The Active Travel Academy invites applications for funded projects tackling themes around equity/justice/diversity and active travel. Successful applicants will become fellows of the Active Travel Academy, which will use its website and other channels to promote your project and related work.
We see this as an under-researched area and are keen to support people at any career stage and from any disciplinary perspective, inside or outside academia, to work with us to explore these issues. You do not need to be employed in the ‘active travel’ or ‘transport’ sectors.
What is covered? The funded project period should last up to three months. During this period, we can cover salary costs, either by employing you directly, or as a contractor – depending on your preference and current employment situation. Salary or contractual rates can be requested that are appropriate to the project and/or your level of experience/expertise. We can also cover research/dissemination expenses, e.g. transcription, photography. Projects should cover the broad area of justice/equity/diversity in relation to active travel and can range from purely research-focused to dissemination/knowledge-exchange focused. We welcome projects based on lived experience.
What kind of topics are in scope? We are looking to the applicants to define topics that are most important/of most interest to them, within this broad area. We are also open to a focus on any geographical area, including but not only in the UK.
Some examples of topics might include:
– How diverse (or not) is the transport sector: an analysis of data on the transport workforce, including gender, age, and ethnicity (as well as disciplinary background)
– Active travel safety beyond traffic safety – the role of (fear of) hate crime, abuse, and harassment in deterring walking and cycling, especially among women and minoritised groups
– Making invisible cycling visible – a study of a specific group of ‘invisible cyclists’ often ignored in data collection and planning, e.g. on-demand food delivery riders or informal sector workers
– Making invisible active travel planning visible – a study of the role of activist groups, NGOs and ‘city-makers’ in supporting the uptake of more just forms of moving, travelling and urban living
– Decolonising active transport planning – analysis of the extent to which active transport planning is based on Western-centric thinking and models, and analysis of what needs to be done to promote active travel planning culture and practices that are open to diversity and anti-racist
– Cycling infrastructure for whom? Spatial analysis of where infrastructure has been built in UK cities in relation to local demographic composition
– Use of urban greenspace: how well do city parks reflect their local populations? How equitable is the access and use of urban green space?
Note these are just some of our ideas, there could be many better ones! If you’re not sure if your project is in scope, please contact us.
When is the deadline and how can I apply? You should submit your application to us via activetravelacademy@westminster.ac.uk by end of January 2021. The application should include one page outlining your proposal, and one page with breakdown of costings and timeline (please contact us if you want advice on this, e.g. salary if to be directly employed). You may also submit a CV.
We will review applications and make decisions in February 2021, and the funded period of your project should start by the beginning of May 2021.
Latest posts by Rachel Aldred (see all)
- Accessibility and Urban Design: ATA podcast 2024:1 - January 25, 2024
- Queering Cartographic Methods: ATA podcast 2023:4 - July 6, 2023
- Barriers to Black men cycling in London: ATA Podcast 2023:3 - June 1, 2023