SEUL wins big at the Global Good Awards 2020! 

21st September 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

Here at CRP, we and our partners truly embed sustainability and innovation across all of our projects, past and present. We are delighted to be recognised at this year’s Global Good Awards 2020, with our Smart Electric Urban Logistics (SEUL) project, delivered in collaboration with UPS and UK Power Networks, picking up not one, but two awards!

  • The Silver Technology for Good Award – recognising technology products that have generated a positive impact for the environment or community and helped to improve quality of life for people or the planet either on a local, national or international level.
  • The Bronze Special Judges Award for Innovation – recognising the three most innovative entries from across all categories in the 2020 awards programme.

We’d like to thank our valued partners for their continued expertise, support and drive to deliver positive change across London as part of our projects. These awards wouldn’t be possible without you! The SEUL project has now come to an end, however the EV Fleet-Centred Local Energy System project is currently live, building on the technology and lessons learnt as part of SEUL to deliver further efficiencies, cost savings and revenue generation for the electrification of vehicle fleets to reduce emissions and air pollution.

For more information, please contact CRP Project Manager Sefinat Otaru.

Have a listen to our first HSE Podcast: How the Hackney School Streets Hotline has helped to Implement School Streets!

21st September 2020 / Posted by Fiona Coull

The Healthy Streets Everyday (HSE) Programme is pleased to release our very first podcast! Have a listen to Joseph Lindsay from Lambeth Council talking to CRP’s Fiona Coull about his experiences of using the Hackney School Streets Hotline! Listen here

The hotline service has actively helped several Local Authorities with the implementation of school streets, including Haringey, Bromley, RichmondBrent and Lambeth. As the service enters its final few weeks of operation, we encourage booking a 30 minute time slot in advance of the hotline’s weekly Monday operating hours to avoid disappointment. CRP and its partners are extremely grateful to the Mayor’s Air Quality Fund for making this Schools Streets Hotline possible.

The Hackney School Streets Hotline is a free telephone service aimed at helping HSE Partners and London Boroughs to design and implement successful School Streets. The hotline service, which has been available from the 6th of April to the 28th of September 2020, was also made available to ALL London Boroughs in July, helping to provide tailored one-to-one support as well as up-to-the-minute, site specific advice from The London Borough of Hackney – a HSE partner who has years of direct ‘on the ground’ experience in implementing School Streets.

For further information about the service, including how to book a session, please contact HSE Project Manager Fiona Coull.

Cities Responding to COVID-19

21st September 2020 / Posted by Susannah Wilks

London is leading the way with other global cities in learning to live with COVID-19. No stone is being left unturned in terms of keeping communities safe, supporting a #greenrecovery and innovating for growth.

CRP is working with its partners to get Londoners moving safely and actively through Transport for London’s Streetspace programme, to diversify small businesses sustainably (London’s 16 Defra-funded Clean Air Villages), and to embrace fully digitised, agile working that contributes to valuable emerging roles for central and peripheral city neighbourhoods, to name but a few.

CRP has always tried to take a holistic approach to things, and the pandemic has brought into sharper focus the trinity of Health, the Environment, and the
Economy. These three priorities can and should be balanced, with constant adjustments and refinements being made. Everyone can play their part – individuals, businesses, banks, BIDs, Local Authorities, the government. Of course we are all experiencing problems along the way, but let’s keep learning together!

For further information and to contribute ideas please contact CRP Director Susannah Wilks.

CRP’s next LiveShare session

21st September 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

Join us at our next LiveShare session on 24th September, 2:15pm – ‘Better Prepared: Lessons Learnt from the COVID-19 Crisis’. We are extremely pleased to be joined by Professor Tony TraversLondon School of Economics, who will be focusing on the economic and financial aspect of London’s COVID-19 recovery, in comparison to other urban areas.

Emerging from this Coronavirus crisis, improved air quality in cities has never been more important. Better air quality has huge benefits for communities, businesses and overall economic recovery. An opportunity presents itself to support a green recovery, essential for building back better. We look forward to seeing you there!

What will happen?

8th September 2020 / Posted by Susannah Wilks

As Londoners get back to school, college, university, nursery, work after the summer break, we all have so many questions:
How can I keep my family safe?
What will office working look like?
Should the tube be for freight as well as passengers?
How am I going to socialise and have fun?
Will London’s local centres see a surge in fancy restaurants?
How can central London’s culture sector survive the winter?

Nobody has all of the answers. But we’re all trying everything we can and journeying on our new discovery voyage together. CRP is continuing to bring together partners from government, business and the community to share knowledge, develop ideas, trial solutions.

If you would like to find out more, get in touch with CRP’s Director Susannah Wilks.

International Day of Clean Air and Blue Skies

8th September 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

As of 2020, the United Nations have designated 7th September as the International Day of Clean Air for blue skies! The day came about after recognising the impact of clean air on our health and acknowledging the importance of raising public awareness on the topic. The UN recognise air pollution as a two-fold problem, impacting on both health and the environment. CRP is aligned with this effort and has developed actions and projects to reduce emissions and help to improve the air quality in London. If you are interested in knowing more, all of CRP’s Clean Air Villages case studies are available here. Please contact CRP Project Officer Carina Mesquita for further information.

London Green Spaces Commission: Next Steps Workshop

8th September 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

The last few months have highlighted how important our parks and green spaces are, whilst shining a light on the need for inequalities to be addressed. Last week, CRP joined the London Green Spaces Commission workshop, for an opportunity to comment on the recent report, which recommends how boroughs can be helped to develop, strengthen and secure their parks services. Commissioners invited evidence and undertook research and workshops with borough officers for the report. The Commission was a commitment in the London Environment Strategy and supports London’s title as the world’s first National Park City. Read the full report here!

For more information, please contact CRP Project Officer Rachael Aldridge.

Air Quality Monitoring Begins on GPS Anglia

8th September 2020 / Posted by Sefinat Otaru

After delays caused by the national lockdown, the Clean Air Thames project is back on track, with monitoring now taking place on GPS Anglia, a 23 meter inland tug, owned and operated by GPS Marine Contractors Ltd, which works along the tidal Thames. Mechanical Engineering PhD students, Christopher Ogbunuzor and Zuhaib Ali Khan from University College London boarded the vessel on 3rd September to undertake exhaust emissions sampling, gathering data on the particulates that are currently being produced by the engine.

The measurements taken will form the baseline for comparisons to be made after GPS Anglia is retrofitted with post-exhaust equipment that will reduce hazardous emissions, including particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides. Port of London Authority vessel, Driftwood 2, is expected to begin monitoring in the coming weeks! Stay tuned for more updates which will be posted on CRP’s Twitter.

For more information, please contact CRP Project Manager Sefinat Otaru.

Cycling to Work: Safety First

8th September 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

As some London offices begin to reopen, cycling can be a great choice for those returning to the workplace. Heart of London Business Alliance has produced a short guide for employees on cycling tips and support, including information on free Dr Bike maintenance sessions taking place throughout September, as well as a comprehensive outdoor cycle parking map for the West End. Take a look to boost your cycle confidence!

Charging Ahead: World EV Day

8th September 2020 / Posted by CRP Team

With World EV Day ahead of us, the plethora of benefits offered by an electric transport system is non-negligible. The impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on our air quality has been a successful public service announcement in bringing attention to the health of our lungs and environment alike. As the 2035 target is fast approaching, the case for zero carbon transport is at an all-time high with e-bike and EV sales soaring since March 2020. Among which, local bodies are implementing incentives to switch to EVs and are setting up the infrastructure such as charging points to facilitate this changeover.

Taking heed of the current climate, CRP’s Clean Air Villages (CAV) project is powering with local businesses to decarbonise their delivery and servicing trips as a way to support communities towards becoming climate resilient. An example is the installation of Evie, a shared EV in Brixton which has saved 1,562kg of CO2, equivalent to approximately 4,000 miles driven by a passenger car!

For more information on how to switch from diesel, please see hereEV Fleet-Centered Local Energy System (EFLES) is another CRP project, working alongside Moixa, UPS and UK Power Networks Services that aims to optimise the rate of fleet electrification. EFLES will promote EV take-up by providing access to rapid chargers to facilitate commercial fleets.

For more information, please contact CRP Project Manager Sefinat Otaru.