Big Walk and Wheel 2023 launch in Edinburgh. P4 and P7 schoolchildren celebrated the launch with a walking disco and bike and scooter activities in the playground. Project use only.
Overview
Presented by Sustrans Scotland, through the Engage Inspire Learn training and events programme, we invite you to join us as we explore how to design and implement behaviour change plans in order to increase the use of new and existing active travel infrastructure.
We will bring together Places for Everyone, Co-Design and National Cycle Network partners and active travel professionals from across Scotland for a full day of learning and sharing relevant example.
Why attend?
This workshop aims to:
Expand your knowledge and awareness of behaviour change;
Explain the role that social marketing can play;
Demonstrate how you can create and implement social marketing orientated behaviour change plans;
Encourage knowledge sharing and best practices;
Provide a platform for you to ask questions and take part in discussions;
Provide a platform for you to network and engage in facilitated networking opportunities;
Inspire you to apply learnings to your own projects.
Group of young women and two elderly women using busy city centre public space and station access
Overview
Gender budgeting is a tool that can highlight how policies, investments and projects can impact women and men differently, therefore improving transparency and accountability. We explored this tool through a series of events outlined below.
An Introduction to Gender Budgeting
Gender budgeting is a way of analysing how budgets and spending decisions affect gender equality. It can take into account other characteristics that intersect with gender, like ethnicity, income level and disability, for example. The aim is to promote gender equality in budgeting and spending processes. Policies, investments, and projects that seem neutral can inadvertently increase gender and other inequalities. Gender budgeting is a tool that can highlight how policies, investments and projects can impact women and men differently, therefore improving transparency and accountability. The Scottish Women’s Budget Group delivered a webinar to introduce gender budgeting (what it is, why and how to do it), using examples from their work.
Thank you to all those who have continued to submit monthly financial information via the new portal system. If you have not done so, please bring your forecasting up to date as a matter of urgency.
As previously communicated, grants for 2023/24 cannot be accrued into 2024/25. Therefore, Places for Everyone must understand any need to carry forward grant by 31st October 2023, in order to request additional funds from the 2024/25 budget.
Should you incur an un-forecasted underspend in the current financial year (2023/24) and require additional funds in 2024/25, your request will only be considered once all other projects have received funding.
Concept and Design Funding
The application portal will be open for applications for funding towards Concept (Stages 0-2) and Design (Stages 3-4), for both new and existing projects, from the 29th November 2023.
Only Local Authorities, Regional Transport Partnerships and National Park Associations will be eligible to apply for funding towards new projects at this time; however existing projects being progressed by other organisations will continue to be supported and will be able to access funding for subsequent project stages.
The table below outlines the key dates for Decision Making Panels to be held in March and June 2024.
For existing projects, to ensure adequate time for final deliverables to be assessed and feedback provided, a prior deadline for submission for stage review has been set. This change will mean that the application for a continuation of funding will be greatly simplified, assuming all previous deliverables have been submitted to your Grant Advisor.
As with previous years, we are unable to publish an exact date for award of funding. However, we have aligned the assessment and decision-making process with when we expect to receive confirmation of funding from Transport Scotland and hope to be able to confirm the first wave of funding before Easter 2024.
Funding will continue to be awarded towards the same groups of stages. However, in line with recent communications from Transport Scotland, all funding will need to be spent by 31st March 2025. Funding for activities to complete the relevant stage group (Stages 2 or 4) in the 2025/26 financial year will, however, be awarded in principle.
Table of Decision Making Panels
Please note dates marked with an * have been altered due to our ongoing funding discussions with Transport Scotland. Dates may be subject to further change as our discussions progress. We’ll notify you as soon as any changes are confirmed.
2024
10th January
2024/25 Application Deadline (Round 1)
28th March*
Stages 3-4 Panel
March-April
Stages 3-4 Grant Awards Announced
10th April
Grant claim deadline for 2023/24 projects
15th April*
Open for 2024/25 Round 2 Applications (Stages 3-4 only. At this time, we do not expect to have another Stage 0-2 grant for funding this financial year)
19th April*
Deadline to submit deliverables for Stage Review for projects moving to Stages 3-4 (Round 2)
TBC*
Stages 0-2 Round 1 Grant Awards Announced
6th May*
2024/25 Application Deadline (Round 2)
24th June
Stages 3-4 Panel
TBC*
Stages 3-4 Grant Awards Announced
Dates have been updated in April 2024
Construction Funding
As part of the ongoing Transport Scotland Active Travel Transformation Project (ATTP), the award of new construction funding will be made directly by Transport Scotland from 2024/25 onwards. All new construction applications from Local Authorities, Regional Transport Partnerships and National Park Associations should now be directed to the ATTP Fund for 2024/25, more on which will be communicated once Transport Scotland has shared further information.
Organisations other than the above will be eligible to receive construction funding via Places for Everyone during 2024/25, decisions on which will be made on the basis of Extraordinary Decision Making Panels. If this applies to your project, please discuss this with your Grant Advisor and submit an outline request to PlacesForEveryone@Sustrans.org.uk, confirming when you expect to submit your final stage 4 deliverables for review.
Places for Everyone will continue to fund existing construction commitments and any existing commitments made in principle, through to completion.
Places for Everyone will continue to support change controls to existing commitments.
New Malden Raynes Park Community Engagement Event used to encourage local participation and ownership of route
Event recap video
We brought together PfE partners, community members, engagement and other professionals from across Scotland for a full day of learning about community engagement through expert speakers, case studies, workshops and networking.
On this page, you’ll find all the information about the agenda, speakers, resources. Simply click on the headings below or scroll through to see the relevant section.
From Policy to Practice – The Journey to Meaningful Community Engagement
An overview of the policy context to community engagement in planning and how this can be implemented in practice. The session considered case studies from Planning Aid Scotland’s own work on inclusive engagement programmes with communities around the country, and discussed practical ways to approach community engagement, looking at some of the tools and supports that are available.
Re-designing the Future for Everyone – A Creative Approach: Learn about the value of small-scale public engagement that accesses a wide cross-section of the community, drawing on creative approaches that engender discussion and build community.
Presented by: Nichol Wheatley (Curator, Stockingfield Bridge, Glasgow), Louise Nolan and Ruth Impey (Artists, Make It Glasgow).
Inclusive Community Engagement – The View from the Community
This panel session showcased three organisations (Bike for Good, Disability Equality Scotland and SCOREscotland) who’ve made practical strides towards creating an inclusive community through engagement in active travel.
In this panel session, these organisations (The Causey Development Trust, The Leven Programme and Sustrans Artroots and Tragic O’Hara) discussed how community engagement helped them to take a creative role in developing active travel and community spaces.
Apply the day’s learnings and see them in action. These workshops provided attendees with practical takeaways.
Workshop 1: Young People and Engagement
A Place in Childhood recently undertook an important research piece on Teenagers and Public Space in Scotland, on behalf of Sustrans. The results have significant value across our sector both in terms of understanding the place-based interventions that best serve this age group, and the methods for meaningful and intergenerational dialogue on their needs as part of any engagement. In this experiential workshop, APiC shared what they found, and explored ways of enabling the effective participation of teenagers in your projects.
Workshop 3: Dealing with Difficult Situations – A Practical Approach
Room: Macphail Room
Delivered by Hannah Taylor, Sustrans’ Network Development Manager (Engagement), in this interactive workshop we learnt how to deal with challenging situations in a community engagement setting using discussion and role play.
🎤 16:00 – 16:45 – Closing Plenary: Transforming the City: The Ecology of the Inclusive City – Feminist Planning, A Case in Point
An introduction to the importance of inclusive cities through the lens of a feminist approach. Set in the context of transforming cities to be more equitable and accessible for all.
Presented by: Councillor Holly Bruce, Scottish Green Party
Speaker Bios
Read all about the speakers in our compiled list of speaker bios:
Community Engagement support templates including Engagement Plan, Stakeholder Map, EqIA Tool and Behaviour Change Plan (scroll down to relevant section)
Transport Scotland (TS) recently wrote to project partners regarding the current financial climate and expectations for reporting on those receiving funding via Places for Everyone.
As such, all partners are now required to provide monthly financial updates via the project portal for all projects, due by the end of the 3rd week of each month.
You will need to provide the following information:
A forecast of total project expenditure for the next 3 months
Actual spend-to-date for the current financial year for the whole project
A forecast of the grant claims to be submitted each quarter
Having a clear, detailed and accurate picture of project positions allows the PfE team to make quicker decisions on use of that budget in year, reallocating budget as appropriate (to allow further grant awards and/or change requests to be progressed) and giving assurance to TS that the full budgeted award will be spent within the year.
Support
To support you with this, the PfE team has produced guidance which is now available on the Sustrans Scotland.
You can also catch up on this short webinar recording. We heard from Nico Jensen, Project Accountant at Sustrans, who introduced the guidance, provided more information on the process and answered questions from partners.
Q: In order to have an accurate number against the forecasts, what do you suggest for Local Authorities who experience delays with spend?
Each organisation has their own internal financial processes and we understand the timings may not be ideal for everyone. As we are mostly asking for forecasts, we suggest you provide your best estimation given the information you have available at that time.
Q: What day of the month do we need to submit the forecasts and the actuals to meet your reporting deadlines?
Partners will receive a reminder each month (on the 1st and 3rd weeks of the month) and the deadline for this will be the last day of the month, and this will be done one month in arrears.
So, for example, we are currently in July, and you would fill in the actual spend from April, May and June (Q1) and the forecasts for July, August and September (Q2), by the last day in July.
Q: While my forecast may have information for the three months, if we do not spend within the quarterly claim, does that have any impact and what are the consequences for any over or under spend?
We are working on extending the thresholds on the portal so that it picks up claims that were submitted maybe two weeks after the quarter ends. We’ll come back to you on once finalised.
Q: What is the impact or what is the monitoring process and the reason for the three month spend profile?
These are both monitoring tools and will be used to manage information and support our decision making. While we expect the three months spend to be aligned with the quarterly claims, they wouldn’t always be the same of course. And, the claims that you forecast won’t always match the actual claims that you submit.
The idea is for us to have an insight on when you think you’ll be submitting claims and a ballpark figure of what those claims are going to be, so that we know when we must make payments and when money is going to be out the door. If some projects are delayed or going to be claimed later in the year, that will allow us to fund other projects earlier in the year. There aren’t really any hard implications on this, it’s just a tool for us to have a better way to track project finances.
Q: Can we still complete quarter one spend, or is it blanked out at the moment?
At the moment, it is greyed out. It should include your claims that you submitted before the end of June. We are working with our development team so that it also includes any claims that were submitted a week or two after the June close, so that it aligns better with what your claims were.
Q: Is the forecast for the following month, or the project as a whole?
The spend forecast is three months in advance. For example, in July, you would forecast July, August and September. For the claims, we are asking for the whole year, but on a quarterly basis, not a monthly basis.
Q: Will the actual and projected spend include partnership funding as separate figures from Sustrans funding?
For spend, we ask you to submit anything that you are spending on the project, either from Sustrans or other funding you may have. We just need to have an indication of how the project is spending basically.
Q: When you say ‘Spend’, you mean invoices and internal costs that appear on ledgers etc. You’re not talking about level of effort, earned value type things. You’re just talking about actual invoices received – is that fair?
Yes, that is correct.
Q: Every month our cost consultant produces interim certificates for us. Is it good enough to show issue the interim certificate which basically shows the money that’s been passed on to the contractor. Is that the sort of evidence you’re looking for?
Yes, but at the same time, we are not asking for evidence here. We just need a flat number – the evidence will need to be submitted when you claim, as always. Here, we are just asking for your actual spend as a number, or the forecast of what you think you will spend. There is no need to submit any documentation to back up your spend. When you submit claims, you will be asked to provide the relevant information as always.
Q: If we’re claiming staff time, should these be included within the monthly and quarterly returns?
Yes. Anything that you would normally claim, please include on the spend.
Q: How does it work in Q4 then? We might only get our valuations at the end of quarter, but Sustrans usually have a cut-off point at some point towards the end of Q4.
Please submit your expectations for what you will claim in Q4 (normally will be the remainder of your award). When claims are submitted, they will override anything that you submitted in your forecast. As we approach the end of the year, new quarters will appear for the first few quarters of the new year, and you can input your expectations to claim there. If you think you’ll need to move funds, put those in the following quarters, but still do submit your change control as usual, as that is the formal process for you to change your award.
Q: With the spend profile, what do we if there is an underspend? Do we pass it on to the next quarter, or does it go into minus?
We ask you to realign anything within that financial year. If you underspend, please input the actuals of your spend, and move the spend forward if you think you’ll use it in another month.
Q: I learn by doing. Will I have the opportunity to play about with the spend and claim profiles in draft form in the portal?
We are working on this on a phased period, and don’t expect everyone to pick it up straight away. The idea is to start using it, try it out, see how it goes, and direct any questions or feedback to your Grant Advisor in the first instance.
Q: Given that we haven’t yet received our Sustrans funding award letters, are you expecting us to submit these profiles as of July?
Please check with your Grant Advisor. In some cases, some projects have funds that remain from last year and what you’re expecting is approval to move it onto this year. In those cases, please do start submitting your expectations on claim and spend. But if it is a new award that you requested, please wait until that’s approved.
Protected junctions introduced as part of the South City Way Places for Everyone project in Glasgow.
Overview
Partner organisations from around Scotland – including local authorities and community groups – joined us to hear from speakers in our Design & Assurance teams.
They looked at the Design deliverables, shared best practices and lessons learned from previous projects. The webinar also provided a platform for partners to ask questions and take part in discussions.
Opening the session, Chiquita Elvin, Head of Programme for Places for Everyone (Services), explained that with the recent changes to the programme, these events aim to support applications and make projects more successful and impactful.
Introducing the Design deliverables, best practices and lessons learnt
Kieran Ward, Construction (CDM) Manager, kicked off the presentation with a brief overview of the RIBA stages. Darren McHattie, Capital and Technical Advisor, spoke about areas of project documentation that commonly fall short – programmes, risk registers, costings and permissions – based on experience from previous projects.
And Paul Ruffles, Principal Urban Designer, offered simple hints and tips when it comes to drawings, EqIAs and communication. The session concluded with an overview of CDM duties.
Neil Hanna Photography
www.neilhannaphotography.co.uk
07702 246823
Neil Hanna Photography
www.neilhannaphotography.co.uk
07702 246823
The Spaces for People programme evaluation is split across three primary documents: an evaluation report, an equalities study and a lessons learned document.
Spaces for People Programme Evaluation Report
The Evaluation Report provides key insights into the data that was used to evaluate the impact of the programme.
This includes results from public perception surveys, counts of users at project locations, vehicle speed data, video interaction footage, and spatial analyses.
This data was combined and used to assess the extent to which the programme achieved its outcomes.
The Equalities Report aimed to better understand how the programme impacted different demographic groups. This report draws on attitudinal surveys and other data from across Scotland to better understand the impact of Spaces for People interventions with regard to the following categories: Disability, Age, Gender, Deprivation.
The Lessons Learned report provides an opportunity to learn from the rollout of temporary active travel infrastructure on a large scale in Scotland. These lessons are relevant for both Sustrans and partners delivering active travel infrastructure.
Easy read versions are available for each of the reports. British Sign Language versions are also available upon request.
Snippet of the full Components of a Behaviour Change Plan drawing
A concrete and well-designed Behaviour Change plan can play a crucial role in determining the overall success of an active travel infrastructure project.
This can affect everything from the level of early engagement you are able to develop within a community, to the way a project is received in terms of infrastructure usage once construction is complete.
The resources below outline the key elements of developing your own Behaviour Change Plan and should serve as a guide to take your project forward.
Connecting Woodside project - The North Woodside Road/Maryhill Road junction
In the recording below, we hear from Anna Gale from Public Health Scotland, who give an overview of the findings and recommendations from the Health Impact Assessment.
The event poster for the Active Travel in Europe webinar series
Introduction
We hear from a fantastic line up of speakers who present and share experiences of the increase of temporary active travel interventions and strategies during the pandemic in Europe, and how these can shape the way for future long-term measures and solutions. By coming together and learning from each other, it may be possible to keep this momentum going – to transform temporary solutions into more permanent implementations and accelerate the development of sustainable active travel infrastructure across Europe.
The event poster for the Active Travel in Europe webinar series
Paris
Clotilde Imbert, Director of Copenhagenize France, presents case studies from Paris, a city that has seen an increase in temporary cycle paths but also a high increase in cycling since the beginning of the pandemic. In addition, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, has an ambitious strategy, ‘Plan Vélo’ to transform Paris into a cycle-friendly city.
According to European Cyclists’ Federation, since the pandemic, France has added €300m in funding for the country’s cycling infrastructure. In the opinion column, ‘A unique opportunity to speed up the implementation of bicycle plans‘ on Copenhagenize’s website, Clotilde expands on her view of the possibilities and strategies that she believes should take place as a next step in creating permanent active travel infrastructure in France.
Brussels
Florine Cuignet, Policy Officer of GRACQ, shares how GRACQ represents cyclists and promotes cycling in the french-speaking parts of Belgium. According to European Cyclists’ Federation, Brussels is one of the cities that implemented the most cycle lanes during the pandemic in Europe. In addition, the country added almost €480m in their cycling infrastructure budget in response to the pandemic.
Last year the Belgian federal government, for the first time, published a cycling action plan for the country. The plan consists of 52 action points that will facilitate and promote cycling, which will be implemented by 2024.
Ed Lancaster, Director of EuroVelo at the independent non-profit association European Cyclists’ Federation, presents case studies from rural areas in Europe. EuroVelo (European cycle route network) is a cooperation between different national and regional partners. The aim is to ensure that there are very high quality European-grade cycle routes and networks across Europe.
In January, EuroVelo presented the news that cycling on the EuroVelo routes have continued rising since the pandemic. In addition, ECF is also partner for the cross-border BIGIMUGI project that ‘aims at developing cycling mobility for all in rural areas situated along EuroVelo 3’.
Ragnhild Sørensen shares more about work that the Berlin-based organisation, Changing Cities, do. As many other cities, Berlin has created pop-up cycle lanes during the pandemic, something that has not been appreciated by all political parties. The pop-up cycle lanes were monitored and developed according to feedback. The organisation has also launched the campaign Kiezblocks in Berlin, where more than 50 local initiatives want to limit the permeability of the road network for motorised individual transport (MIT) while prioritising walking and cycling on non-arterial streets. Kiezblock is a strategy for transformational urban adaptation, initiated by locals.
Panel Session
In this panel session, we welcome back all keynote speakers to answer pre-submitted and unanswered questions. The panel session will also include discussion around key themes identified throughout the series, including:
