The Strategic Plan is a key document for the CIHT, setting out our vision and ambition for each 5-year period: it is our opportunity as an Institution to set out our agenda.

It’s a particularly interesting time – and one might say opportune moment – to be developing the next version of our Strategic Plan.

Right across our profession the need to respond to the challenges our transport system faces is palpable. And so it was that the Board’s discussions were characterised by a collective commitment to ensure the CIHT provides the leadership that allows us to begin shaping tomorrow today.

As an Institution we exist to deliver public good; through the support we provide members to develop and maintain their professional knowledge and skills, and through our leadership as a learned society.

As we look to develop the detail of the Strategic Plan over the coming months we are going to be faced with a number of challenges: we know that business as usual is no longer acceptable. The Government’s Industrial Strategy identifies four ‘Grand Challenges’: catalysts for change in terms of the way we should look at future mobility needs.

But we also know that addressing the environmental impact of our travel choices is something that has to be tackled. The consequences of climate change are increasingly visible and having tangible implications for transport infrastructure and services, as well as having an effect on individuals.

The development of the new Strategic Plan is an opportunity for us to chart a course that will provide the leadership required to deliver the solutions our society requires.