RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Research and Development activities are an important part of what we do.
At Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership, we harness the power of grassroots intelligence to drive strategic planning and support our public, private, and community sector partners. Our approach is rooted in understanding the needs of the community, allowing us to provide valuable insights that shape the future of sustainable transport.
By inclusively engaging with the community at its core, we gather firsthand insights to develop our research and reports to inform and influence decision-making. These valuable resources are made easily accessible here and serve as a foundation for shaping sustainable transport initiatives based on grassroots insights and community needs.
Our comprehensive coverage spans various areas, including:
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Youth Research and Engagement: We empower young people to voice their opinions on matters that are important to them, ensuring their perspectives are considered.
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Local Transport Surveys: We actively engage with local communities to understand their travel needs, enabling us to support targeted transport solutions.
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Accessibility Audits: We conduct audits to identify areas of good practice and highlight the need for improved accessibility across leisure destinations in Gloucestershire.
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Communicating Sustainability and Behaviour Change: We effectively communicate sustainability in the context of travel, striving to inspire behaviour change that contributes to a greener future.
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Supporting the Transition to Equitable and NetZero Destinations: We collaborate with tourism stakeholders to facilitate a smooth transition towards equitable and NetZero destinations.
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Understanding Travel Behaviours in New Housing Developments: We engage communities and analyse travel behaviours emerging from new housing developments, informing transportation planning in growing communities.
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Sensory Spaces and Calm Corners: We conduct feasibility research to explore innovative ideas and provide calm corners within the community, supporting improved well-being and connectivity.
We actively encourage partnership working and are committed to collaborating closely with public, private, and community sector organisations throughout Gloucestershire. By sharing our learnings and insights with our partners from transport planners to youth organisations, and other stakeholders, we aim to actively contribute to influencing positive change. We consider this aspect of our work crucial in supporting effective partnership working and creating a sustainable future for Gloucestershire.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE: RAIL TO LEISURE REPORT
In 2019, all Gloucestershire councils declared a climate emergency, which included commitments to be net zero by 2030 and deliver a carbon neutral county by 2045. Changing travel behaviours associated with tourism and leisure, including more travel to, from and within Gloucestershire by rail, will be important in managing and reducing emissions. There is a significant opportunity for Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership to initiate and facilitate collaborative approaches and be at the centre of efforts to achieve more sustainable tourism in Gloucestershire.
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This report introduces the concept of ‘Rail to Leisure’ as a factor to promote carbon reduction.
IMPACT REPORT
Take a look at what we've been up to over the past 3 years as we celebrate our 3rd birthday with the release of our new impact report.
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From supporting young people to access nature through rail travel and build their confidence towards independent travel, to providing a voice for local communities to feedback on transport options in their local area and there's even a dance performance on a train!
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Our impact report details not only what we have done over the last year but also the impact it has had on the local community.
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ACCESS TO LEISURE DESTINATIONS REPORT
We commissioned Inclusion Gloucestershire to carry out access audits for twenty destination attractions in Gloucestershire, including their accessibility from nine of the closest railway stations. Inclusion Gloucestershire worked with Experts by Experience to design an audit framework to consider planning a visit, getting to the location by rail (including the onward mile journey), and the experience at the destination, from a range of perspectives and lived experiences. The report highlights the key findings, examples of good practice and recommendations for improvement. Our aim is to open up visitor attractions to be inclusive in their offer and to ensure seamless accessible connections can take place.
RESEARCH
We’re always looking for ways to partner with other organisations and combined forces on research. This can be really local or County-wide, and we have already teamed up with GCC, Stroud District Council and University of Gloucestershire to get engaged with our communities.
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We are very keen to work with local groups involved in access and inclusion in your local area. GCRP is linked into Inclusion Gloucestershire and is taking part in the Better Links to Transport initiative. If any local organisation would kuke us to support a local access initiative or study, please get in touch
COTSWOLD CALM CORNER FEASIBILITY REPORT
Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership (GCRP) takes a strategic and proactive role in improving access to public transport through projects that empower and engage the communities served by Gloucestershire’s 9 railway stations.
For this Cotswold National Landscape funded project, Mima has been asked to provide access consultancy services to Gloucestershire Community Rail Partnership and conduct a feasibility study of where a ‘Cotswold Calm Corner’ may be installed. This would be an accessible environment for disabled people, decompression space for neurodivergent users and multi-faith area for those wishing to pray or reflect.
A VOICE IN THE TOWN PLANNING PROCESS
We’ve been working with local authorities, developers and planning consultants to develop our own GCRP Developer Guide.
This helps local communities express their views on planning proposals, especially the transport approach taken by the developer.
The toolkit provides guidance and a series of templates and tools to encourage early engagement with the developer, and how to respond effectively to planning applications.
It also provides guidance of how you can work with CRP to collect local evidence and information to help inform the transport solutions, whether that’s walking cycling, bus, rail or a different focus.