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UNCHAIN Workshop unites cities to drive scalable urban logistics solutions 

On 9 July, the UNCHAIN project held a collaborative workshop titled “City matching: bridging peer cities and followers for scalable impact”. Organised by EIT Urban Mobility, the workshop brought together peer cities, follower cities and members of the Stakeholder Engagement Group to foster dialogue and knowledge exchange on the transferability of innovative urban logistics solutions. 

Workshop Objectives 

The key aims of the workshop were to: 

  • Facilitate dialogue between peer and follower cities to identify the KER of interest. 
  • Share knowledge and align experiences between follower and peer cities regarding urban logistics challenges and how UNCHAIN solutions could contribute to improve them. 
  • Identify matches between peer cities and KERs will guide engagement during both the demonstration and lessons-learned phases and during the study visit planned next year. 

The workshop outcomes include a transferability roadmap and guidelines for peer cities, and  information for the city baseline cards for follower cities.  

Cities presentations

The workshop began with presentations from participating cities, each highlighting their local challenges and activities within the UNCHAIN project: 

  • Mechelen, Belgium,  presented their city, what they are doing on UNCHAIN and the KERs that are implemented. They also talked about their stakeholder engagement strategy and how they raised awareness with the construction sector. 
  • The city of Riga, in Latvia, outlined its development vision for 2050 and explained the KERs it has prioritised for addressing its logistics challenges. 
  • Prague, Czech Republic, shared insights from 2019  urban logistics study that highlighted areas for improvement such as such as last-mile logistics, smart parking, and preserving urban depots. The city is focusing on KER8 and KER9, which involve dynamic management tools to monitor and regulate pick-up and drop-off zones in real time. 
  • Funchal, Portugal detailed its Sustainable Urban Logistics Plan (SULP), which includes actions to enhance freight operations, implement innovative actions to monitor loading bays and foster synergies between the municipality and stakeholders. The city is targeting issues like excessive freight vehicle presence, illegal parking, and outdated fleets. It plans to test KERs involving technological tools for better goods handling and data collection. 

Interactive Dialogue and Peer Exchange 

Following the city presentations, an engaging Q&A session allowed for deeper discussion on stakeholder involvement and root causes of urban logistics challenges. The workshop concluded with an interactive activity designed to gather further input and foster connections between peer and follower cities.