Environmental solutions

Green active travel

Encouraging more everyday journeys on foot or by bike is a win for our health and our planet. Our work takes this further, by putting a focus on natural assets to turn these routes into attractive, interconnected habitat corridors that are more inviting to use.

What we do

Our approach to green active travel

Putting the ‘green’ into active travel means taking on projects to create new routes and retrofit natural elements into existing ones. We aim to produce positive environments for people to travel through and where nature can thrive.

Planning new routes

We work with planners and developers to help realise the 20-minute neighbourhoods concept. Understanding local living – and our relationship with nature and the environment – play a key role in how we design active travel routes.

Our designs take a holistic view on new developments and proposals, considering how people access local amenities, and embedding ‘green’ elements to make them attractive to both people and nature.

Retrofitting routes

Providing good quality opportunities to walk, wheel or cycle to the places we access regularly, is not just about the paths and routes we move on. It’s about what we see and how we feel as we travel through this space.

We improve existing active travel routes by creating greener, more attractive neighbourhoods that encourage people to think differently about their local environment and more positively about leaving the car at home to make local trips.

These greener travel routes also provide the means to achieve other environmental targets, such as biodiversity and carbon capture, as they make ideal habitat and woodland corridors.

Delivery & Promotion

The long-term sustainability of our active travel projects is embedded at all stages from the engagement of local people in the design process, through to the physical delivery of routes and the maintenance of new green infrastructure.

Beyond the physical delivery, we aim to promote and inspire behaviour change and usage of these active travel routes, working with local residents and community groups to run launch parties and follow-up events.

These community focussed activities not only help uptake of active travel, but also improve social interaction, build social capital and create resilient and diverse places.

Featured Project

Connecting communities & Schools in Denny

The Safer Routes to School project in Denny, Falkirk was conceived to provide a safe and welcoming way to travel to school for pupils and parents in the area.

We commissioned a feasibility study and subsequently a £250,000 programme of work was undertaken to improve safety, lighting and access between local communities and Denny’s primary and secondary schools.

Our Services

How to commission us

If you are looking to plan or deliver a green active travel project, we can help. We can offer a range of services, up to full project delivery and longer term partnerships.

Let us take the strain

We can provide a complete end-to-end solution, from inception to delivery and ongoing evaluation. This puts us in a unique position to help you develop your initial project idea, maximise its potential, and see it through to completion.

Commission our experts

If you’re looking to add expertise or capacity in specialist areas, rather than across a whole project, we can provide services on a stand-alone basis across a number of specialisms.

We can provide key elements of your project, such as contract and grant management, feasibility studies, GIS data analysis and mapping, or any component part of our complete end-to-end solution. Contact us to discuss your requirements.

working longer term for a better future

A great deal of our work is done with long-standing partners, who trust us to advise and deliver on long-term strategies to help achieve big goals on climate, biodiversity and social change.

If you have a vision or long-term objective and need an environmental partner to nurture it over years, not months, we’ll be happy to discuss this with you.

The first step on your active travel journey

From advice on planning new green infrastructure, to funding a retrofit, it all starts with a conversation. Contact us to get the wheels in motion.

Project examples

our green active travel projects

We’ve worked to connect neighbourhoods using green active travel routes across the country. Browse the gallery for a selection of our work and visit the projects page for more in-depth examples.

Safer Routes to School, Denny

We were commissioned by Falkirk Council to develop this safe active travel route in Denny.

Lionthorn Bing

We transformed this former coal mining spoil heap into a vibrant community greenspace, where people and nature can thrive.

Leven Programme

The Leven Programme is a series of connected projects along the River Leven in Fife, which have the environment, heritage and people at their heart.

Faifley Knowes Greenspace

Enhancing valuable greenspace, making it a more accessible, biodiverse and enjoyable space for the community.

Central Scotland Green Network

We are responsible for driving the delivery of the CSGN. Covering 10,000 square kilometres and with a 40-year timeframe, this is one of the largest and most ambitious green infrastructure programmes in Europe.

Cadder Woods

A multi-phase project to make Cadder Woods a safe, accessible and enjoyable place where nature and community can thrive.

Avenue End Road Greenspace Enhancement

We were commissioned by Glasgow City Council to transform an area of vacant and derelict land into a community asset, creating woodland and wetland habitat, a teaching circle and preserving important water vole habitat.

Avenue End Road Greenspace Enhancement

We were commissioned by Glasgow City Council to transform an area of vacant and derelict land into a community asset, creating woodland and wetland habitat, a teaching circle and preserving important water vole habitat.

Cadder Woods

A multi-phase project to make Cadder Woods a safe, accessible and enjoyable place where nature and community can thrive.

Central Scotland Green Network

We are responsible for driving the delivery of the CSGN. Covering 10,000 square kilometres and with a 40-year timeframe, this is one of the largest and most ambitious green infrastructure programmes in Europe.

Faifley Knowes Greenspace

Enhancing valuable greenspace, making it a more accessible, biodiverse and enjoyable space for the community.

Leven Programme

The Leven Programme is a series of connected projects along the River Leven in Fife, which have the environment, heritage and people at their heart.

Lionthorn Bing

We transformed this former coal mining spoil heap into a vibrant community greenspace, where people and nature can thrive.

Safer Routes to School, Denny

We were commissioned by Falkirk Council to develop this safe active travel route in Denny.

Blogs

Related articles

Read our selected blogs and project stories related to this area of our work, or browse all articles on our Blogs page.

Greenspace access improvements coming to Faifley Knowes

Work is getting under way to bring a series of access upgrades to this West Dunbartonshire site.

Funding boost for nature-based solutions along the River Leven

Following the Nature Restoration Fund award, we are seeking a landscape or environmental partner for the project.

Award-Winning study highlights John Muir Way ‘greening’ potential

The John Muir Way Greening Study by RaeburnFarquharBowen was commissioned by Green Action Trust.