Join Cross River Partnership (CRP) for the fourth session of CRP’s Connect 4 Series – Sustainable Cities: Reinventing the River. This new event series will bring you exciting topics at 4pm on the last Thursday of each month. This Earth Day-themed session is taking place on Thursday 28th April, 4pm – 4:45pm.

The Illuminated River will be presenting how they have sensitively responded to the challenge of lighting nine of Central London’s great bridges and helped prompt debate on the use of light in the night-time environment.

The Port of London Authority (PLA) will be presenting on The Thames Vision 2050 consultation and how it is shaping the future for the UK’s major river, home to the country’s largest port, busiest inland waterway and burgeoning centre for sport and recreation. The Vision consists of Trading Thames, Destination Thames and Natural Thames. Priorities for Action include Safety, Net Zero, Resilience, Technological Change and Access and Inclusion.

CRP will be showcasing three recent studies as part of the Defra-funded Clean Air Villages 4 project:

• Light Freight: Design Solutions for Thames Freight Infrastructure
• River Freight Monitoring: Butler’s Wharf and Dartford Pier
• Setting up a River Freight Project for Businesses: A Guide

These studies all consider using the tidal Thames for freight, including detailed analysis into monitoring of vessels for river freight, providing an opportunity to scientifically assess the environmental opportunities and challenges associated with moving freight from road to river. ‘Setting up a River Freight Project for Businesses: A Guide; also provides guidance for smaller businesses who are considering using the tidal Thames for the transportation of freight. All of these different uses of the river can be possible with good management and co-ordination, so that maximum environmental, economic and community benefits are delivered.

The panel for Session 4 consists of:

1. Alistair Gale, Director of Corporate Affairs, Strategy & Thames Vision, Port of London Authority
2. Ciron Edwards, The Illuminated River Foundation
3. David Ebbrell, Project Officer, Cross River Partnership

This online webinar will be taking place on Microsoft Teams. You will receive a link to join the session in your invitation. There will also be interactive polls, so you can ask questions to presenters.

The Port of London Authority (PLA)’s operations cover 95 miles of the River Thames, from Teddington to the North Sea. The PLA work to keep commercial and leisure users safe, protect and enhance the environment, and promote the use of the river for trade and travel.

The Illuminated River is long-term art installation transforming the Thames at night with an orchestrated series of light works that span nine bridges in central London. It’s subtly moving sequences of LED light symbolically unify the Thames bridges, drawing inspiration from the spirit and history of the river and from the architectural and engineering heritage of its bridges.

Cross River Partnership (CRP) is a partnership delivering environmental, economic and community-focused projects. We support public, private and voluntary organisations to address creatively challenges around Air Quality, Transport, Placemaking and Wellbeing.