I want to talk to you about the part each and every one of you has to play in how we change the conversation on transport. How critical what we do and how we move is, on what transport options get delivered. To bring this to life I'm going to take you around the world in Travel Demand Management projects moving from Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and Gold Coast Australia, to the Olympics in London on to city wide movement strategies in Melbourne and Sydney in Australia with a pit stop in Christchurch, New Zealand - to show you how critical the role of travel behaviour change is to the sustainable future we need to get to. I've been enormously fortunate to work around the world on complex fascinating megaprojects like Olympics and Commonwealth Games organising transport and movement as part of a consultancy. I'm now in Local Authority where I lead teams responsible for delivering on our Net Zero Climate ambition, strategic transport, walking and cycling priorities, transport infrastructure, highways, structures, flooding, local bus and rail and much more besides. However all this is just so that I can connect people to places as efficiently, sustainably and safely as possible. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Many organisations have been working hard to become more sustainable, but it is apparent that the pace and scale of the change required exceeds the current capacity of most leaders and their teams.Many organisations have made strong progress to become increasingly compliant with ESG criteria and are working towards more sustainable and resilient business models. However, their focus has typically been on making the existing system incrementally less bad in the hope that the status quo can be maintained.Leadership mindset is critical; there is a lot to unlearn and past experience does not necessarily inform good future judgement. Different attributes and capabilities will be essential to navigate the current challenges and deliver on the necessary transitions for all stakeholders. Simon is a senior commercial strategy and sustainability specialist with extensive board-level experience and strong communication skills. An independent consultant, board advisor, and coach, he has a proven track record of driving measurable impact, improved performance, and entrepreneurial success across diverse sectors and geographies. An Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh Business School, he has served on governance boards and advisory panels, including Chatham House and the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Commission. With leadership experience across the private, public, and third sectors, he has a particular focus on regenerative leadership and fostering sustainable, long-term business strategies. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Despite law permitting limited positive action initiatives to combat inequalities faced by marginalised groups since the mid-1970s in the UK, the subject has notoriously been a neglected and highly controversial area. This lecture will explore the case for using positive action as an effective tool to address inequalities in challenging times and encourage a reassessment of the benefits of appropriately framed preferential treatment. A Law graduate from Oxford University, Chantal qualified as a solicitor specialising in Employment, Human Rights and Discrimination Law, worked for the Equal Opportunities Commission in Manchester and is now professor of Law, Equality and Diversity at the University of Chester. She developed and is Director of the Forum for Research into Equality and Diversity, was funded by the Young Women’s Trust and the Equality and Human Rights Commission to research the use of positive action in apprenticeships and worked with the HE Authority in Ireland on a ground breaking positive action initiative to increase female representation within professorships. She sat on the board of Cheshire Halton and Warrington Race and Equality Centre and the Equality Challenge Unit, currently sits on the Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Commission, is co-vice chair of the Law Society’s Women’s Law Division Committee and has recently been appointed to sit on AdvanceHE’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion Committee. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Peculiarities of regions still shape what constitutes brownfields as a de-terrorising and re-terrorising force of nature within the have-nots communities. By half, brownfield ideas are aggregated at the Western and European levels. Researchers within urban geography, urban planning, political economy, and environmental economics have interrogated brownfields' socio-ecological impacts. Yet, their research focus remains heavily skewed towards viewing brownfields as industrial property, their redevelopment and gentrification. Emerging studies are going beyond these ocular-centric scholarships to rethink conceptually, methodically and politically how these threats are taking shape in low-income geographies. This brings into sharper consideration these inconsistencies, leaving certain areas ignored. First, how brownfield residents of the global south cities experience, understand and articulate brownfields rarely feature in brownfield literature. Secondly, because of brownfields' affinity with have-nots communities, their socio-ecological impacts are often slow, brutal, and out of sight. Consequently, brownfields in Nigeria are a useful starting point for streamlining these views. Olalekan Aduloju is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, 240003. He is also a doctoral student and a visiting lecturer at the Department of Geography and Environment at the University of Chester, United Kingdom. He is a recipient of a Commonwealth scholarship and research grant. His research interests straddle urban planning and spatiotemporal dynamics of cities, urban political ecology, and environmental health. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Adaptation measures for at-risk communities should provide them with a competitive advantage. If we want to make adaptive interventions sustainable, they need to be socially accepted. Hence, acceptance by the community directly involved in the intervention is likely to succeed when the overarching process of community engagement is embedded in itsdesign. Consideration of inclusivity in stakeholder engagement from the beginning of thedesign process helps to empower communities to own the solutions. Bringing on-ground experience, the talk will focus on three key themes: complexities in prioritisation in an uncertain climate, inclusivity in design implementation, and creating a feedback loop for long-term sustainability for an empowered community. Namrata Bhattacharya Mis is an Associate Professor (Disaster Risk and Resilience) in Geography and Environment in the Faculty of Social Science at University of Chester. She is a geographer by training and passionate about understanding the connectivity's between nature and society in the context of disaster management. She is actively involved in multidisciplinary research related to understanding and managing water extremes and socio-economic vulnerabilities, particularly in flood risk management. Her teaching experience spans across Geography, International Development Studies, and Natural Hazard Management, with a recent focus on using innovative technologies to enhance inclusion in disaster management. Namrata is also the Co-Chair of university Race Equality And Cultural Heritage Group and she works constantly towards enhancing equality and diversity in HE. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

As both a product designer and a consumer, I’ve seen firsthand how products are made -and how they often fall short when it comes to sustainability. This isn’t due to technical limitations but a lack of real pressure for change. While regulation is on the horizon, we, as consumers, have the power to act now. By demanding repairability, durability, and responsible end-of-life solutions, we can push brands to do better. Let’s start a conversation about what we truly want from the products we buy - and use our collective voice to shape amore sustainable future. I'm a product designer specialising in user-centred and sustainability-focused design forearly-stage hardware innovators. I have worked across the consumer and medical sectorshave worked on a wide variety of products including inhalers, medical pagers, pressurecookers and even a Quidditch goal. I founded People Planet Product in 2024 in order to address a gap between early-stage innovative ideas, and technical product development. I would like to help innovators embed responsible development techniques into their projects and am passionate about helping them to develop products people want, and that align with the needs of the planet. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx