Press Release, Barcelona Nov 09, 2023
How We Can Deliver Sustainable City Logistics
The on-demand economy, propelled by the surge in digitalization and evolving socioeconomic patterns, experienced remarkable expansion amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The prevalence of same-day and local deliveries, coupled with the adoption of take-back policies, indicates a sustained trajectory for this trend. However, the consequences on congestion, noise and air pollution, and overall quality of life necessitate an innovative and holistic approach encompassing vehicle fleets, logistics networks, and collaborative efforts between private and public entities.
An insightful panel discussion was held in the context of the Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, where thought leaders, planners & industry experts gathered to drive change in urban mobility. This session was co- organized by Fira Barcelona, EIT Urban Mobility and Smart City Expo World Congress and the speakers involved in thematic roundtable, moderated by Jordi Casas Juan, were the following : Roamy Valera, Willem van Heijningen, Fabio Nussio, Guido Di Pasquale, Viktoria Kindesjö, Giuseppe Dall’Asta and Ioanna Fergadiotou.
During the session “How Can We Deliver Sustainable City Logistics” at the Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress that was held in Barcelona on the 9th of November 2023, Ioanna Fergadiotou, Head of Athens Lab at INLECOM and URBANE Project’s Coordinator engaged in the discussion elaborating on the physical internet concept, presented the digital tools developed in the context of the project (digital twins, blockchain for traceability, smart contracts, etc.) and how they can help Cities achieve their transition into sustainable and innovative last mile transport, while also emphasizing on the important contribution of the Living Labs.
Ioanna Fergadiotou provided insights on the benefits gained by the interventions tested in the project’s participating Cities focusing on the importance of real-life testing of innovations and lessons learned through the innovation transferability concept delivered via URBANE’s transferability platform.
Upscaling Innovative Green Urban Logistics Solutions Through Multi-Actor Collaboration and PI-Inspired Last Mile Deliveries
URBANE is a 3.5-year Horizon Europe project (2022-2026) on novel, sustainable, safe, resilient and effective last-mile delivery solutions, combining green automated vehicles and shared space utilisation models. The project will test innovative TRL7/8 efficient, replicable and socially acceptable innovative last-mile delivery solutions and will produce a framework for optimised green last mile operations, establishing the principles and prerequisites of a PI-inspired urban logistics operational model, as well as setting the project's strategic priorities and direction.
Inlecom Innovation is a proud member of the URBANE consortium, holding the role of the Project Coordinator and leading the development of the open Digital Twin (DT) infrastructure while also being involved in the modelling activities, the development of blockchain component and the Innovation Transferability Platform.
Learn more about the project
This project has received funding from the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under GA 101069782. Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
