Theme

Green resilient places

How connected places can put the brakes on climate change. An urgent, complex challenge, but with opportunities too.
Magazine
Our New Magazine – Connected Places
How is digital twin technology changing how we think about everything from cities to railway stations? How will the third age of flight change our skies and the airports of the future? And how are UK cities thinking out of the box to fund net zero investment?
Episode 21
Net Zero Energy and the Future of Active Travel with Lucy Yu
If the UK is going to hit its net zero targets by 2050 we need to decarbonise across every sector of the economy – that includes shifting from fossil fuel consumption to electrification and other sustainable energy sources like hydrogen. We’ve made good progress on decarbonising the power sector in the UK, but more needs […]
Episode 24
Active Travel II: Accelerating the UK Market
In episode 16, “Accelerating the UK active travel market” we explored one of the most exciting areas of growth and opportunity within urban mobility, and why it matters so much to the Connected Places Catapult, and the future of healthy, connected and net zero places. Active travel is about creating options for us to move […]
Episode 25
Melbourne’s Road to a Resilient Green Recovery with Lord Mayor Sally Capp
We’re running a series of dialogues with Mayors from around the world in the lead up to the COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow later this year. The series was launched this week at the World Cities Summit 2021, which was hosted by our partner, the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) and held virtually for the […]
Episode 27
Introducing the UK Cities Climate Investment Commission
How can cities strengthen their business cases for net zero investment? And if their plans are brought together and aligned in a new and creative ways, could they generate greater scale, volume and predictability in ways that might make them more attractive to investors? To answer these and other questions, the Connected Places Catapult has […]
Episode 28
Planning the Future of New York with Rit Aggarwala
Cities aren’t so much becoming smart, they’ve always been smart and the history of urban technology is often forgotten when it comes to cities. Yet even the most global and future-facing of cities are living legacies of long histories. Taking a long view of innovation can help us think more creatively in the present about […]
Episode 31
Active Travel III: Accelerating the UK Market
In recent months we’ve been exploring one of the most exciting areas of growth and opportunity within urban mobility, and why it matters so much to the Connected Places Catapult, and the future of healthy, connected and net zero places. Active travel is about creating options for us to move more. This can have a […]
Episode 32
Helsinki’s Road to Net Zero with Jan Vapaavouri
In this instalment of our City Leader’s dialogues, “The net zero road to COP26 and beyond”, we speak to Jan Vapaavpouri, former Mayor of Helsinki; the world’s northern most city region with over a million people and the most northerly capital in Europe. Helsinki is often referred to as Finland’s only metropolis, the Pearl of […]
Episode 33
Bristol’s Road to Net Zero with Marvin Rees
In this instalment of our City Leader’s dialogues, “The net zero road to COP26 and beyond”, we speak to Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol; the largest city in the south west of England and a hotbed of innovation, creativity and discovery going back centuries. Before the industrial revolution catapulted cities like Manchester and Liverpool to […]
Episode 34
UK Cities Climate Investment Commission II: Decarbonising Transport
How can cities strengthen their business cases for net zero investment? And if their plans are brought together and aligned in a new and creative ways, could they generate greater scale, volume and predictability in ways that might make them more attractive to investors? To answer these and other questions, the Connected Places Catapult has […]
Episode 36
Active Travel Summit
In this episode we bring you some of the highlights from our Active Travel Summit, which we held on 29th September, and what the road ahead looks like for collaboration, R&D, and commercialising innovation in this exciting and growing sector. The summit was a space to explore with innovators, city leaders, transport authorities, active travel commissioners, central government, business leaders and […]
Episode 37
Live from COP26 in Glasgow: Part 1
Why has the Catapult been at the UN’s COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow? Well, because so much of what’s being discussed, planned and negotiated here in Glasgow has everything to do with cities, how we think about place, and how we imagine, design, build and finance places that are not just liveable, but also low […]
Episode 38
Live from COP26 in Glasgow: Part 2
Why has the Catapult been at the UN’s COP26 Climate Summit in Glasgow? Because so much of what was discussed, planned and negotiated in Glasgow had everything to do with cities, how we think about place, and how we imagine, design, build and finance places that are not just liveable, but also low carbon and […]
Episode 16
Accelerating the Active Travel Market
When we think about what more active travel in places means, it’s about creating options for us to move more. This can have a massive impact on our physical and mental health, the air quality in our overly congested cities by getting more commuters out of cars and onto bikes and footpaths, and the UK’s […]
News
SME Spotlight – Iduna
In our latest SME Spotlight series, we speak to Iduna, an organisation focusing on scaling up EV charging infrastructure. We’ve asked them about their journey as an organisation and what learnings they have as well as what the future holds for technology innovation in the UK. Short company overview: When was the company founded? What […]
News
Navigating to net zero through local collaboration
Why collaborate?   Nation pledges, local government delivers. Because this is where it all happens.   With increased devolution, local government has the capacity to set policy, shape local areas, and transform our lives. It is at the heart of building and improving homes, providing social care, managing our parks and green spaces, and investing in […]
News
Net Zero Navigator and OnePlanet
Practical tools to create, make the case for and execute local plans to reach Net Zero The UK has committed to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Many local authorities have declared climate emergencies and set earlier target dates, often 2030. The time to act is now – and the pathway to reducing emissions is […]
News
Getting transport infrastructure right to reach net zero: a data driven approach
Net Zero Navigator guides local authorities in the United Kingdom towards identifying the most suitable combination of interventions to meet their carbon emissions targets. It supports strategic-level decision making by showing an array of projects which, delivered together, generate more than the sum of their parts.   This post uses the lens of active travel to demonstrate how the Net Zero Navigator allows you to seize opportunities while addressing some of the key issues that […]
News
Why Placemaking and Cross Finance is the Answer to Achieving Net Zero
We all know the important goal of achieving Net Zero by 2050. Various parts of the solution are well known – such as expanding renewables, replacing boilers with heat pumps, retrofitting buildings, and rolling out electric vehicle charging points, among many others. But until now the cost of all this and how it is going to be […]
News
Large scale agent-based modelling to support shared mobility – the DeMAND project
Multimodality and attitudes towards sharing will transform how people travel in the future. Demand modelling  must move away from the traditional division of transport modes. Travel behaviour is gradually getting more difficult to predict, hence the increased complexity of travel demand models to fit modern lifestyle, and the increased demand to include autonomy and flexibility. […]
News
Last Mile Mobility: In-depth Feasibility Study (Buckinghamshire ADEPT Live Lab)
Connected Places Catapult has delivered this Last Mile Mobility: In-depth Feasibility Study as part of the Smart Mobility theme of Buckinghamshire Council’s £4.5m ‘SMART Connected Community: Live Labs’ project. It is part of a £23m programme, funded by the Department for Transport, and led by the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport […]
News
Local Net Zero plans need an integrated approach – Net Zero Navigator tool supports system-level strategy
The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report makes for stark reading. We will not be able to keep to 1.5 degrees Celsius or even 2 degrees Celsius without drastic cuts in carbon emissions. With around 300 local authorities in the UK declaring a Climate Emergency, and many more setting targets to be net zero within the next 10 to 20 […]
News
UK Cities Climate Investment Commission Report
Background  The UK Cities Climate Investment Commission (UKCCIC) was established as an initiative in July 2021 between the Connected Places Catapult, Core Cities UK, and London Councils collectively covering the UK’s 12 largest cities.    City leaders have been in the vanguard of taking action against the damaging impacts of climate change. In the UK, local […]
News
Active Travel Routemap launched at Connected Places Catapult’s first Active Travel Summit
Connected Places Catapult launch the first iteration of an Active Travel Routemap at the Active Travel Summit. The Routemap delves in to actionable steps needed to accelerate innovation, decarbonise transport and move us closer to net zero in response to the climate crisis. Whilst supporting the next phase of the UK’s charge to become a […]
Article
New Commission launched to finance climate investment in UK cities
In July 2021 the new UK Cities Climate Investment Commission began work to identify net zero investment opportunities across UK Cities. The Commission is kick starting the process of identifying a transformational programme of green growth for the UK’s cities.
News
Building a Better Plan for a Net-Zero Transition
Across the globe, local and city governments are declaring climate emergencies and planning a transition to net-zero. This can be a frustrating and difficult task. Getting reliable data on carbon emissions is complicated, local governments are overwhelmed with technological solutions, and it is hard to plot a route to the end goal. Connected Places Catapult […]
News
We Have Declared a Climate Crisis and Set a Date for Net-Zero. Now What?
The world has woken up to the threat of climate change. Local and national governments are now rushing to put plans into place to cut carbon emissions, reduce climate change, and adapt to the climate changes that are already certain to happen. Across the world, 1,870 local governments in 33 countries have passed binding motions […]
News
Pedestrianisation: the international experience
The Clean Air initiative on Church Street Bangalore, delivered by DULT with support from the UK Connected Places (CPC) and Energy Systems Catapults has been grabbing headlines since it launched in November 2020. The pedestrianisation of the thoroughfare is intended to improve the quality of life in the area and stimulate commercial opportunities. So far, […]
News
Local Government’s Road To Net Zero
Our mission at Connected Places Catapult is to drive UK leadership to meet Net Zero targets, promoting sustained economic growth and wellbeing through integrated, efficient and sustainable technologies with a seamless approach. At Connected Places Catapult, we use our market-neutral position and domain expertise in the user-led and built-environment research to accelerate the UK’s transition […]
News
Create Gaps for Pedestrians and Cyclists
We’ve flattened the curve and now we’re flattening the curb to create gaps on our streets for pedestrians and cyclists. Clean Mobility is on the up. However, we must be mindful that the gap we’ve created is under threat and could revert back to motor-vehicle use unless it is fully utilised by more active modes […]
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Connected Places Catapult is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England under company number 11837978. Its registered office is at 3rd Floor, The Pinnacle, 170 Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes, MK9 1BP.​