Hi I’m Laura. A problem solver by nature, I find innovation fascinating and I’m always impressed with the ideas the sector has to improve the way it works, for the betterment of all. During my 20+ year career in Local Government, with 15 in street/road works, I’ve watched the increasing pace the sector is evolving and the importance information, innovation and collaboration will have on current and future challenges in these uncertain times. The next decade will provide our greatest challenge yet, as we accelerate to net zero. A firm believer in being better together, I’m honoured to be project sponsor for the ‘Road to Net Zero’ project. It’s a unique opportunity for all of us within the UK’s street and road works sector to come together and be in charge of our own destiny.

David Capon is a leading figure in street works and road works management in the UK. As CEO of JAG(UK) and Joint Chair of HAUC(UK), he champions best practices and collaboration between highway authorities, utilities, and government bodies. David also leads the Road to Net Zero initiative, aligning the sector with the UK's 2050 net zero emissions target.

Under his guidance, HAUC(UK) works to streamline processes and legislation, balancing public needs with infrastructure maintenance. David's vision focuses on practical steps for the street works and road works sectors to contribute to environmental protection and emissions reduction.

His multifaceted role puts him at the forefront of efforts to modernise street works and road works management, ensuring efficiency, safety, and minimal public disruption.

David's focus is on delivering analysis and recommendations that investigate, understand and solve the challenges facing the energy industry in delivering a net zero future. These aiming to deliver strategic change to the way we produce, distribute and use energy in our homes, businesses and industry. David brings a wealth of experience in power systems and electricity networks along with leadership to grow and develop multi-disciplinary consultancy teams.

Ben has a decade of experience at the forefront of vehicle and machinery electrification, Ben combines deep expertise with a genuine passion for advancing sustainability. His extensive knowledge, particularly within the electricity utility sector, makes him a key asset to the team. Within the project, Ben has been instrumental in developing and rolling out the Carbon Calculator, as well as estimating baseline emissions for the Street and Road Works sector.

Yaashiene works as a Graduate Consultant within the Net Zero Transition team at EA Technology and has worked on developing the database for the Carbon Calculator that was created in the Design phase of the project. The database comprises of lists of options that are available within the calculator along with their unique conversion factors. She is also involved in the scoping of features for the next version of the Carbon Calculator and works closely with Ben and industry stakeholders to create a user-friendly and engaging tool that will educate the wider industry on their street and road works emissions.

Sebastian works in Strategic Development at EA Technology. Sebastian graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from UCL where he picked up an interest in renewable energy systems. Since joining EA Technology, he has been looking into the challenges facing the energy supply industry, including themes such as future skills requirements, use of data, development of smart local energy systems and integration of Low Carbon Technologies. In the Road to Net Zero project, he supported the early energy and emission assessments of the street and road works sector and scoped out the potential use cases of the carbon calculator.

Chris Rogers [OR Chris] researches sustainability, resilience and liveability of cities, infrastructure and urban systems, and how systemic changes can be designed and implemented to realise greatest value. With a particular interest in the ‘urban metabolism (all the flows into, around and out of cities), he focusses on buried infrastructure and utility services, the structural performance of roads, trenchless technologies, use of underground space and infrastructure systems’ interdependencies. Alongside the Road to Net Zero project, his recent research includes the development of swarms of small robots for pipeline condition assessment.

A Lead Expert of the Foresight Future of Cities project and founder member of the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC), he has been appointed to the Department for Transport College of Experts.

His recently-published Theory of Change embraces: stakeholder identification, synthesis of stakeholders’ aspirations, system mapping, problem diagnostics, baseline functional performance, sustainability and far-future resilience assessment, business models and governance.

Professor of Infrastructure Monitoring, Director of the National Buried Infrastructure Facility, Co-Director for the Birmingham Institute of Quantum Technologies and Head of Enterprise, Engagement and Impact, School of Engineering.

Nicole co-leads the Geophysics research of the Birmingham-led Quantum Technologies Hub for Sensors and Timing working closely with industry to develop sensors and novel processing methods to see through the ground to ensure that any excavation is safer and results in fewer delays. She also has an interest in soil-structure interaction. Nicole is also involved in several utility committees both in the UK (e.g. PAS 128, NUAR) and internationally (e.g. ASCE 38) developing standards and working on best practice and training. Her paper on assessing the impact of PAS128 in the UK has won the ICE’s James Hill prize in 2021.

Nicole is the only academic member of the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineer’s Utilities and Subsurface Mapping Panel and sits on The Survey Association’s PAS128 Utility Mapping Accreditation (PUMA) governance committee.

Her collaboration with the School of Physics culminated in the world’s first detection of a buried asset using a quantum technology gravity gradient instrument, published in Nature in 2022. Nicole regularly contributes to media pieces on a variety of different platforms.

Dr Emma Ferranti undertakes interdisciplinary research at the intersection of infrastructure, the built environment and green infrastructure. She currently holds an EPSRC Fellowship examining how Nature Based Solutions can deliver infrastructure resilience to extreme weather and climate change. Emma also leads and contributes to a range of projects in the fields of transport, infrastructure resilience, climate adaptation, air quality, and green infrastructure in the School of Engineering at the University of Birmingham. She was previously a NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellow facilitating knowledge transfer at the intersection of green infrastructure and air quality. An advocate for trees in the urban environment, Emma co-facilitates the national Trees and Design Action Group network, co-organising the online Seminar Series, and co-developing evidence-based resources for built environment practitioners.

Dr Hunt obtained his globally cited PhD from the University of Birmingham in 2004. This looked at improving predictive methods for ground movements associated with multiple tunnel constructions.

From 2003 to date Dr Hunt has been active in the field of “Sustainability and Underground Space” (in their broadest sense) working on multi-million pound Interdisciplinary, Multi-disciplinary and Trans-disciplinary projects. He is currently working with TfL and HAUC looking at ‘Decarbonising Roadworks and Streetworks’ - therein the potential for adoption of trenchless technologies and alternative placement methods (e.g. multi-utility tunnels) is both substantial and necessary.

Aryan has a particular focus on life cycle assessment, and embodied carbon evaluation and optimisation of built environment assets. He earned his PhD for research on value-based decision-support systems for sustainability assessment of urban underground utility infrastructure, considering the potential for adoption of alternative methods such as multi-utility tunnels. Since 2014, he has been working on several multi-disciplinary projects including Assessing the Underworld (ATU) – An Integrated Performance Model of City Infrastructures, PAS128 (The UK Utility Survey Standard) Impact Evaluation, ARLI (Alternative Raw Materials with Low Impact), and Road to Net Zero (RtNZ).

He serves as the Editorial Advisory Board Member on Institution of Civil Engineers’ (ICE) Engineering Sustainability. In 2021, he was awarded the James Hill Prize for the best paper published in ICE’s Municipal Engineer which was judged to be of exceptional quality and benefit to the civil engineering, construction, and materials science community.

Joanne is a research fellow at the University of Birmingham and Executive Manager of the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC), a collaboration of world-leading UK universities conducting high-quality research in infrastructure and urban systems and dedicated to connecting research with policy and practice. Joanne’s research interests can be found at the intersection of liveability, sustainability and resilience, with an emphasis upon research integration, transdisciplinary working practices and the science of team science. Her research focuses upon the link between the built environment, infrastructure and wellbeing and she has a keen interest in developing and translating research outcomes to influence how people think about cities.

Tony Hargreaves researches the interdependencies between urban spatial planning and infrastructure. He has in-depth knowledge of transport and land use models and forecasting the development of cities and infrastructure for energy, transport, and water.

Tony has been a Co-Investigator and Project Manager on large multi-disciplinary research projects about sustainable urban environments which involved collaboration with academic, government, and private sector organisations.

Prior to working in academic research, Tony had extensive professional experience in engineering consultancy. This included advising government agencies on the transport impacts of major new town developments and multi-modal transport projects. He was also responsible for the transport modelling, design, and economic and environmental assessment of a highway scheme.

Kelwalee (Ken) is a civil engineer specialising in construction management and transportation planning, with expertise spanning both road and air transport sectors. With seven years of international consultancy experience in the United States, Japan, and Thailand, Ken has contributed to a variety of large-scale infrastructure projects globally. Currently pursuing a PhD in civil engineering, Ken is a key researcher on the Road to Net Zero project. Her primary responsibility involves developing the All Consequences Calculator Tool, a comprehensive instrument designed to evaluate the full spectrum of potential impacts and knock-on effects of different roadwork and street work design options. This tool aims to foster more sustainable practices in construction activities, supporting the broader goal of achieving net zero in the roadworks and streetworks sectors.

Lewis’ expertise spans infrastructure asset management, underground space mapping, utility coordination, infrastructure interdependencies, and innovative technologies for condition assessment and maintenance. Through projects like the Assessing the Underworld and organisations like the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC), Lewis has established himself as a seasoned professional on urban subsurface infrastructure and the integration of infrastructure systems. He takes a holistic view of infrastructure, studying the flows into, around and out of cities and how infrastructure networks intersect and rely on each other.

Lewis' recent research aims to enable smarter, more coordinated management of buried assets. This includes developing robotic systems for pipeline inspection and creating decision support tools to optimise streetworks planning. He is also researching new business models and governance approaches to realise greater value from infrastructure investments.

Underpinning all of Lewis’ work is the goal of developing systemic solutions that enhance the sustainability, resilience and liveability of infrastructure networks and the cities they serve. Through interdisciplinary research and multi-stakeholder engagement, he provides unique capabilities in diagnosing urban infrastructure challenges and translating research into implementable strategies for infrastructure providers, contractors, regulators and civic leaders.

Alison has 28 years of experience in the Telecoms industry and 18 years specialising in streetworks. Alison is passionate about improving outcomes for all involved in streetworks and highway works and is actively involved in many change initiatives which look to achieve this in the industry. By providing greater clarity and standardisation for practitioners, improving efficiency and co-ordination in streetworks, and promoting cross industry collaboration on achieving net zero.

Alison is involved in the following street and road works policy development groups including:

• Comms sector representative on the Scotland Policy Development Group
• Member of Flexi-permits Steering Group
• Co-Chair of the HAUC UK Diversionary Works Task Group
• HAUC Road to Net Zero Stakeholder Manager

Ken is key member of the GeoPlace project management team for the Road to Net Zero project. He is a creative and analytical Digital Marketing and Campaigns Manager and has been instrumental in developing the GeoPlace digital presence since joining in 2020. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for bringing technical concepts to life, he has spearheaded numerous successful campaigns that have significantly increased engagement with GeoPlace's address and street data services. Ken’s expertise in web development, SEO, video production, and social media management has enabled him to develop compelling content across various platforms, effectively reaching and expanding target audiences. His ability to balance creativity with data-driven insights has not only improved GeoPlace's brand profile but also contributed to a measurable increase in event registrations and newsletter subscriptions. Ken’s collaborative approach and commitment to continuous improvement embody GeoPlace's values, making him an invaluable asset to the marketing team.

Nia Lacey is a highly accomplished Project Manager at GeoPlace where she has been a valuable member of the Streets Team since 2022. With a wealth of experience in project management, Nia plays a pivotal role in the GeoPlace / HAUC(UK)’s high-profile Road to Net Zero project. Her expertise in reporting and delivery has proven instrumental to the success of this crucial initiative.

Prior to joining GeoPlace, Nia developed her skills at Openreach, where she managed various projects and spearheaded business improvement initiatives. Her career also includes a role at a telecoms start up, where she held the position of Build Pipeline Manager. This diverse background has equipped Nia with a comprehensive understanding of project management across different sectors.

At GeoPlace, Nia's proficiency in managing complex projects and her keen eye for detail have made her an indispensable asset to the project management team. Her contributions to the Road to Net Zero project underscore her commitment to driving meaningful change and her ability to handle high-stakes initiatives with precision and care.