Over the last decade, the winter service industry in the UK has undergone somewhat of a revolution, with a number of developments all designed to drive sustainability – from improved forecasting and monitoring solutions, to better application and storage methods.
Enter ‘A New Winter Approach’ – six industry experts who have collaborated to bring a series of UK- wide roadshows to the winter maintenance industry. Not only do these roadshows showcase the latest winter maintenance innovations, they also offer a unique networking and knowledge sharing opportunity by holding highly targeted events in specific UK regions with the agenda set to cover specific issues experienced within each region.
Creating a sustainable winter maintenance strategy
In the current era of budget cuts, the pressure is on local authorities to do ‘more for less’. Although the industry has started looking at how to become more sustainable to make savings, there is a huge range of sustainable solutions now available and it can be a challenge to filter through all the information available to choose the best option.
A New Winter Approach has addressed these issues by creating an event with a specific focus on the innovations that will offer value and sustainability to the winter maintenance industry for many years to come.
These innovations are brought to delegates through best practice examples, including applied case studies, industry trial results, and practical workshops.
“Our regional workshops have a firm focus on case-study based innovation and education. They provide winter practitioners with the opportunity to learn about the application of new technologies and gives them time to network with their peers – all in one single day.” Richard Hogg, MetDesk
Collaborative working
A New Winter Approach also offers the industry a unique opportunity to meet the key winter maintenance players from their local region, giving attendees the chance to network with colleagues from neighbouring councils and national highway authorities, as well as share best practice information about how they approach the winter season.
Part of this knowledge sharing takes place during an interactive Q&A session, involving a panel of experts answering questions set by the delegates themselves.
At the inaugural event in London in September 2019, over 50 delegates from local authorities, private contractors and TMCs attended. Despite working in close proximity to each other as neighbouring authorities, this was the first-time many people had met, and many attendees cited the networking opportunities as one of the highlights of the day.
“It’s a rare occurrence to get so many industry experts together, I’ve never seen so many London Boroughs in one room.” Richard Hayes (former Chief Executive of the Institute of Highway Engineers)
Interested in attending?
If you’re interested in attending, the next A New Winter Approach event takes place in South Wales on the 25 th of March click here to register.
The event is free to attend and is accredited by the Institute of Highways Engineers, awarding attendees 5 hours of CPD points.
Further events are planned for later in 2020 in Cambridge and Manchester. If you would like to be added to the mailing list to be informed about future events, email gemma@anewwinterapproach.co.uk
Who’s involved?
A New Winter Approach is a collaboration between six winter maintenance industry leaders who are passionate about creating a sustainable future; Econ, Eurodome, Exactrak, MetDesk, Peacock Salt and Winter Service Solutions.
Originally published on: https://www.highwaysindustry.com/a-new-winter-approach-a-new-approach-to-knowledge-sharing/