Decarbonising transport: case studies workshop

Decarbonising transport: case studies workshop

In 2019 a climate emergency was declared for Scotland. This announcement set a target for achieving zero carbon emissions at a faster rate than had previously been set and spurred cities and institutions across Scotland to set their own ambitious net zero emissions targets.  Scotland’s two largest cities, Glasgow and Edinburgh, have committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030. We know that transport contributes around 36% to Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions and so decarbonising transport has a huge role to play in meeting these targets.

On Tuesday 28^th March, we held a workshop to present findings from transport case studies we have undertaken in collaboration with: the University of Strathclyde, University of Glasgow, City of Glasgow College, Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Parliament. The focus of the cases studies was on how organisations are encouraging a shift to more active and sustainable travel among staff and students. While some progress has been made, many challenges remain, including the on-going impact of COVID, changed working patterns, public transport provision, parking issues, embedded transport inequalities and more. 

In addition to hearing the main findings from this work, each institution offered their perspectives on the progress being made within their own organisation. This was followed by a structured discussion of the findings and their implications. These discussions focussed on finding shared solutions and consensus on ways forward.