30 citizens of Bristol have a taste of FUTURES – a six stage vision-led approach to strategic planning for an uncertain world (which applies Triple Access Planning to how to shape the future using Decide and Provide).

Within the project ‘Triple Access Planning for Uncertain Futures‘, Mott MacDonald has been helping us explore with academics and practitioners how Triple Access Planning can be applied through an online interactive workshop called the FUTURES Relay (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSJ1Q6HyG04).

The Relay workshop allows people to get hands-on experience of FUTURES which was developed jointly by Mott MacDonald and the University of the West of England. We wanted to use the Relay to engage with citizens of an urban area about Triple Access Planning and ways that transport, location and online access shape urban living.

We are now pleased to make available the report from the FUTURES Relay run earlier this year by Mott MacDonald and UWE with 30 citizens of Bristol in the UK.

While the FUTURES Relay has been run for cities around the world, Bristol (UK) is the first city in which the process has been trialled with citizens. The two-part workshop took place in March 2023 over two Saturday mornings. The facilitation team tailored the content of the Relay to a non-professional audience and sought to be as inclusive as possible within the confines of the online format.

The 30 participants involved included a range of age groups, from 18-29 (eight participants) to 80+ (one participant, and six aged 70-79) and included four participants self-identifying as disabled. Participants were mostly drawn in by a desire to help contribute to change and make sure others’ voices are considered, especially those of older and disabled people.

Two key factors affecting developments in the city were identified from participants’ inputs: the consistency of the political agenda and the extent to which citizens themselves are willing (or able) to embrace social change. Both were characterised by high importance and uncertainty.

Identifying a deliverable vision for change in urban mobility is not easy, especially in the face of uncertainty. Approaches such as FUTURES – for professionals and citizens alike – allow this challenge to be addressed through shared thinking, diversity of perspective and structured engagement.

We hope the report and our shared experiences can help other urban transport authorities to implement citizen engagement building on the FUTURES Relay.

A blog about ‘A citizen-centred conversation about the future of triple access’ (including a link to the report) is available on the project website.

Tamara BozovicDaniela PaddeuEvangelia PantelakiAnnette SmithAnna RothnieJanice J.Amber Kenyon

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