The DISCO project recently hosted two insightful webinars showcasing how data-driven innovation is transforming urban logistics to support more sustainable, efficient cities across Europe.
From Theory to Practice: Demonstrating the Urban Freight Data Space
On 5 November 2024, the webinar “From Theory to Practice: Demonstration and Planned Development of the DISCO Urban Freight Data Space (UFDS)” explored the potential of data spaces to revolutionise urban freight systems. Focusing on key principles such as interoperability, data sovereignty, and secure collaboration, the session highlighted how data spaces lie at the heart of DISCO’s vision for modern logistics.
A live demonstration featured outputs from the DISCO Living Labs in Copenhagen, Ghent, and Thessaloniki, as well as a showcase of the Geodata Visualizer App, which enables real-time data analysis. Participants discovered how UFDS supports scalable, adaptable data ecosystems and dynamic urban space management. Looking ahead, future developments include enhanced security features, enriched datasets, and expanded collaboration through metadata brokers and vocabulary hubs. Rooted in a Physical Internet (PI) approach, the UFDS aims to help meet the EU’s 2030 climate targets by advancing cleaner, smarter logistics solutions.
Measuring Impact: The DISCO KPI Framework
Two weeks later, on 19 November 2024, the second webinar, “Key Performance Indicators Framework – The Experience of the DISCO Project”, delved into the crucial role of KPIs in evaluating and improving sustainable urban logistics.
Presentations by the Institute for Transport and Logistics (ITL), Lindholmen Science Park (LSP), and the Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT) provided a deep dive into the development and application of the KPI framework across the DISCO Living Labs. Key topics included aligning KPIs with sustainability objectives, selecting relevant indicators, and integrating logistics data with urban freight planning, as demonstrated by the Thessaloniki Living Lab. A live demonstration of the DISCO KPI dashboard illustrated its practical use in assessing logistics performance and supporting informed decision-making.
Both sessions reaffirmed DISCO’s commitment to building data-driven, future-ready urban mobility systems aligned with European sustainability goals!
Missed the webinars?
Recordings and materials from both sessions are available through the Mobility Academy:
The first DISCO General Assembly of 2025 was held online over two productive days, on 26th and 27th March 2025. This virtual gathering brought together all project partners to reflect on recent achievements, share key updates, and align on the next steps for the project’s development.
A central highlight of the meeting was the progress made on the Meta Model Suite. This essential tool is now available, with its user interface design fully completed. Its launch marks a major milestone for the project and sets the stage for broader implementation across partner activities.
The spotlight also turned to the Starring Living Labs, as their implementation phase approaches its conclusion at the end of April 2025. Each lab provided an in-depth presentation of their work to date, showcasing innovative solutions, lessons learned, and the impact generated within their local contexts. Their insights are helping shape the foundation for the next phase of the project.
Attention is now gradually shifting towards the Twinning Living Labs, which are preparing to build on the experiences of their Starring counterparts. They, too, shared updates on their progress and outlined their upcoming plans, highlighting the growing momentum across the DISCO network.
In addition, key contributions were made by POLIS, ALICE, and Rupprecht Consult, who presented their efforts to build strong connections between DISCO and other relevant European projects. They also provided a recap of recent training sessions delivered as part of the knowledge-sharing and capacity-building activities.
Strategic links have been established with several prominent initiatives, including:
GREENLOG, deployEMDS, DECARBOMILE, ACUMEN, URBANE, SENATOR, and UNCHAIN. These collaborations are helping to expand the reach and impact of DISCO, while fostering synergies across the mobility and logistics innovation ecosystem.
Lastly, the DISCO Knowledge Platform continues to grow, offering a central hub for insights, resources, and updates from the project. The platform is publicly accessible here and serves as a valuable tool for stakeholders and the broader community.
As DISCO progresses through 2025, the General Assembly reaffirmed the commitment of all partners to collaboration, innovation, and achieving lasting impact in urban logistics and mobility.
The DISCO consortium met up in Cologne for an exciting two-day event. The goal? Discussing progress and the steps forward!
The DISCO project consortium convened in Cologne, Germany, on October 16–17, 2024, for a partner meeting hosted by Rupprecht Consult. This two-day event gathered leading stakeholders in sustainable urban logistics to assess progress, share insights, and strategize the next phases of the DISCO initiative. Wolfgang Backhaus, warmly welcomed the DISCO partners and highlighted crucial points and linkages between DISCO, the EU Cities Mission, and NetZeroCities.
The Cologne meeting featured keynote presentations from members of the Impact Creation Board for Transformation (ICBT), notably Anne Goodchild of the Urban Freight Lab and Thomas Osdoba from NetZeroCities EU. Andreas Nettsträter, Open Logistics Foundation, and Marianne Ryghaug, SINTEF.
Their discussions emphasised the importance of open-source innovation and collaborative strategies in advancing urban logistics.
The meeting also facilitated knowledge exchange between Starring and Twinning Living Labs, aiming to scale DISCO’s innovative solutions to additional cities. This collaborative effort is central to DISCO’s mission of fostering sustainable and efficient urban logistics across Europe. On Day 1 we organised interactive breakout sessions in the afternoon on the progress of Starring Living Labs and one where project partners had the opportunity to engage with the ICBT experts. Day 2 continued with a focus on Twinning Living Labs, DISCO Data Space open software repository, follower sites, Key Exploitable Results validation (KERs).
The discussions also included the DISCO Meta Model Suite (MMS), a key component of the DISCO project aimed at improving urban logistics. It is designed to address the challenges posed by increasing urbanization, e-commerce, and environmental concerns. The MMS promotes collaboration, interoperability, and resource sharing, aligning with the principles of the Physical Internet
A highlight of the event was the recognition of outstanding achievements by the DISCO Starring Living Labs teams. Awards were presented to Copenhagen, Ghent, Thessaloniki, and Helsinki for their exemplary contributions to sustainable urban logistics solutions.
DISCO made its presence known at the last Annual POLIS Conference 2024! The project took the stage and was also displayed at the exhibition area, introducing its innovations to multiple, diverse, and relevant stakeholders.
The DISCO project took stage at the 2024 POLIS Conference, held in Karlsruhe on 27-28 November 2024, Germany. As Europe’s flagship event on sustainable urban transport, the conference attracted over 1,000 mobility experts, city representatives, and technology innovators from across the continent.
DISCO partners delivered a dynamic presence, participating in an expert panel and engaging attendees through a vibrant project booth. The focus: demonstrating how cities can leverage data and digital platforms to plan, manage, and evaluate mobility systems that work for everyone.
Paola Cossu, CEO of FIT Consulting and Project coordinator, presented the DISCO project during the session “1F. Unlocking the last mile: Innovations in urban freight”, highlighting the potential of physical internet-led solutions to foster urban logistics and planning through data-driven and dynamic land use”. Domien Stubbe (VIL) presented the use cases being tested in the city of Ghent, Belgium.
DISCO shared the stage with other city representatives from Helsinki, Madrid, Karlsruhe to exchange about first-hand experiences of using DISCO’s tools to address diverse urban mobility needs and foster collaboration with other Horizon Europe projects focusing on urban freight and logistics (DECARBOMILE, UNCHAIN, URBANE) and policy-makers, reinforcing its role as a key player in the digital transformation of urban transport.
DISCO was also part of the exhibition area, with a booth shared with other EU-funded projects of project partner PNO.
A new, exciting concept report has now been published! It outlines the core elements of the Microhub model tested during the Helsinki pilot, including its operating principles, practical delivery model, stakeholder roles, and potential conditions for commercial deployment.
Urban logistics face significant challenges, particularly emissions from distribution activities and the limited space typically available in urban environments. DISCO set out to address these issues by testing the viability of a shared logistics solution centred around a Microhub in an urban setting.
Coordinated by Forum Virium Helsinki, the DISCO pilot in Helsinki brought together several partners, including A2B, DB Schenker, DHL Express, LMAD, and Rolan.
The Microhub, situated in Helsinki’s Ruoholahti district, served as a base for eco-friendly last-mile deliveries. Larger shipments were first transported to the hub by vans and lorries, before being redistributed using low-emission alternatives such as cargo bikes and autonomous delivery robots. The hub also featured a DHL Express service point where customers could collect or send parcels, along with dedicated workspaces for company staff.
Throughout the trial, over 1,500 parcels were delivered from the Microhub using three A2B and DB Schenker cargo bikes, along with two delivery robots operated by LMAD. The pilot also tested the consolidation of parcel deliveries, further optimising the efficiency of urban logistics.
The pilot demonstrated that the Microhub enabled a new approach to parcel delivery, using lighter, more sustainable modes of transport. By shifting deliveries from vans and lorries to cargo bikes and autonomous delivery robots, the pilot successfully reduced CO₂ emissions and noise pollution in city centres. These lighter vehicles also require less space, helping to improve safety and overall comfort in densely built urban areas.
As part of the Microhub pilot, we collaborated with Ramboll Finland Oy to gather insights and experiences, which were then used to define the Microhub concept. This service design process included expert interviews and collaborative workshops. The resulting Concept Report offers a practical, easy-to-use guide to support the future development and scaling of Microhub solutions.
On 11 February 2025, our own project coordinator Paola Astegiano,(FIT Consulting srl) presented DISCO during session 5 “Digital Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Urban Logistics” at the RTR Conference, taking place every year in Brussels.
The RTR Conference is a unique entry point into the achievement of EU-funded projects in road transport. Participants had the cl-hance to learn more about Horizon Europe projects’ results and expected impacts, and what the next research steps are in essential areas for road transport. The conference delivers a holistic view of how the European research scene is moving forward in these fields, bringing benefits to the environment, economy, and European society overall.
The session gathered all ongoing projects that presented their latest development, such as GREEN-LOG, SENATOR, DISCO, URBANE, UNCHAIN, Decarbomile. The session was moderated by Yannick Bousse (CINEA) and Yanying Li (ETP-ALICE).
All projects are explored innovations like digital tools (e.g. Digital Twins), Data Space, Blockchain to make urban freight and deliveries in cities smarter and greener. During the discussion, it emerged that a common understanding of application scenarios, and potential impacts should be formed.
Looking forward to continuing cooperation!
The DISCO project and many of its partners joined the CIVITAS Forum in Parma on 1-3 October 2024. It is the flagship event of the CIVITAS Initiative and it provides the ideal opportunity to hear from the cities, people and projects that are driving innovation in smart, inclusive and sustainable mobility.
On 30 September, the workshop titled “𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐲: 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐚𝐬𝐭-𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫“, took place as a side event of the CIVITAS Forum in Parma. It was proudly organised by the Green Last-mile Logistics City Platform of the URBANE project and the CIVITAS Initiative Cluster of Urban Logistics.
The cities of Bologna, Hamburg and Thessaloniki were on the spotlight and had the chance to present their measures being implemented within DECARBOMILE, DISCO, MOVE21 and URBANE projects. Three round tables were organised for each city after their presentations, and allowed participants to share their insights and experiences. Representatives of other EU-funded projects joined, such as SENATOR, UNCHAIN, CODEZERO. Our own partners Raffaele Vergnani (POLIS) facilitated the discussion on the round table focused on Bologna’s measure, and DISCO coordinator Paola Astegiano (FIT Consulting srl) and Giuseppe Luppino (ETP-ALICE) from facilitated as rapporteurs the Thessaloniki and Hamburg round tables respectively.
On 2 October, Eurocities’ Clarisse de Cerjat, Paola Cossu (FIT Consulting srl) and Laura Babio Somoza (POLIS) led the discussion on “Leveraging Data Integration for Seamless Mobility and Logistics‘.” The session delved into the implication of data integration in the field of smart mobility, focusing on leveraging data to achieve seamless urban mobility and logistics. The city of Bologna, the city of Dublin, EMT Madrid, Agenzia TPL, the Centre for Research & Technology Hellas (CERTH) are proving it by example in their cities.
Paola Cossu, coordinator of the DISCO project, stated the following. “As DISCO coordinator and International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) ambassador, I fully embrace the challenge of promoting the importance of data exchange by Data Space in Mobility driving to decarbonised and digital cities. No more silos between freight and passengers mobility. Stakeholders should be equally informed about value propositions to have evidence of benefits in sharing and dialoguing in a commoditised ecosystem. Logistics is at the core of economies and impacts everyday lives. Cohesion, alignment, common understanding, and collaboration are fundamental levers for achieving a real twin transition“.
DISCO and some of its partners were proud to be part of this edition and to showcase the project in the Urban Logistics Thematic Cluster!
On 5 November 2024, DISCO attended the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona during a booth session on ‘Multimodal Smart City Mobility and Logistics in a Synchronized Approach’.
With cities facing increasing challenges in managing traffic congestion, air pollution, and emissions, traditional mobility and logistics models are no longer sustainable. This session explored how innovative projects like DISCO as well as other fellow EU-funded projects such as SYNCHROMODE, FOREMAST, SPINE, and CLEVER are working together to create a synchronized and multimodal approach to smart city mobility and logistics.
Indeed, each project is focused on building solutions surrounding advanced traffic management, zero-emission freight, and climate-neutral transport: this engaging session shed light on the integration of these solutions and the challenges of building a sustainable, connected future for cities.
Key points included:
Guess what? Our partner Forum Virium Helsinki (FVH) recently organised two successful Open Day events to promote the Helsinki Starring Living Lab, focusing on urban logistics and microhub development.
On 3 May 2024, the first Open Day event centred on discussing and developing the concept of microhubs in Helsinki. It attracted 37 participants, including various stakeholders. Helleke Heikkinen from the Hanken School of Economics presented the global micro hub concepts, while DHL Express shared their experiences with city hubs both in Finland and across the globe. FVH introduced the DISCO project and its goals related to microhubs. The event concluded with a workshop that helped stakeholders collaboratively identify needs, wishes, challenges, and demands for a microhub network in Helsinki.
This event produced initial drafts outlining the needs, wishes, locations, services, and challenges of microhubs in dense urban environments. It provided valuable insights from various stakeholders, including cities, retailers, food delivery companies, logistics operators, universities, and software providers. These results will inform the Helsinki Living Lab’s service design work, led by Ramboll Finland, to develop business and operational models for different types of microhubs.
The second event, held on May 28, 2024, drew 38 participants and focused on the DISCO project, its objectives, and the established microhub in Ruoholahti, Helsinki. FVH presented the project’s activities and goals and facilitated discussions on DISCOCURB and DISCOPROXI activities. Attendees also visited the Ruoholahti micro hub, where they explored its services and experienced the logistics technologies in action, including Cargo bikes from A2B and DB Schenker and LMAD logistics robots.
This event highlighted the DISCOCURB activities, leading to discussions with potential service providers and establishing connections for future communication and procurement. The site visit to the micro hub garnered significant interest, resulting in multiple planned future visits by logistics companies and universities.
Feedback from both events was overwhelmingly positive, with stakeholders expressing a strong interest in continuing collaborative efforts to develop city logistics. The main conclusion is that there is a clear need to organize more multi-stakeholder events in the autumn of 2024. The Helsinki Living Lab plans to engage city planners and decision-makers further and continue discussions on microhubs and other DISCO-X solutions to reduce logistics-related emissions in Helsinki.
The events revealed a gap in understanding between private and public stakeholders regarding the role and benefits of micropubs. However, the Open Days also effectively facilitated crucial discussions, underscoring the importance of strategic planning for city logistics solutions. Moving forward, the Helsinki Living Lab aims to bring stakeholders together more frequently to jointly address logistics issues. Collaborating with the Mobility Lab Helsinki project, the Helsinki Living Lab will continue this event series in autumn 2024 to foster ongoing dialogue and collaboration.
DISCO has been bustling this spring and summer, actively engaging in numerous forums on mobility and sustainable freight to highlight our pioneering project. Here’s a quick recap of our recent activities!
There is always a good opportunity to talk about DISCO! On 5 June 2024, Paola Astegiano, DISCO Project Manager, was in Bologna at the meeting of a fellow European project: MED COLOURS!
The goal? To develop synergies and share experiences, best practices, visions and strategies for more efficient data-driven urban logistics. Indeed, funded by the Interreg Euro-MED Programme and part of the Interreg Euro-MED Green Living Areas Mission, MED COLOURS is also working to enable the transition to decarbonised and smart cities with more sustainable urban logistics
We look forward to fostering more collaboration with fellow EU projects for a new, collective future of sustainable logistics!
On 30 and 31 May 2024, in Florence, Italy, the fourth Edition of the PDAYS 2024 took place, an event dedicated to the themes of parking and urban space management organised by AIPARK Associazione Italiana Operatori Sosta e Mobilità.
On Friday 31 May, Matteo Banfi from the DISCO Twinning Living Lab Padua presented the city’s successful experiences, being selected among the 100 Mission cities, the project’s only Italian Living Lab and an example of excellence in urban logistics management since the European MOSCO project.
On 24 April 2024, our Project Coordinator Paola Cossu joined LINKS Foundation’s workshop on ‘Sustainable urban logistics: innovative solutions and planning strategies. Organised with UPS and DISCO project lead FIT Consulting srl in honour of #PlanetWeek2024, the event went all-in on sustainable logistics, presenting innovative EU projects like ours and our twin UNCHAIN Project!
The objective of the workshop was indeed to present an overview of the most innovative solutions to meet the current challenges of hashtag urban logistics, fostering dialogue and knowledge sharing. An objective that was successfully achieved thanks also to the presentation of other interesting national and international initiatives, such as #ToMove, which explores autonomous mobility solutions, and UNCHAIN, which focused on improving logistics processes in the urban context by fostering information sharing between actors.
The first webinar of the POLIS – ALICE webinar series 2024 focused on Physical-Internet (PI) innovation, and has been jointly organised by the DISCO and URBANE projects. The webinar has been facilitated by Paola Cossu, with contributions from Bart Lannoo (BE-Mobile) from the DISCO project and Alice Benini (Institute for Transport and Logistics, ITL) from the URBANE project, highlighting the common work of the two projects implementing in real scenarios PI concepts in Bologna and Belgium.
DISCO was featured also at Intertraffic Amsterdam, which took place between 16 -19 April 2024 in the Netherlands. Intertraffic is one of the world’s leading business and stakeholder gathering on smart mobility, infrastructure, traffic management, road safety and parking.
On 16 April 2024, a session on “The Battle for Urban Space: How to Organize the Kerb in Inner Cities?”, organized by European Parking Association and moderated by Theo Thuis, Chair of the EPA Scientific Committee, supported by FIT Consulting and POLIS. The stage was shared with Laurence A. Bannerman, Bart Lannoo and Wouter van de Wiele (BE-Mobile) spoke, Iskandar Tange from Coding the Curbs.
The session discussed the vision on how to set up urban access control, with a focus on logistics and including lessons learned from DISCO.
DISCO also got to attend the Data Spaces Symposium in Darmstadt! Our Coordinator Paola Cossu attended Vertical 2, “Data Spaces for Mobility, Tourism, and Cities: How are data spaces transforming our lives?” presenting DISCO’s work on Mobility of People and Goods applications.
The Data Spaces Symposium is the world’s leading event on data spaces, and this year’s edition was a great success. The 2024 edition in Frankfurt showcased ready-to-market solutions and use cases, demonstrating advanced steps in data spaces applications.