{"id":356,"date":"2020-01-30T11:43:09","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T11:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/ata\/?p=356"},"modified":"2020-01-30T11:43:09","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T11:43:09","slug":"call-for-abstracts-the-impoverished-politics-of-active-travel-rgs-ibg-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/ata\/call-for-abstracts-the-impoverished-politics-of-active-travel-rgs-ibg-session\/","title":{"rendered":"Call for Abstracts: ‘The Impoverished Politics of Active Travel’ (RGS-IBG session)"},"content":{"rendered":"

My colleague Tom Cohen has put together the below call for abstracts for a session on active travel politics & policy, at the RGS-IBG conference. Please do submit! The deadline for submitting your abstract is 9am GMT (London time) on Monday 10th February. Not more than 250 words, by email to Tom (t.cohen@westminster.ac.uk<\/a>), please.<\/p>\n

(I’d also like to highlight other interesting RGS-IBG session calls on mobility related topics, including the Transport Geography Research Group<\/a> sessions on topics including future mobilities, and one on the borderlands of active travel<\/a> with a health focus).<\/p>\n

SESSION TITLE: THE IMPOVERISHED POLITICS OF ACTIVE TRAVEL<\/strong><\/p>\n

Walking and cycling (collectively known as “active travel”) could be described as transport royalty: they bestow huge benefits and incur very low costs. From health and well-being, to social inclusion, to improved air quality and reduced carbon emissions, active travel might seem like a no-brainer.<\/p>\n

But, in many places, its policy status would suggest the opposite. Studies of policy and governance have offered some explanations, including transport policy being in the hands of the (car-driving) elite; a focus on “strategic” (i.e. long-distance) movement; and active travel falling between different levels of governance.\u00a0 Cultural marginalisation and stigma matter: for instance, cycling as the “poor man’s mode” (or indeed the “new golf”); the invisibility of walking despite its ubiquity.<\/p>\n

Whilst contexts where active travel is well established provide many insights, studying emerging active-travel cultures (and those that have struggled even to emerge) may be crucial in better understanding policy, governance, and cultural barriers to implementation and change; and how to overcome these.<\/p>\n

We would especially welcome proposals addressing one or more of the following questions:<\/p>\n

a)What are the interactions between the discourses\/perceptions of policy makers, the media, and citizens in general?<\/p>\n

b)What are the respective roles of elected politicians, civil servants and political and financial structures in determining the status of active travel?<\/p>\n

c)What has been the process of change in those locations where active travel is being given higher priority? Where attempts have failed, why is this?<\/p>\n

d)What effects does framing have upon attitudes to active travel?<\/p>\n

e)What role does lobbying play in preserving the status quo?<\/p>\n

f)What can be learnt from efforts to alter policy makers’ attitudes?<\/p>\n

If you’d like to contribute to this session, please e-mail an abstract, not exceeding 250 words, to Tom Cohen (t.cohen@westminster.ac.uk<\/a>) by 9am GMT on Monday 10th February.\u00a0 The precise format of session proposed for the conference will reflect the number and topics of submissions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My colleague Tom Cohen has put together the below call for abstracts for a session on active travel politics & policy, at the RGS-IBG conference. Please do submit! The deadline for submitting your abstract is 9am GMT (London time) on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":317,"featured_media":359,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/ata\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/ata\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/ata\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/ata\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/317"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/ata\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/ata\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/ata\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/ata\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/ata\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/ata\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}