Event programme

Time: 12pm to 4pm

Meeting location: Buxton train station, SK17 6AQ

Join the Peak District National Park Authority on an afternoon cycle ride along one of the Peak District's iconic trails - the Monsal Trail. You'll hear all about the success of this multi-user trail along a former railway, including ambitions to extend the route.

Attendees will get the chance to view the Millers Dale Changing Place and try a range of inclusive cycle equipment, including the Peak District Trampers. All delegates will be provided with a cycle, e-cycle, or tramper for a 5km there-and-back level ride. The route involves tunnels. 

You are encouraged to bring lunch and suitable clothing for cycling and local weather conditions. Afternoon refreshments will be provided.

Time: 6.15pm to 8pm

Objective: Explore how place, street design and culture shape the everyday safety experiences of women and girls through the medium of film. The film screening will be followed by a moderated panel discussion.

Time: 9.45am to 10.45am

Objective: This session will introduce Making Active Places 2026 and the Government’s commitments to delivering happier, healthier and greener places.

Time: 11.15am to 12.30pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with three take away examples of how women and girls safety focused principles can be embedded into small, medium and large-scale projects from projects delivered across England.

Time: 1.30pm to 2.30pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with a clearer picture of how co-design and transparent, passenger-centred thinking can improve domestic transport connectivity across England, and with practical examples of how rail, bus and local authority partners are working together to deliver joined-up, accessible journeys for everyone.

Time: 2.45pm to 3.15pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with a clear understanding of Active Travel England's new spatial plan service and role as a statutory consultee in local plan-making, including what this means for local authorities in practice, and how Active Travel England's spatial plan service can support active travel to be embedded earlier and more effectively in the planning process.

Time: 3.30pm to 4.45pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with inspiration from real-world international examples of successful active travel schemes, insight into the approaches and conditions that helped them succeed, and ideas they can consider applying within their own local context.

Time: 4.50pm to 5.30pm

Objective: Attendees will hear first-hand what really brings people to a place: community and inclusivity, with a focus on Manchester’s placemaking legacy and how culture, activity and businesses knit towns and cities together. 

Time: 11.15am to 12.15pm

Objective: Attendees will understand the systemic barriers preventing active travel schemes from progressing from policy to delivery, gain practical tools for embedding co-design and community engagement into scheme development, and leave with real-world examples of how inclusive, place-based approaches can transform local scepticism into lasting community ownership.

Time: 1.30pm to 3pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with a clearer understanding of how physical and non-physical measures can be used to upgrade existing rural highways, including how specific design choices can improve safety and reduce highway maintenance costs. This workshop will open with a guided panel discussion.

Time: 11am to 12pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session having worked through real active travel design and delivery challenges submitted in advance by delegates, with practical solutions and guidance drawn directly from Active Travel England's inspection expertise, and with a clearer sense of the most common barriers to scheme delivery and how to overcome them.

Time: 1.30pm to 2.30pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with a clearer understanding of how data, monitoring and evidence can be embedded into active travel delivery from the ground up, practical examples of how national and local datasets are being used to build the case for investment and measure real-world impact, and fresh thinking on how resilience to climate change can and should be factored into active travel planning from the outset.

Time: 2.45pm to 3.15pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with inspiration and practical lessons from two very different scales of public realm intervention and with a clearer understanding of how the principles of active, inclusive placemaking hold true whether you're working with limited resource or a £30m budget.

Time: 12.15pm to 12.45pm

Objective: Attendees will receive direct, personalised feedback on a pre-submitted project from the Active Travel England team which can be applied to existing and planned schemes and delivery programmes.

Receive 1:1 feedback on existing and planned schemes and delivery programmes from members of Active Travel England’s planning and inspectorate teams. Attendees must send over materials for review at least two weeks before the conference.

This session is open to public sector employees only (for example, councils).

Time: 1.15pm to 2.15pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with a clearer understanding how streets and neighbourhoods designed with sustainability in mind can support the regeneration of urban areas.

Attendees will visit the planned location of Oldfield Basin, a new housing development designed to Passivhaus standards on the site of a partly disused trading estate. As part of the tour, delegates will also pass the Islington Active Neighbourhood scheme, which includes traffic-free streets, modal filters and access points to local green spaces, explore the railway bridge underpass near East Ordsall Lane, which uses vibrant lighting and creative murals to improve route safety and reflect local community values and Chapel Street East, Salford's flagship active travel scheme. This tour will be repeated at 1.15pm on 23 September (day two).

Time: 1.15pm to 2.30pm

Objective: Drawing on academic research, activist practice, and the themes explored in The Feminist Art of Walking, the tour will bring to life the design principles, barriers, and opportunities discussed in the morning's conference session, helping delegates connect theory to lived experience and take practical inspiration back to their own projects.

Time: 1pm to 3.15pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this outdoor session with a deeper understanding of successes and lessons from the Kingsway regeneration corridor project in Stretford, Trafford. 

Attendees will enjoy a guided, on-street learning session exploring how walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure can be delivered successfully alongside the A56, a busy arterial route connecting Trafford to the city centre. Delegates will explore how play has been integrated into their nearby Kingsway scheme, where one of the UK's earliest American-style indoor precincts and surrounding dual carriageways have been reimagined around people, with sun loungers, a linear park and new public space at its heart. 

Time: 5.30pm to 6.30pm

Objective: Review academic style posters from specialists in the public, private and third sector. Poster authors will be available to discuss their findings, lessons learnt and provide advice for organisations delivering placemaking, active travel and community engagement projects. 

Posters showcased:

• Active Travel England Innovation Fund: Backing Entrepreneurs - Charles Critchell, Walking and Cycling Projects Manager, Active Travel England
• Bike Share Made Fair: A Case Study and Best Practice Guide - Dr Kay Inckle, Campaigns & Policy Manager, Wheels for Wellbeing 
• Does Addressing Bike Ownership for Children and Parents Alongside a Co-ordinated Community Behaviour Change Programme Increase Cycling Levels to School? - Julian Sanchez, National Cycle Lead, The Active Wellbeing Society
• School Community Co-creation – Is This The Key to Safer, Healthier, Happier Travel? - Beccy Marston, West Midlands Active Travel Commissioner and Joe Green, Travel Demand Manager
• Making the Case: Applying a User-Friendly M&E Framework to Improve the Delivery of Active Travel Projects - Dr Alice Dalton, Senior Research Associate, University of East Anglia
• Micro-Financial Incentives Motivate Active and Sustainable Travel for Transport and Health Improvements in Sheffield, UK - Hannah McCarthy, BetterPoints 
• This Will Work Here: Winning Hearts, Minds and Miles for Active Travel - Duncan Dollimore, Associate Director, Cycling UK
• Sutton Connect: Building a Green Travel District Together - Tim Wall, Independent Chair, Sutton Connect 
• Shrewsbury Moves: A 10-year Vision and Plan - Seb Slater, Executive Director, Shrewsbury BID and Cllr Rob Wilson, Portfolio Holder for Transport & Regeneration, Shropshire Council
• Community Signal to Capability: A Repeatable Model for Inclusive, Measurable Active Travel Impact - Sam Robinson, Director, Love to Ride 
• Air Aware: Community Air Quality Monitoring, Developing Champions - Chris Harrison, Deputy Managing Director, Project Centre
• The Politics of Pavement: Understanding Each Other to Improve Scheme Delivery - Chelsea Randall, Senior Transport Planning Officer and Gregory Neil, Transportation Planning Officer, Devon County Council 
• Creating Safer Spaces for Women and Girls: Principles and Lessons From Projects Delivered in England - Susan Leadbetter, Associate, WSP
• Enabling Active Travel in National Park Authorities, Representatives from National Park Authorities in England

Time: 5.30pm to 7pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this tour with an understanding of how the creative industry, notably Manchester’s music scene, has changed the city and contributed to its reputation as a vibrant place to live, work and study.

Minimum numbers are required to deliver this tour. This tour may be cancelled if a certain number of participants is not reached.

Time: 6pm to 7.30pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this workshop with an understanding of how to write emotive copy through the lens of active travel and placemaking. 

Minimum numbers are required to deliver this workshop. This workshop may be cancelled if a certain number of participants is not reached.

Time: 5.30pm to 7pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this tour with a clear understanding how history shapes the places we live in, and the long-term impacts of decisions made throughout time.

Minimum numbers are required to deliver this tour. This tour may be cancelled if a certain number of participants is not reached.

Time: 9.15am to 9.45am

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with new connections made, creative thinking unlocked, and the momentum to engage fully with the sessions, conversations and ideas ahead.

Time: 10am to 11am

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with a deeper understanding of how local leadership shapes the places people move through every day, what Manchester's experience can teach the rest of the country, and a renewed sense of what is possible when ambition and delivery come together.

Time: 11.15am to 12.30pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with a richer understanding of how different local authorities across Greater Manchester have approached active travel delivery, honest insight into the challenges faced and how they were overcome, and practical lessons from completed schemes that they can apply to their own projects.

Image credit: Kevin Hellon - stock.adobe.com.

Time: 1.30pm to 2.45pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with practical examples of how child-led design and co-creation can transform neighbourhood streets and school zones, an understanding of how public, private and third sector organisations can collaborate effectively to make it happen, and the tools and inspiration to turn policy ambitions for child-friendly places into tangible, lasting change in their own communities.

Time: 3pm to 3.45pm

Objective: Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how sports venues can support the regeneration of urban areas, including how professionals in the private, third and public sector can work in collaboration to deliver world-class housing and visitor destinations with activity embedded into the heart of town and city design.

Image credit: Tim Ung - stock.adobe.com.

Time: 4.15pm to 5pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with an inspiring vision of what the future of active travel and placemaking could look like, fresh perspectives from voices at the forefront of regeneration and urban innovation, and a renewed sense of ambition to push boundaries in their own work.

Time: 11.15am to 12.15pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session having worked through real active travel design and delivery challenges in a collaborative setting, with practical problem-solving tools they can apply immediately, and a clearer understanding of the most common pitfalls identified through Active Travel England's inspection work and how to avoid them.

Time: 1.30pm to 2.30pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with a clearer understanding of how planning policy and the plan-making process can be used to embed active travel and healthy place-making principles that deliver real change on the ground, practical insight into the unique challenges of securing planning consent for greenway and rural active travel schemes, and the tools and narratives to make a compelling local case for active places.

Time: 3pm to 3.45pm

Objective: Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how existing and new streets and places are designed in Greater Manchester and how the Streets for All principles can be applied in other towns and cities.

Time: 11am to 12.15pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with fresh insight from cutting-edge research across three areas shaping the future of active travel and with the confidence to apply these evidence-based arguments and approaches in their own work.

Time: 1.15pm to 2.30pm

Objective: Attendees will understand how cross-organisational collaboration unlocks active travel delivery at scale, drawing on practical examples from rail station transformation, canal towpath partnership working, and cycle network regeneration. They will gain replicable tools, approaches, and lessons for working across boundaries to create healthier, more connected places.

Time: 3.30pm to 4.15pm

Objective: Attendees will learn more about the latest Government plans to deliver a comprehensive, consistent signage system for active travel, with opportunities to provide feedback to policy and design professionals.

Time: 8am to 9.30am

Objective: Attendees will leave this tour with an understanding of the National Trust urban places programme and ambitious partnership-led plans to connect residents with nature across Greater Manchester, including Cyan Lines, a programme which aims to create a network of over a 100 miles of green and blue infrastructure, connectivity and active travel routes over ten years.

The tour will provide an introduction to Castlefield Viaduct, a Victorian-era former railway viaduct which is now a thriving urban park in the sky as well as well as future National Trust and Cyan Lines proposals in the area.

Time: 9am to 10am

Objective: Review academic style posters from specialists in the public, private and third sector. Poster authors will be available to discuss their findings, lessons learnt and provide advice for organisations delivering placemaking, active travel and community engagement projects. 

Posters showcased:

• Active Travel England Innovation Fund: Backing Entrepreneurs - Charles Critchell, Walking and Cycling Projects Manager, Active Travel England
• Bike Share Made Fair: A Case Study and Best Practice Guide - Dr Kay Inckle, Campaigns & Policy Manager, Wheels for Wellbeing 
• Does Addressing Bike Ownership for Children and Parents Alongside a Co-ordinated Community Behaviour Change Programme Increase Cycling Levels to School? - Julian Sanchez, National Cycle Lead, The Active Wellbeing Society
• School Community Co-creation – Is This The Key to Safer, Healthier, Happier Travel? - Beccy Marston, West Midlands Active Travel Commissioner and Joe Green, Travel Demand Manager
• Making the Case: Applying a User-Friendly M&E Framework to Improve the Delivery of Active Travel Projects - Dr Alice Dalton, Senior Research Associate, University of East Anglia
• Micro-Financial Incentives Motivate Active and Sustainable Travel for Transport and Health Improvements in Sheffield, UK - Hannah McCarthy, BetterPoints 
• This Will Work Here: Winning Hearts, Minds and Miles for Active Travel - Duncan Dollimore, Associate Director, Cycling UK
• Sutton Connect: Building a Green Travel District Together - Tim Wall, Independent Chair, Sutton Connect 
• Shrewsbury Moves: A 10-year Vision and Plan - Seb Slater, Executive Director, Shrewsbury BID and Cllr Rob Wilson, Portfolio Holder for Transport & Regeneration, Shropshire Council
• Community Signal to Capability: A Repeatable Model for Inclusive, Measurable Active Travel Impact - Sam Robinson, Director, Love to Ride 
• Air Aware: Community Air Quality Monitoring, Developing Champions - Chris Harrison, Deputy Managing Director, Project Centre
• The Politics of Pavement: Understanding Each Other to Improve Scheme Delivery - Chelsea Randall, Senior Transport Planning Officer and Gregory Neil, Transportation Planning Officer, Devon County Council 
• Creating Safer Spaces for Women and Girls: Principles and Lessons From Projects Delivered in England - Susan Leadbetter, Associate, WSP
• Enabling Active Travel in National Park Authorities, Representatives from National Park Authorities in England

Time: 1pm to 2.15pm

Objective: Take a break from the conference floor and explore one of Manchester's most iconic cultural landmarks. This guided tour of the National Football Museum offers delegates a chance to experience first-hand how a world-class sports venue can anchor a city neighbourhood, bringing footfall, community identity and civic pride to an area.

Time: 1.15pm to 1.45pm

Objective: Attendees will receive direct, personalised feedback on a pre-submitted project from the Active Travel England team which can be applied to existing and planned schemes and delivery programmes.

Receive 1:1 feedback on existing and planned schemes and delivery programmes from members of Active Travel England’s planning and inspectorate teams. Attendees must send over materials for review at least two weeks before the conference.

This session is open to public sector employees only (for example, councils).

Time: 1.15pm to 2.45pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this tour with an understanding of the National Trust urban places programme and ambitious partnership-led plans to connect residents with nature across Greater Manchester, including Cyan Lines, a programme which aims to create a network of over a 100 miles of green and blue infrastructure, connectivity and active travel routes over ten years.

The tour will provide an introduction to Castlefield Viaduct, a Victorian-era former railway viaduct which is now a thriving urban park in the sky as well as well as future National Trust and Cyan Lines proposals in the area.

Image credit: National Trust, Paul Harris

Time: 1.15pm to 2.30pm

Objective: Attendees will leave this session with a clearer understanding how streets and neighbourhoods designed with sustainability in mind can support the regeneration of urban areas.

Attendees will visit the planned location of Oldfield Basin, a new housing development designed to Passivhaus standards on the site of a partly disused trading estate. As part of the tour, delegates will also pass the Islington Active Neighbourhood scheme, which includes traffic-free streets, modal filters and access points to local green spaces, explore the railway bridge underpass near East Ordsall Lane, which uses vibrant lighting and creative murals to improve route safety and reflect local community values and Chapel Street East, Salford's flagship active travel scheme. This tour will be repeated at 1.15pm on 22 September (day one).

Time: 1.45pm to 2.15pm

Objective: Attendees will receive direct, personalised feedback on a pre-submitted project from the Active Travel England team which can be applied to existing and planned schemes and delivery programmes.

Receive 1:1 feedback on existing and planned schemes and delivery programmes from members of Active Travel England’s planning and inspectorate teams. Attendees must send over materials for review at least two weeks before the conference.

This session is open to public sector employees only (for example, councils).

Time: 2.15pm to 2.45pm

Objective: Attendees will receive direct, personalised feedback on a pre-submitted project from the Active Travel England team which can be applied to existing and planned schemes and delivery programmes.

Receive 1:1 feedback on existing and planned schemes and delivery programmes from members of Active Travel England’s planning and inspectorate teams. Attendees must send over materials for review at least two weeks before the conference.

This session is open to public sector employees only (for example, councils).