This week, (23 April 2024) CIHT hosted a session at the Trees, People and the Built Environment 5 Conference titled ‘Roads as Green Places’.

The session was chaired by Chief Executive Sue Percy with panel members:

• James Elliott FCIHT (Elliott Asset Management), presenting CIHT’s Green and Blue Infrastructure report
• Andy Jackson (Leicestershire County Council (LCC)), presenting LCC’s Value of Trees Toolkit, which featured as a case study in the Green and Blue Infrastructure report  
• Ben Addy (Sustrans), presenting the CIHT 2022 Creating Better Places Award winning project ‘Ripple Greenway’

The session ended with a call to action when Sue Percy asked each of the panellists what transportation professionals can do to create more green roads. Their answers were short, but impactful:

• Infiltrate project teams - we need more co-creation and collaboration between siloed responsibilities of designing, building and maintaining the kerbside. 
• Be ambitious - even if you think a design, project or scheme is too ambitious, go even further with what you set out to achieve. 

Sue Percy was also part of a panel debate, chaired by Kevin McCloud, which discussed achieving long term above ground benefits from trees.

Sue Percy highlighted the challenge of misconceptions surrounding Green and the need to join together political drivers such as Biodiveristy Net Gain, Net Zero, active travel, climate resilience and water pollution to get Green and Blue Infrastructure on politician’s agendas.

Sue Percy also highlighted Lambeth’s Kerbside Strategy, which won the CIHT 2023 Sustainability Award, as an example of utilising the kerbside as a place to increase biodiversity and green space.