POLIS – ALICE webinar on urban space allocation
On 20 November 2023, DISCO joined forces with POLIS Network and the European Technology Platform on Logistics (ALICE) for a webinar focused on urban space allocation for freight.
The two networks also delivered in 2023 a webinar series on the future of urban freight, bringing the public and private actors together to discuss and explore the ins and outs of logistics. Smart Governance and Regulations is one of the five areas of intervention identified in the Joint Guide for advancing together towards zero-emission urban logistics by 2030.
Michael Glotz-Richter from the City of Bremen (Germany), Zisis Maleas from the Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH) and Iskandar Tange from Coding the Curbs took the stage and brought to the online audience – more than 90 people – their first-hand experience and insights.
Michael focused its intervention on the measures and interventions implemented in Bremen within the UE-funded project UlaaDS, Zisis focused its intervention defining mobility hubs and how they can help cities to better manage transport flows. Iskandar highlighted the work done by Coding the Curbs in some Dutch cities to manage more efficiently available public space among several users (Horeca sector, logistics, parking, etc.).
The panel discussion was moderated by the DISCO coordinator, Paola Cossu from FIT Consulting.
DISCO partners gather in Barcelona for second partner meeting
The DISCO consortium met once again on 23-24 October after the kick-off meeting for a two-day fruitful partner Meeting at the premises of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in beautiful Barcelona.
This was a unique opportunity to gather all our partners for a comprehensive update six months into the project. On the first day, the discussions have focused on the progress of first dissemination actions and synergies with relevant initiatives, fellow EU-funded projects focusing on urban freight, and the setting up of the Impact Creation Board for Transformation (ICBT). A dedicated workshop followed in the afternoon session and focused on producing the initial and updated set of DISCO-X requirements to create the first cut view of the metamodel suite.
On the second day, a focus has been paid to all of the Starring Living Labs, their plans to kick start their activities and the initial use cases foreseen, preceded by an overview of the Agile Model Implementation Roadmap to be applied at the different Living Labs.
DISCO is busy at work on the concept of Physical-Internet applied to urban logistics to maximise usage of assets and increase efficiency, reducing traffic flow and mitigating negative impacts on the environment and society.
The next in-person gathering of the DISCO consortium will take place in Thessaloniki in April 2024.
DISCO takes off at the Urban Mobility Days 2023 in Sevilla
On 3 October, prior to the Urban Mobility Days (UMDs), DISCO joined the first gathering of the current Coordination and Support Action for the CIVITAS Initiative. CIVITAS MUSE primarily engages in support activities to boost the impact of CIVITAS Community activities on sustainable urban mobility policy.
The meetings were attended by the evaluation and dissemination managers from the EU-funded projects under the CIVITAS Programme umbrella, project officers and other representatives from CINEA. DISCO was represented by FIT Consulting and POLIS. These meetings kick-started CIVITAS’ aims to create synergies among the various mobility projects and enable streamlined peer-learning.
In the afternoon, DISCO joined a meeting specifically focused on urban freight, to enable more in-depth personal connections, peer-learning and public-facing synergies in dissemination work going forward between ongoing projects, such as URBANE, DISCO, GREEN-LOG and UNCHAIN.
A timeline for 2024 was agreed on and next meeting is due to take place in early Spring. The next plenary Evaluation Group Meeting is scheduled to take place next September (along with the CIVITAS Forum).
The following days, during the UMDs, DISCO was featured in the exhibition area in a stand shared with the sister project UNCHAIN. On 6 October, DISCO was pitched in the plenary by the project coordinator Paola Cossu (FIT Consulting) along with other newly funded projects under the Horizon Europe Programme.
