News Articles Archive - Page 82 of 153 - Cross River Partnership

CRP has broken into the world of webinars by creating a series of informative, interactive and innovative LiveShare sessions, bringing together industry experts in the world of sustainable travel, business and air quality aimed to help answer your questions as we emerge into a post-Covid world. These sessions will be held every other Thursday at 2pm.

CRP’s next LiveShare Session, Parks and Open Spaces: Keeping Our Air Clean in a Post-Covid Era, will be held on Thursday 16^th July at 2pm. Sign up here! We will be joined by Parks for London and Global Urban Design to discuss the increasingly important role that parks and open green spaces play in keeping our air clean – outlining the range of benefits they have on our physical and mental health, how they have served our communities during lockdown, and how their continued positive use will evolve as we emerge into a post Covid-era. We will also be launching CRP’s new Healthy Streets Everyday Parklets Guidance and Tool Kit, showcasing how parklets have the potential to re-shape London’s streets post-Covid to benefit businesses, residents, and visitors.

Our LiveShare on 2^nd July provided insight into some of the key challenges businesses have had to overcome in order to become Covid-compliant. We were joined by Camden Town Unlimited and London & Partners who provided viewers with inspiration in terms of working together to create High Streets as Havens, as part of an overall green recovery. Viewers were informed of London & Partners’ #BecauseImALondoner campaign helping bring business back to the High Streets.

If you are not able to make a session, don’t worry! All of our LiveShares are posted on our YouTube channel for you to view and share whenever you like. Remember to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to receive all our LiveShare updates.

We look forward to seeing you there!

CRP’s Healthy Streets Everyday (HSE) project is pleased to announce that the School Streets Hotline Service provided by The London Borough of Hackney has been extended to Monday the 28^th of September. The Hotline is also now available to ALL London Boroughs with sessions occurring every Monday over the coming weeks.

School Streets are very much on the agenda in terms of transitioning out of lockdown, and the hotline has seen increased traffic over the past few months. HSE is fully committed to helping partners in light of COVID-19, and CRP is pleased that the extension will enable HSE partners, and other London Boroughs, to continue utilising the service, helping to quickly implement School Streets that are in line with TfL’s Streetspace programme. CRP and its partners are extremely grateful to the Mayor’s Air Quality Fund for making this Schools Streets Hotline Extension possible.

The Hackney School Streets Hotline service provides users with tailored one-to-one support as well as up-to-the-minute, site specific advice from a HSE partner who has years of direct ‘on the ground’ experience in implementing School Streets. Additionally, the service is in alignment with advice provided by TfL and can be used in relation to both School Street programmes and individual School Streets.

For further information about the service, including how to book a session, please contact CRP Project Manager Fiona Coull, fionacoull@crossriverpartnership.org

What an exciting time to be joining the CRP Team! As London businesses and communities are getting to grips on life post-lockdown, now is the time to really push for practices that are healthier for both people and planet. I’m enthusiastic about the opportunities that CRP can provide communities through the Clean Air Villages 3 project and look forward to tackling the challenges of businesses engagement while remote working.

The team has been incredibly welcoming, and I’m looking forward to diving into partner meetings, brainstorming sessions and project ideation. If you’re keen to discuss how CRP can help your community or business district improve their air quality, contact CRP Project Officer
Stav Freidman: stavfriedman@crossriverpartnership.org

The digital launch of London Climate Action week is 1^st– 3^rd July, which will convene London’s diverse sectors and experts to discuss the national and international response to COVID-19 climate policy and promote a #greenrecovery. Through business and government leadership, a series of events focusing on green investment, collaboration vs competition and solutions to adaptation will be held. A key area of focus is to decarbonise our transport sector. In 2018, only 0.5% of all licensed vehicles in the UK were ultra-low emissions vehicle. CRP’s projects collaborate across communities and businesses in London to reducing their transport related air pollution and encourage the uptake of low-emission alternatives.

We are excited to announce that the CRP Clean Air Villages Directory is expanding across new village areas for Clean Air Villages 3! The Directory is a free platform, promoting businesses who deliver their products/services using zero or ultra-low emission methods. The distance from the vehicle dispatch point to the Clean Air ‘Village’ centre is highlighted to support local businesses, whilst also aiming to reduce congestion. To be eligible to join the Directory, a business must deliver in at least one of the pollution hotspots for the Clean Air Villages project and meet the eligibility criteria.

For further information please contact CRP Project Officer Rachael Aldridge: rachaelaldridge@crossriverpartnership.org

Clean Air Villages 3 (CAV3) is tailored to improve air quality whilst supporting businesses, communities and hospitals as we emerge from lockdown.

CAV3 is a Defra-funded air quality project working with businesses, communities and hospitals in pollution hotspots across London, to promote behaviour change around individual and collective action that will improve air quality. CRP has now met with all CAV3 partners to discuss a strategy for implementation of the project on a local level. Tailored action will be taking place within each ‘village’ area to promote behaviour change around improving air quality. Cross-borough activities are also taking place, and CRP is developing ideas on air quality monitoring, hosting LiveShare events and expanding the CRP Clean Air Villages Directory into the new ‘villages’.

For further information, please contact CAV Project Manager Kate Fenton: katefenton@crossriverpartnership.org

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CRP has also recently published a number of best practice case studies from CAV2, which highlight examples of small businesses who are contributing towards improving their local air quality, with some more detailed case studies/how-to-guides explaining, for example, how to go about setting up an electric van sharing scheme. The aim of the case studies is to inspire behaviour change that will lead to reduced congestion and pollution on our roads.

The Business Clean Air Taskforce has announced the launch of the Business for Clean Air (B4CA) initiative. Business Clean Air Taskforce are a group of businesses convened by Global Action Plan and Defra, to help move towards cleaner air for all. Signatories include LeasePlan, Uber and Landsec. Clean air and building back better matters now more than ever. This initiative is aimed at large businesses – if you are interested, sign up here.

27th June, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises day, was a time to reflect on how SMEs have positively contributed to our local communities. Throughout projects at CRP, we have worked closely with businesses of all sizes.

During the CAV2 project, CRP worked with SME cargo bike provider ecofleet, in their local borough in Wandsworth. Parcels Not Pollution, delivering in Shepherds Bush during the pandemic, involves many different SMEs, rising to the challenges of air pollution in London to help provide alternative solutions for all. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have adapted to new ways to deliver their products, an example being the cargo bike on Pavilion Road, utilised by London Cheesemongers. Brixton businesses Abdul’s Fruit and Veg and Healthy Eaters have switched to EV to ensure they are contributing to cleaner air in their local community. We are looking forward to carrying on working with SMEs in CAV3, so if you are a small enterprise looking to improve local air quality in your community please get in touch! At CRP we promote the work of SMEs like Planet Minimal & Elysia Catering, who are promoting cleaner methods of delivery. Check out these businesses on the CRP Clean Air Villages Directory!

22^nd June marked 72 years since the HMT Empire Windrush landed at Tilbury Docks, East London in 1948. The Westminster City C ouncil‘s BAME Network celebrated the event with a virtual event of poetry, music and personal stories. The event explored some amazing personal life stories of this generation, such as Sam King, the first Black Mayor of Southwark. It is inspirational how this generation of migrants still has so much influence in our cities and culture in Britain today. The influence of Caribbean culture can also be seen in the food, music and art we consume. They also rebuilt institutions such as the NHS which we have been especially indebted to during the COVID-19 crisis.

Whilst they fought against and faced many prejudices and discrimination, it is important to note that more needs to be done in the fight against institutional racism. We should be proud of their achievements and embrace their contributions to British culture, and aim to continue to promote inclusion and equality though our work. Thank you to the Westminster City C ouncil BAME network for hosting this celebration.

For further information, please contact CRP Project Support Assistant Chioma Wuche: chiomawuche@crossriverpartnership.org

CRP’s Smart Electric Urban Logistics (SEUL) project continues to be celebrated for its innovation and achievements in using technology for good. It has won prizes in the Global Good Awards in both the ‘Tech for Good’ and ‘Innovation’ categories following the project’s recent conclusion. SEUL has already helped deliver air quality improvements through reduced emissions from electric trucks in central London. We look forward to attending the delayed awards ceremony, either virtually or in person, later this year!

SEUL is also the platform for our latest innovation project, EV Fleet-centred Local Energy System, working with UPS, UK Power Networks Services and Moixa, with funding from UKRI Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

For further information, please contact CRP Project Manager Tom-Linton Smith: tomlintonsmith@crossriverpartnership.org

Archives: News Articles

CRP’s LiveShare sessions: What’s next?

HSE School Streets Hotline Extension

A big welcome to CRP’s new Project Officer Stav Friedman!

Flip the switch on Climate Change

The CRP Clean Air Villages Directory is expanding!

Clean Air Villages: June update

Join the movement of businesses tackling air pollution

Celebrating SME enterprise day – showcasing great work from London businesses!

Celebrating the Windrush generation

SEUL Continues to Win Awards!