About the workshops

Workshops will take place on various days and times, between 18th - 29th January. We'll use Zoom and each workshop will last around 1.5 hours.

We'll share our travel experiences and imagine journeys that we'll take again in the future, considering the new challenges and priorities that have arisen due to COVID-19.

By sharing your experiences and ideas, you'll help to create a collective list of priorities for service improvement, based on real experience.

Why 'new' priorities?

Our journeys have changed radically due to COVID-19 and the Scottish Government is updating its Delivery Plan for Scotland’s Accessible Travel Framework - creating a ‘to do list’ that reflects new priorities to make journeys more inclusive and accessible, based on the impacts of the pandemic on disabled people’s mobility.

You’re invited to take part in workshops to describe those impacts, share your experiences and new concerns to help shape the short-term priorities for making Scotland’s transport inclusive and accessible.

Background

The Accessible Travel Framework, published in 2016, highlighted travel challenges faced by disabled people and listed specific actions that could improve access to transport.  Its vision is that all disabled people can travel with the same freedom, choice, dignity and opportunity as other citizens.

While COVID-19 has not changed this vision, it has almost certainly changed the next steps we need to take to achieve the Framework’s aims in a post-pandemic context. We have seen many changes to journeys, new challenges have emerged rapidly and the pre-pandemic priorities that were identified with disabled people, while still important, may no longer be the most pressing issues we are facing.  

Future plans for making transport more accessible must reflect and address today’s travel barriers using evidence of the impact of COVID-19 on disabled passengers. The Accessible Travel Policy team at Transport Scotland is therefore talking with a wide range of groups and individuals to help define an updated ‘short-list’ of priority areas and achievable, meaningful outcomes, developed and agreed with a wide range of disabled people.  

As part of this, Go Upstream is hosting these Future Journeys conversations, bringing disabled people together to share experiences and describe the effects of the pandemic on getting out and about.

If you would like to help shape the near-future priorities for making Scotland’s transport inclusive and accessible, please sign up for a workshop on a day and time that suits you.

How to sign up

1. Click on the register button above and choose a day and time that you would like to take part.
2. Choose the number of 'tickets' you would like and click 'register' again.
3. Fill in your details and click ' .......'
4. You will receive an email ticket straight away
5. We will send you further details about how to join the workshop later by email.

If you are part of an existing group that would like to work together on this please get in touch!

Image credit: Photo by Phil Hearing on Unsplash