Wellington visit: Rodney Tolley, Isabel Dedring & Mark Ames

Wellington visit: Rodney Tolley, Isabel Dedring & Mark Ames


Transport practitioners who are leading the way in creating liveable communities around the world will be in New Zealand to speak at the Changing Face of Transport conference in Wellington at the beginning of next month.

The conference is being held from 4 to 6 March at Te Papa in Wellington.

Below are some initial subject areas that might be of interest to media if they want to interview them:

Dr Rodney Tolley, Active Transport Consultant

• The idea of how speed has stolen our time, money and health and the value of slowing things down – opportunity to cover his public seminar, ‘Slowing down for a healthier, wealthier and more sustainable city’, at the City Gallery in Wellington, from 12.30pm to 1.30pm on Wed 6 March.

• Walkability in communities and urban cities –the world’s best walkable cities, where it could be successful in NZ and why.

• Reasons behind the rising popularity of walking.

Background: Dr Rodney Tolley has been involved in the field of active, sustainable transport for more than 40 years, first as a university researcher and teacher, and now as an experienced international speaker and consultant. He has led hundreds of presentations, walkabouts and workshops in communities across the world.

He was a founder member of the Steering Group for Walk21 - the first International Conference on Walking and Liveable Cities - and has since been the Conference Director for the nineteen Walk21 Conferences. He was central to the development of the International Charter for Walking, which has now been signed by over 500 mayors to lead their communities towards better walkability. He is currently finalising his most recent book, with Paul Tranter of UNSW Canberra, on ‘Future slow cities: Healthier places to live, work and play'.

Isabel Dedring, Global Transport Leader, Arup

How NZ can make public transport more green.

• Implementing a smart, resilient transport solution for the movement of people and goods in NZ.

• Big transport changes to expect around the world and in NZ in the next 5-10 years.

Background: Isabel Dedring is responsible for driving the development of Arup’s business across the transport sector. Arup is an independent firm of designers, planners, engineers, consultants and technical specialists working across every aspect of the built environment.

Prior to her time at Arup, Isabel was Deputy Mayor for Transport at London's City Hall and Deputy Chair of Transport for London. In this capacity, she was responsible for setting policy and ensuring delivery across the Mayor’s transport portfolio.

Key projects she initiated and delivered include the Tube Reliability Programme, which led to a 40% reduction in Tube delays; the £300m Growth Fund to fund transport infrastructure to unlock new house building; the Mayor’s £1b cycling infrastructure programme; and London's first-ever roads strategy and the associated £4b implementation programme. Isabel’s previous roles include the Mayor's Environment Advisor and running the policy team at Transport for London.

Mark Ames, Founder, Strategic Cities

• Transport changes in cities around the world following successful engagement with the public and media.

• Active transport and how it could work in the NZ setting.

• Common themes of public opposition to transport related changes and how they can be resolved.

• Similarities in the transport systems of Auckland and Sydney – and learnings to apply here

Background: Mark Ames established Strategic Cities in 2015. The firm offers media management and communications advice to clients that deliver urban change.

He has hosted workshops on building public support for change for local government bodies in Australia and Spain, as well as Boffa Miskell, Auckland Transport and the University of Amsterdam.

Mark has previously written about cities, cycling and managing change in The Times, The Guardian, the London Evening Standard, Western Australia Today, and Landscape Architecture NZ.

He has appeared on Sky News, ITV News, BBC London, ABC 702 Sydney, and Russia Today, as well as radio programmes including Perth Talk Radio and the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme Newsnight.

Mark has worked with activists, planners and politicians to help deliver challenging active transport projects, including the Mayor of London’s £1 billion Cycle Vision for London and the City of Sydney’s new Cycling Strategy and Action Plan.

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