Canal and River Trust and Forster Communications launch 'share the space, drop your pace' campaign
Canal and River Trust has unveiled its new campaign which encourages cyclists and pedestrians to be considerate of each other on London’s towpaths.
Campaigns communications agency Forster Communications is behind the new initiative - ‘share the space, drop your pace’ -which aims to get those who use towpaths to follow a new Greenways Code in order to keep the network of waterways safe and pleasant for everyone to share.
Dick Vincent, towpath ranger at Canal and River Trust, said their last campaign “needed to be refreshed,” he added: “Foster provided excellent guidance and creativity in equal measure on how to do this, including workshops with stakeholders and “on-the-towpath” market research. The end result surpassed our expectations and it was great to work with a flexible and switched on team.”
Forster Communications specialises in creating communications designed to change behaviours by using audience testing to ensure campaigns are effective. The agency worked closely with the Canal and River Trust carrying out research with towpath users on the capital’s busiest routes, at rush hour, to find out what messages would be most effective. The design team has also produced a range of supporting materials including fold out maps with the towpath code.
Creative project director at Forster, Gillian Daines, commented: “Our research was really gratifying because it showed that most people do want to share the space. The sense of being polite and considerate to each other when enjoying a lovely outdoor space felt very British!
“Our campaign aimed to capture that positive and friendly approach – while making the towpath code clear for people.”