Challenge
Transport East, the sub-national transport body for the East of England, appointed Copper to lead early stakeholder and public engagement for its first ever 30-year transport strategy.
Key challenges included:
- navigating widespread scepticism about the relevance and longevity of a regional transport body
- managing diverse and often conflicting stakeholder views across a geographically large and varied region
- conducting effective engagement under the restrictions of COVID-19
- ensuring the strategy reflected both current infrastructure needs and future ambitions – particularly as the East of England is a region with a high volume of renewable energy projects.
Approach
Copper leveraged its deep regional knowledge and experience with Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects to deliver high-impact early engagement.
This included:
- running stakeholder workshops and meetings with 100+ targeted individuals over six months
- holding briefings with council officers and elected members across partner authorities to build understanding and support
- producing detailed reports for each engagement strand, culminating in a comprehensive summary submitted to the Department for Transport
- launching a targeted youth campaign for 11–13-year-olds to support future engagement and long-term strategy alignment
- refreshing the organisation’s branding and positioning to build credibility and reinforce public trust.
Value delivered
- Enabled the development of a regionally supported, evidence-led transport strategy grounded in real stakeholder input
- Built stakeholder confidence and improved perceptions of Transport East as a credible, long-term authority
- Secured valuable qualitative and quantitative feedback to inform future consultations
- Created momentum and a strong foundation for ongoing public and political engagement