Sam and Sophie wielded the Challenge for Change flag and presented at the annual TPM conference in Liverpool, which saw over 250 attendees across the two days.

The plenary session opened with Norman Baker MP announcing recently confirmed outcomes of the Local Sustainable and Transport Fund, alongside speakers on themes from Personal Rapid Transport to the logistical transport nightmare that is the 2012 Olympics.

This year the conference launched a new “Dragons’ Den” style session allowing young professionals a chance to showcase their ideas or projects on the broad topic of “originality and innovation in the sustainable transport arena”. With cycling tying in nicely with this brief, Sophie presented on “How can we convert intentions into actions: are the answers on the back of a postcard?”. A five minute speech was followed by intensive questions from both the panel and the floor. The Dragon’s went with the facts, recognising the value in investing in a project already supported with evidence and so Challenge for Change took home the £250 research prize money and more importantly the winning accolade.

Next up, Sam took the plunge by putting across his presentation on the new Prezi software – taking his audience on a roller coaster ride through his presentation entitled: “Who are the next 4% of cyclists?”. Sam whipped up interest in our innovative behaviour change programmes, using data from thousands of Challenge for Change cyclists.

Transport planners are a niche bunch, with the tools and knowledge to implement what we already know works. We’ll keep you posted with any developments from the event.