Research
Tapestry
Manchester got a visit from an expert on the links between transport and health last month. Dr Alan Lewis, from Transport & Travel Research Limited, came to the city to talk to the Health and Transport Group about what makes a good transport campaign. He was involved in setting up the TAPESTRY project, which used European Project funding to run campaigns in 12 different European countries.
Dr Lewis believes there are various links between transport and health. For example, adults who are physically active have a 20-30% reduced risk or premature death. Air pollution is also linked to 8,100 premature deaths a year. His team wanted to reduce those figures by getting more people to use alternative forms of transport to their car.
All campaigns need clear objectives. According to Dr Lewis, they should be specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic and time-related. Once you know what your objectives are, he explains, you can start designing your campaign and deciding who to target it at. It’s also important to think about how your target audience think - what’s important to them and why are they likely to resist change? This resistance can be overcome through persuasion, coercion, appealing to conscience, appealing to audience aspirations and offering new alternatives.
For more details on the TAPESTRY project, visit www.eu-tapestry.org. A document about the project called ‘Making campaigning for smarter choices work’ has also been published on the Department for Transport website, here.