Long Story Short arcadisukpodcast

Imagine the town centre of the future and the changes that need to be made to achieve it: what will it look like? Who will it serve and what part does it play in its community?
Urban centres are, and should be, responding to the needs of their communities, the challenges of changing retail habits, declining footfall, and the need for greater flexibility in our spaces.
In light of COVID-19, how can local high streets recover and take advantage of people’s changing behaviours and values in relation to supporting local businesses, reducing travel and being more sustainable? 
Our guests David Jobling, Director at Arcadis and Bill Grimsey, from the Grimsey Review, discuss this and more in the first episode of a new series of Long Story Short.

From the Government slogan - “Stay home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives.” - to the 8pm Clap for Carers, the NHS has been front and centre of the fight against COVID-19. But has our relationship with our national health service changed? And what have we learnt from the pandemic that could change the future of healthcare provision?
 
With capacity threatening to reach breaking point, the speed at which the seven Nightingale Hospitals were established showed us just how much can be achieved in a short space of time, by working together. But even though the immediate health crisis may have abated through efforts to protect the NHS, critical patient issues such as cancer, diabetes and mental health care still need to be addressed.
 
From providing new beds to working more closely within communities, is the NHS up to the challenge? And what role should we be playing in looking after our own health and wellbeing to help protect the NHS? Chris Waine from Arcadis and our guests Richard Noble and Robert Hakin from Leeds Teaching Hospital discuss the future of healthcare and more in the episode nine of the Long Story Short podcast series.

With 1.9 million UK households digitally excluded, COVID-19 has exposed the widening gap between the digital have’s and have not’s. But it’s also signposted to some of the benefits that ending digital poverty could bring.
In this episode, Mark Harrop from Arcadis, Dave Nielson from Fusion21 and Paul Finnis from Digital Access for All, share their passion for addressing digital poverty and make the case for free social broadband.

When COVID-19 struck, our cities fell silent. With the hum of traffic replaced by birdsong, the sudden uptake in walking and cycling gave us a vision of a low-traffic future. Healthier, less congested and with less pollution, many cities rapidly introduced schemes to make streets less car-centric, and friendlier for pedestrians and cyclists. But how successful have these interventions been?
In this episode, Keri Stewart and Samantha Thirwell from Arcadis join Richard Dilks from CoMoUK to discuss the future of travel. Are car-free cities really the answer? And, in rethinking how we travel, what would make our roads better for everyone?   

The rise in demand for places where people can live, work and spend their leisure time all within their local communities has led to a resurgence in the 15-minute community. The concept has been around for several years and, in short, seeks to rethink how communities are planned by focusing on reducing car-dependency and long commutes. It improves quality of life by ensuring all essential amenities can be reached within a 15 or 20-minute journey from home, whether on foot, bike or by public transport.
In this episode, Peter Hogg from Arcadis is joined by Laura Citron, Chief Executive at London & Partners, and Anthony Breach, Analyst at Centre for Cities to discuss whether 15-minute communities are the shape of our cities in the future or are they only half the answer? And are they urgently needed for revival after the pandemic or do 15-minute communities miss the point of what cities are for?

The way we work is changing. As society re-emerges from lockdown, our needs and expectations have changed. The post-pandemic workplace must be reshaped and re imagined, but how can we create spaces that are flexible, adaptive and blend to these changing needs? In a world where work is no longer restricted to within the same four walls, what does it mean to create a truly destination work environment where people want to be and want to thrive? And how do we balance social and economic pressures with the challenges of sustainability and climate change?
In this special edition of Long Story Short, we talk to Sarah-Jane Osborne, our Head of Workscape at Arcadis, about the rise of agile working and how we are reimagining the future of the workplace.