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CLOSED FOR APPLICATIONS CL5-2022-D6-02-02: Urban logistics and planning: anticipating urban freight generation and demand including digitalisation of urban freight

Section outline

  • Brief information on the Funding Opportunity

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    Program: Horizon Europe | Cluster 5 “Climate, Energy and Mobility”.

    Geographical coverage: Horizon Europe programme regular coverage.

    Available contribution: The total indicative budget for the topic is 15M€, contribution of around EUR 7.00 and 8.00 million per project.

    Type of Action: Innovation Action.

    Deadline: September 6th, 2022

    TRL level: Not included

  • Partners Profiles

  • Partner Search

  • Expected Outcome

    Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

    • Take up and upscaling of innovative, best practice and replicable data driven logistics solutions and planning in the living labs1 involved in the proposals, while facilitating the common lesson drawing and learning at European level, in order to contribute to the priorities of the European Green Deal, which stresses that ‘’transport should become drastically less polluting, especially in cities".2 This action supports city sustainability targets such as climate neutrality, road safety, improved air quality, reduced congestion and better use of public space.

    • Optimal mix distribution of land uses both in city centres and peripheries looking at the preferred rationales for achieving the best combination of residential, commercial, leisure and industrial space to reach the most sustainable mobility patterns according to the available and future transport supply and demand.3
    • Improved local authority capacity in the managing and collection of data, estimation and measurements of the impacts achieved by new measures and if a regulation is needed to ensure this happening.

    • Valorisation of data and information gathered for urban freight to better understand the impact of e-commerce on non-sustainable delivery patterns as “just in time” deliveries are producing longer and more trips with more and emptier Light Duty Vehicles (LDV), potentially leading to more congestion, pollution, Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and road risk in urban areas.

    • Optimise the potential mix of strategically positioned land, owned by public authorities (unused railway tracks and marshalling yards, real estate, parking) or by logistics service providers in urban areas, for developing a comprehensive policy strategy integrating transport, logistics and land use. The scope of this exercise includes the roll-out of new modes (such as drones) and increasing use of sustainable modes (waterways and rail). Better understand the impact of increasing transport and logistics patterns on the climate and environment, resilience and robustness of the transport network and the urban infrastructure. This exercise addresses as well the increasing impact of new modes, such as drones, cargo bicycles and vehicles on alternative fuels.

    • Optimize shared transport facilities for goods through smart solutions.

    • Improved space management and urban planning focusing on the “new normal” after the Covid-19 pandemic considering how cities are optimising their planning and allocation of space.

    • Demonstrate and deploy economically viable and sustainable solutions driven by relevant technologies (e.g. real-time traffic information, space management, floating car data) and demonstrate the convenience of consolidation, consistent with the full planning of loading and unloading spaces, to deliver the services and the goods.

    • New or upgraded sustainable urban logistics plan that includes the main stakeholders (cities, logistics operators, couriers, postal services, real estate and/or retail industries) and addresses to a minimum: development of safe and sustainable logistics and delivery models in cities, low emission zones, data collection and usage, consolidation and space management, clean and alternative vehicles, stakeholders dialogue, e-commerce.

    1 At least 3 living lab cities should be in included as demonstrators of the innovative solutions.
    2 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:b828d165-1c22-11ea-8c1f-01aa75ed71a1.0002.02/DOC_1&format=PDF
    3 These patterns are data supported, by collecting and analysing freight data.

  • Scope

    How urban space is being used and allocated can influence congestion, noise, road risk, air quality, GHG emissions as well as liveability. At the same time there is a gap for purpose-oriented freight data collection in cities to support their decision making towards sustainability targets such as climate neutrality, air quality, road safety reducing congestion and better use of public space

    Proposals should consider dynamic space re-allocation for the integration of urban freight at local level and the impacts of how urban space is being used as well as the optimal mix of space distribution and of land uses. Proposals should analyse the potential of strategically positioned urban (or peri-urban) spaces to develop and implement a pilot demonstration, (but without interfering with parks, trees or other recreational green areas). The aim is to reduce the impact of freight transport and logistics on the urban fabric.

    Projects could consider involving real estate companies, logistics service providers, together with cities, to develop sustainable business models for open and clean hubs/consolidation spaces in cities (for example using/sharing existing private locations such as underground private parking, office buildings and other potential available spaces in cities – while respecting security constraints).

    A more efficient policymaking on urban freight logistics requires cities to enhance their data collection capabilities, while private logistics or e-commerce (like food delivery) companies and services should be encouraged to share data. Potential applications are Urban Vehicle Access Regulations (UVARs), including Low Emission Zones (LEZ), smart parking and dynamic space management and better traffic planning. A vast amount of transport data from different parts of the transport system currently remains unexploited. Understanding barriers and opportunities as well as developing local capacity related to data collection within the urban and peri-urban transport system is a first step to encourage private and public organisations to share transport data. Potential benefits of the data applications need to be checked on how they could support the optimization of sustainable mobility plans (SUMPs) and sustainable logistics plans (SULPs).

    A thorough evaluation should provide qualitative and quantitative information on the results of the local solutions implemented. The effectiveness of the proposed measures in achieving local policy objectives should be evaluated and the possible barriers to their broad take up and deployment identified, together with recommendations on how to overcome them. This should be accompanied by mechanisms for common lesson drawing and learning, within the project, between the projects funded under this topic and through the CIVITAS Initiative.

    Proposals may include preparatory, take up and replication actions, research activities, as well as tools to support local planning and policy making. A demonstrated contribution to the implementation of the cities’ Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans is expected. If not already in place, the city can develop a Sustainable Urban Logistics Plan or other appropriate planning instrument to manage urban freight and logistics. Funding for major infrastructure works is not eligible. Proposals should plan for an active collaboration within the CIVITAS initiative.

    This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities.

    Cross-cutting Priorities: Socio-economic science and humanities



  • Topic conditions and documents

    • Important!!

      Other eligibility conditions: described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes

       If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).

      ALL topic conditions and documents


  • Relevant References and documents