Northern Evidence Academic Forum

Transport for the North has launched the Northern Evidence Academic Forum to connect policymakers to the cutting-edge research undertaken by academics. Our aim is to foster knowledge sharing between Transport for the North and academics. Through this, we want to enhance the understanding of the broad range of social and economic issues affected by transport in the North of England.

Building our academic network

Our network spans themes including transport economics, decarbonisation, poverty, social exclusion, population health, and regional inequality in the North of England.

We want to engage with academics and doctoral researchers whose research connects to these themes to ensure Transport for the North policy positions and actions are rooted in the strongest possible evidence.

We believe this creates a channel through which we can ensure rigor and transparency in our research, whilst also improving the visibility and usage of our research outputs.

Who can join the Northern Evidence Academic Forum?

We want to connect with academics who are researching, or have researched, any of our key research themes. Although based in the North, we welcome conversations and engagement from academics from across the UK. The Northern aspect of the forum comes from the fact the research will be implemented in the North.

We also feel this group will be of interest to our local authority partners. We will approach partners and utilise existing contacts built up through our Analytical Governance group. We will be asking those parties and key stakeholders to identify the most relevant attendees within their authorities.

For more information or to be added to our mailing list, please contact [email protected].

How will the Forum help the Northern Evidence Hub?

We are really interested in hosting relevant research on the Northern Evidence Hub. Boosting awareness of this important platform among academics is perhaps the most direct way of encouraging engagement with the Evidence Hub. Members will be able to upload their research, along with a concise summary.

Northern Evidence Hub

When are our meetings?

The group will host meetings every quarter to be run as two-hour-long sessions.

We will discuss several research projects, all of which sit under one broad theme for example deprivation, economic recovery/growth, or public health. These sessions will be run virtually, and will be available to re-watch after the event.

We also hope to run an annual meeting, which will bring together a broad spectrum of research topics to showcase work going on:

Within Transport for the North
Within wider academia
As a cross-collaboration between academia and Transport for the North/local authorities

These presentations will take various forms, including panel debates, workshops, presentations, and stalls to host drop-in sessions.

Our next meeting

We are in the process of arranging our next meeting and will update this page as soon as details are confirmed.

Watch back the Northern Evidence Academic Forums

Transport for the North welcomed academics, policy makers and leading researchers from across the UK.

September 2022

This session focused on the wider impacts of transport on people and communities.

Speakers included:

Dr Karen Lucas, University of Manchester | Download presentation
Joe McTigue, Northern Trains Limited | Download presentation
Dr Like Jiang, University of Leeds | Download presentation
Jack Ford, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at Transport for the North | Download presentation

May 2022

The session focused on Levelling Up Left Behind Places: The Scale and Nature of the Economic and Policy Challenge with reference to TfN’s work on Regional Economic Development.

Speakers included:

Tom Jarvis, Senior Evidence and Analysis Officer Strategy at Transport for the North
Brian Sloan, Research Manager at Transport for the North
Professor Ron Martin, Professor of Economic Geography, University of Cambridge’
Dr Ben Gardiner, Cambridge Econometrics
Dr Enrico Vanino, University of Sheffield

February 2022

The session focused on ‘Transport and Spatial Planning’.

Speakers included:

Callum Reddington, Policy and Strategy Officer at TfN
Dr Tim Jones, Oxford Brookes University – presenting on sustainable urban mobility | Download presentation
Dr Philipp Rode, London School of Economics – presenting on integrated governance for transport and land-use planning | Download presentation
Guilherme Rodrigues and Anthony Breach, Centre for Cities – presenting on their report Measuring Up: Comparing public transport in the UK and Europe’s biggest cities | Download presentation

November 2021

Sustainable freight transport
The future of the North’s major roads network
The transition to electric vehicles
The impacts of road pricing

Speakers included:

Owen Wilson – Transport for the North
Professor David Metz – UCL- Professor David Metz – UCL
Dr Daniela Paddeu – UWE Bristol
Professor Miquel-Àngel Garcia-López – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Dr Georgina Santos – Cardiff University

August 2021

Low Traffic Neighbourhoods: Active Neighbourhoods as ‘process’ in Greater Manchester – Harriet Larrington-Spencer, University of Salford
Mapping Modal Filters and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods – Martin Lucas-Smith, CycleStreets Ltd.
Low carbon mobility as inclusive mobility – Caroline Mullen, University of Leeds
Zoomshock: The consequences of increased working-from-home for the post-Covid-19 economic recovery and inequality – Dr Jesse Matheson, University of Sheffield

Speakers included:

Harriet Larrington-Spencer, University of Salford
Martin Lucas-Smith, CycleStreets Ltd
L Caroline Mullen, University of Leeds
Dr Jesse Matheson, University of Sheffield

May 2021

The latest governance and transport policy research from Northumbria University
Creating healthier and cleaner transport by urban planning
The tensions between density, mobility, and economic output in Long-term mobility planning
The visitor economy

Speakers included:

Tom Jarvis, Senior Evidence and Analysis Officer at Transport for the North
Dr Caglar Koksal, Lecturer in the Department of Planning and Environmental Management at the University of Manchester
Dr Hadi Arbabi, Lecturer in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering at the University of Sheffield
Professor Joyce Liddle, Professor of Public Leadership and Enterprise at Northumbria University
Professor John Shutt, Professor of Public Policy and Management at Northumbria University
Matt Smith, Consultant at Atkins
Dr Felicity Heathcote-Márcz, Ethnographer, Behaviours and Research Lead at Atkins

February: Covering a broad range of social and economic issues that are affected by, or can have influence over, transport and other infrastructure projects.

Speakers included:

Tim Foster, Interim Strategy and Programmes Director | Transport for the North
Emanuela Orsolic, Senior Evidence and Analysis Officer | Transport for the North
Professor Philip McCann, Chair in Urban and Regional Economics | The University of Sheffield
Jack Snape, Analysis Manager | Transport for the North | Download presentation
Dr Will Cook, Senior Lecturer in Economics| Manchester Metropolitan University
Professor Greg Marsden, Professor of Transport Governance at the Institute for Transport Studies – ITS | University of Leeds | Download presentation

Watch back all the sessions on YouTube