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.