launches!

For more information, please contact CRP Project Manager Fiona Coull.

Houseplant Week 2022

26th January 2022 / Posted by CRP Team

Imagine there was something proven to improve indoor air quality, make your house look amazing, increase concentration, reduce stress and lift your mood. Some sort of miracle remedy? Nope, just the humble houseplant!

10th – 16th January was Houseplant Week, in celebration of indoor gardening and all of its benefits. There’s a houseplant for any room and any gardening skill level! And better still, businesses listed on the CRP Clean Air Villages Directory deliver house plants to your door via zero-emission mode.

For more advice on what plant to choose, take a look at this article!

12 Months of CRP

14th December 2021 / Posted by Susannah Wilks

…In the 1st month of 2021  

CRP kicked off the Lunchtime Launch webinar series!

…In the 2nd month of 2021 ♫ 

CRP’s accountable body, Westminster City Council, held an open online discussion event about the COVID-19 vaccine, chaired by Lord Simon Woolley CBE.

…In the 3rd month of 2021 ♫

CRP’s Town Centre Futures report made recommendations for Covid recovery!

…In the 4th month of 2021 ♫

CRP put the finishing touches on our short animation describing our collaborative project, EFLES.

…In the 5th month of 2021 ♫

CRP’s interactive Urban Logistics Hub web page went live!

…In the 6th month of 2021 ♫

CRP’s online Clean Air Tool launched!

…In the 7th month of 2021 ♫

New members joined the CRP Team!

…In the 8th month of 2021 ♫

CRP’s Greening out the Grey guidance was published!

…In the 9th month of 2021 ♫

CRP’s Clean Air Villages 4 project profiled in the Public Sector Executive publication!

…In the 10th month of 2021 ♫

CRP’s ULEZ materials were featured by The Evening Standard’s The Leader podcast!

…In the 11th month of 2021 ♫

CRP’s Rapid Charging Guidance was showcased by CiTTi Magazine!

…In the 12th month of 2021 ♫

CRP commissioned studies into walking, river and rail freight!

CRP looks forward to working with you all in 2022!

Have a safe and sustaining Christmas break!

Susannah Wilks, Director of CRP

Lunchtime Launch 12 Green Logistics London: A Healthier City for All

14th December 2021 / Posted by CRP Team

Join us for the final Lunchtime Launch in the series. This interactive session, Thursday 16th December 2021, 1:15pm – 2pm, will explore improving air quality through more sustainable deliveries in London. Sign up for the webinar here.

Local air quality has direct impacts on both the business community and public health. CRP BID member The Fitzrovia Partnership and transport pollution experts EMSOL will discussing their latest initiatives to combat poor air quality in London.

Dan Johnson, representing The Fitzrovia Partnership, will be speaking about the BID’s sustainability goals and how to achieve these through new plans into green logistics and net zero. Ben Fielden, EMSOL, will be presenting on the monitoring of air quality and noise of the Guys and St Thomas’ and CEVA Clean Air Villages 4 (CAV4) river freight trial, comparing river and road deliveries. CRP Project Manager Kate Fenton will also be presenting on the progress of the CAV4 programme.

The main learning points of the session will be:

  • Initiatives to reduce air pollution from freight.
  • Comparing road and river freight in London.
  • Reducing emissions through micro-logistics hubs.

For more information please contact CRP Communications Project Manager Rachael Aldridge.

2022 Events

14th December 2021 / Posted by CRP Team

Following the success of the Lunchtime Launch series, we are pleased to launch our new event series for 2022: CRP’s Connect 4 Series

Thank you to everyone who attended our Lunchtime Launch sessions. From January to November, we’ve hosted 11 online sessions, with 990 attendees and a total of 1,110 YouTube views. We’ve had 21 external speakers, all experts in their fields, present on topics from air quality, sustainable shipping and monitoring on our high streets. And there’s still time to sign up to our final session!

2022’s events will take place on the last Thursday of each month, 4pm – 4:45pm. This new series will bring you exciting topics, with an opportunity for networking and discussion.

The panel for our first session, taking place online, includes expert speakers from Better BanksideDelivering London and DSDHA/David Bonnett Associates. CRP will be launching Central London Sub-Regional Transport Partnership Highways and Footways Guidance.

The first Connect 4 session is taking place on Thursday 27th January 4pm – 4:45pm. Sign up here.

Clean Air Villages 2021 Round Up

14th December 2021 / Posted by CRP Team

The CRP team and Clean Air Villages 4 partners have been working hard since April’s project launch. Here’s a round up of just some of the deliverables that have been achieved so far. To find out more information, join our final Lunchtime Launch of the year on Thursday 16th December, when CRP Project Manager Kate Fenton be presenting a roundup of activities to-date.

  • 154 1-2-1 meetings have taken place
  • The team have presented at 16 events
  • 11 Lunchtime Launch events have taken place
  • ULEZ supporting documents have launched
  • Telematics devices to support switch to EVs are currently in use
  • New pages of the Clean Air Villages Directory launched, and a Christmas promotion is taking place right now!
  • River, rail and walking freight feasibility studies are in progress
  • Air quality, noise and traffic monitoring devices are being used
  • Supplier consolidation schemes, a circular economy scheme, river freight trials, last mile logistics hub trials, virtual loading bay trials, case studies, and toolkits are all in the pipeline!

The total emissions savings resulting from the Clean Air Villages 3 and the Clean Air Villages 4 programmes combined for the year 2021 is as follows:

  • 275,212 g NOx 
  • 151,215 g PM 2.5 
  • 109,450 kg CO2

What do these numbers mean, I hear you ask? 

That amount of NOx is the equivalent produced from a forest fire the size of 1,245 football pitches, and that amount of CO2 has saved 328 square metres of arctic ice from melting!

For further information, please contact CRP Project Manager Kate Fenton.

#CleanAirChristmas

14th December 2021 / Posted by CRP Team

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! To celebrate, we have been running the #CleanAirChristmas campaign throughout December on social media, showcasing the CRP Clean Air Villages Directory and all of the amazing businesses and villages on there.

Every day until Christmas Eve, we’re featuring all 26 CAV4 Clean Air Villages and 13 businesses from the Directory, including Christmas deals and a look at what’s on across London this Christmas. Take a look on our InstagramFacebook and Twitter to take advantage of these great offers and ideas to make this year a Green Christmas!

All of the businesses on CRP’s Clean Air Villages Directory are committed to reducing their carbon footprint by delivering by zero or ultra-low emission methods. For any businesses interested in being added into the Directory, please get in contact!

For more information, contact CRP Project Officer Dave Ebbrell.

Small Business Saturday 2021

14th December 2021 / Posted by CRP Team

The Small Business Saturday Tour 2021 travelled across the UK from Monday 1st November to Wednesday 1st December, calling at different towns and cities for five weeks! CRP tagged along with Westminster City Council and Cycle Confident to showcase the CAV4 cargo bike scheme – take a look at the live video.  

Starting at COP26 in Glasgow, ‘The Tour’ visited twenty-four British towns and cities to support, inspire and highlight the six million small businesses across the UK, as part of the countdown to Small Business Saturday.

As the tour stopped in Soho, CRP showcased the CAV4 cargo bike scheme, which can save small businesses time and money on deliveries throughout the festive season! Free hours of bike and rider are available for all businesses, community organisations, non-profits and charities in Soho, Northbank, Covent Garden and surrounding areas. Please see here for more information.

This year ‘The Tour’ showcased an electric vehicle fleet. This was implemented following the fact that 97% of small businesses say that sustainability is important to their organisation (according to research by BT Skills for Tomorrow and Small Business Britain).

For more information about the CAV4 cargo bike scheme and to sign up to use free hours, please contact CRP Project Manager Kate Fenton.

Take a look at CRP’s favourite small businesses here.