GM Moving Conference 2024 took place this week

By GM Moving | 27 March 2024 | TAGS: Conference

Moving more matters to everyone with the GM Moving Conference bringing together colleagues from all sectors including health, education, leisure, planning, transport, sport and more.

Speakers, including Professor Helen Pankhurst CBE, Tim Gill, Annamarie Phelps CBE, Jeanette Bain-Burnett and Sanjay Bhandari MBE, shared how we can design movement back into residents' lives and the roles everyone can play.

The GM Moving Conference has gone from strength-to-strength since returning as a hybrid event in 2022 with momentum clearly growing behind the GM Moving in Action strategy.

The 2024 event was held at The Lowry for the first time due to its large capacity, having previously been held at The Etihad Stadium, home of Manchester City Football Club.

Hundreds participated online, hearing how a place-based approach creates the conditions for a healthy, green city region where everyone can move and live a good life.

GM Moving Director, Eve Holt, said:

“It’s amazing to see so many people bringing such an incredible energy to the conference, learning, leading, and moving together to create a better, more active Greater Manchester.

“It’s always such an inspiration to hear people’s stories and to see  people and organisations come together, united in our shared belief that together, we can enable active lives for all.

“GM Moving conference is such an energising day for our movement for movement and I’m sure everyone who attended will leave feeling inspired and ready to kick-on.”  

The GM Moving Conference took place less than 24 hours after the launch of the second tranche of the city region’s franchised bus services in Oldham and Rochdale.

Walking, wheeling, and cycling routes will feature as a key part of the new Bee Network  journey planner allowing more residents to build moving into their day-to-day trips.  And the new Active Travel mission highlights how active travel is the glue that sticks the Bee Network together, with 96% of all public transport trips involving walking.

Active travel was a key pillar of the GM Moving Conference with walking and cycling workshops out exploring the Bee Network and the GM Ringway and Salford Trails.

Louise Robbins, Strategic Lead for Walking and Active Environments at GM Moving, added:

“Walking is the most accessible form of moving so it’s brilliant to see that walking and wheeling is viewed as a key part of the Bee Network as it grows across the city region.

“At the conference, we practiced what we preach so there were lots of sessions which took attendees out of the Lowry and into the fresh air in and around Salford Quays.

“It’s a great way to build moving into daily life and, practically, walking is a fantastic learning tool when thinking about how we really move around our city under our own steam.”  

In May the Greater Manchester Walking Festival returns, offering everyone the opportunity to join one or more of over 250 free, led group walks across Greater Manchester and discover the joy of walking and wheeling.  Whether staying local or discovering new places, taking part on your own or with friends and family, there is something for everyone. Find out more on the GM Walking website here.

For more information on the GM Moving conference, including details on the speakers and live stream link visit the conference section of the GM Moving website. Slides, notes, videos and photos from the day will be added in due course.