Walking and Wheeling

7 November 2023

We all know that being outside with our children, being active and spending time appreciating nature is beneficial for our health and well-being, but what stops us doing more of it? I attended an incredible event that reflected on some of the challenges.

Event image for Walking and Wheeling with infants and children

‘Walking and Wheeling with Infants’ at Manchester Metropolitan University, took place in September and was organised by Dr Louise Platt (Manchester Metropolitan University) and Dr Esla Devienne (Northumbria University). The event brought together academics, policy makers, practitioners, and activists to reflect on issues surrounding transport and leisure mobilities including the climate crisis and local environments, physical and mental health, community (dis)connectedness, urban design and accessibility, addressing inequalities and the histories and futures of mobility.

Louise Platt illustration of parents walking with children

We heard how few opportunities there are for playing in our urban spaces, which instead are designed to privilege the car. It was interesting to hear from activists about initiatives across the country challenging this, and creating spaces to play for children on the street, including pocket parks, claiming tiny spaces for play, and play streets, a scheme to close your street to traffic to allow children to play out at least once a week.

We also heard from Mums for Lungs, a national organisation that raises awareness of health issues caused by traffic pollution, and tries to encourage behaviour changes such as using cars less and harm-reduction advice about safely walking in cities to minimise the harmful effects.

Swedish artist Karl Jilg and commissioned by the Swedish Road Administration,

Presentations from historian Dr John Munro, Dr Elsa Devienne’s and Dr Rebecca Wright were particularly fascinating as they reflected on how past events and prioritsations have shaped our landscape. From the toxic remnants of industrial revolution era Britain being underneath most of our country parks (who knew?!), to how so much of our space has been given to the car.

Dr Louise Platt’s work explores how parents move through urban spaces with their children and the obstacles such as kerbs, lampposts, bins, limited baby-change facilities, and poor town planning makes spaces inaccessible. She created the Manifesto for Walking Mums highlighting some of the challenges of getting out and about with your baby.

I presented ongoing research with Blaze Trails CIC ( a national parent and baby walking project) about the impact of group walking projects for parents and babies. It can be hard to get out walking with your baby, so Blaze Trails sets up walking groups for parents to support each other.

We discussed our wellbeing walks project, a pilot walking group set up with the Sheffield Perinatal Mental Health Service and local peer support service, Light. I organised the pilot and supported the independent evaluation, which was funded by the School for Business and Society Impact Fund, University of York. The project aimed to encourage parents who had experienced/were experiencing perinatal mental illness to walk outside with others and their babies, and explore how Blaze Trails could work in partnership with local services to diversify its reach and bring the benefits of parent and infant walking groups to new communities. Read the report here.

The event led me to reflect on my own research. I am interested in creating more opportunities for families to get outside with their children, but these opportunities may not be taken up if our society remains so addicted to the car, pollution levels are high, and people feel unsafe walking in the streets. Tackling the issue of how to encourage families with children to become active needs an interdisciplinary approach between geographers, town-planners, health and social sciences. Attendees at the event will continue to meet to decide on the next steps!