The latest insight from EIT Urban Mobility explores the future of microhubs in last-mile logistics. Showcasing practical examples from across Europe, it highlights best practices from three Horizon Europe projects that form the Sustainable Last-Mile Logistics Cluster – URBANE, DECARBOMILE and GREEN-LOG.

The insight features the practical example from the GREEN-LOG project’s Athens Living Lab, which is introducing micro-consolidation centres (MCCs) and mobile depots at predefined stops around the city centre, optimising last-mile deliveries through a collaborative logistics network.

Read the insight here: https://bit.ly/3XZtjqe

Two prominent Flemish regional media outlets, VRT News and Het Laatste Nieuws, have published articles showcasing the work carried out by GREEN-LOG in Mechelen and its results.

VRT News, Flanders’ public broadcasting agency, published the article “Mechelen experimenteert met alternatieve pakjesleveringen: ‘20 procent minder bestelwagens’” (“Mechelen experiments with alternative parcel deliveries: ‘20 percent fewer vans’”) [link].

Het Laatste Nieuws, a digital newspaper reaching over 2 million daily readers, featured the story in their article “Test met cityhub en cargofiets voor pakjesbelevering reduceert verkeer: “Liefst 21% minder bestelwagens in de wijk”” (“Test with city hub and cargo bike for parcel delivery reduces traffic: “No less than 21% fewer vans in the district””) [link].

Mechelen is one of three cities — alongside Leuven and Ghent — participating in the Flanders Living Lab. With plans to introduce low- and zero-emission zones for urban freight, the city is eager to explore ways to make logistics more sustainable and efficient. As part of the project’s first demonstration phase, 60 residents from Mechelen’s Tervuren district participated in a 3-month pilot. Their online purchases were delivered to a central CityHub, where they could choose from various delivery options via the Logistics-as-a-Service (LaaS) platform. The goal was to maximize delivery bundling, reducing vehicle movements and kilometers traveled.

The articles highlighted the pilot’s success, noting a 21% reduction in van traffic thanks to bundled neighborhood deliveries and shared time slots. This, combined with centralised package collection and eco-friendly transport by cargo bikes, leads to lower emissions and reduced nuisance for residents. The overwhelmingly positive response from participants suggests the approach’s scalability, with Mechelen now exploring future collaborations with local and national logistics players.

 

GREEN-LOG proudly participated in the 8th edition of the European Conference on Results from Road Transport Research (RTR Conference 2025), held in Brussels from 11–13 February 2025.

As part of the parallel session “Digital Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Urban Logistics,” Amalia Ntemou from the project coordination team at Netcompany-Intrasoft presented GREEN-LOG’s cutting-edge solutions and technologies designed to transform last-mile delivery. She shared insights into the expected impact on urban logistics, highlighting the project’s commitment to sustainable, resilient delivery ecosystems.

The consortium has successfully delivered the first version of GREEN-LOG’s innovative platforms, services, and tools, which are now in the final testing phase within the Living Labs — a key project’s milestone paving the way for more efficient urban logistics.

During the panel discussion, moderated by Yannick Bousse and Dr. Yanying Li, GREEN-LOG engaged with other EU-funded projects, including DECARBOMILE, URBANE, DISCO, UNCHAIN, and SENATOR, to explore pressing challenges in urban logistics and the innovations shaping its future.

More information about RTR Conference 2025 is available at https://rtrconference.eu/.

GREEN-LOG has joined forces with the two EU co-funded projects from the Sustainable Last-Mile Logistics Cluster, URBANE and DECARBOMILE, in a dialogue seminar organised by our partner Halmstad University on 21 January 2025.

 

📌 This REBEL Lunch & Learn seminar explored how to assess social impact—such as changes in quality of life, awareness, and acceptance—related to implementing green logistics solutions in Living Labs. It highlighted the use of qualitative methods and fosters an engaging discussion.

Moderated by Prof. Vaike Fors from the Halmstad University, the seminar brought in a panel the invited speakers from the three projects:

 

Gregor Cerinsek, Halmstad University (GREEN-LOG)

Isabella Hauswald, Copenhagen Business School (DECARBOMILE)

Isabel Froes, Copenhagen Business School (DECARBOMILE)

Marisa Meta, FIT Consulting (URBANE)

 

The insightful panel discussion followed by an open discussion with the audience.

 

This Lunch & Learn seminar is an open seminar hosted by the REBEL research program at the Halmstad University.

On Thursday, 12 December, we held our first (introductory) online session with the project’s External Advisory Board (EAB) members, marking the beginning of what promises to be a fruitful collaboration.

The EAB is a panel of visionary scientific and industrial experts who will provide independent evaluation of key GREEN-LOG research activities, dissemination strategies, and exploitation plans, ensuring the alignment of GREEN-LOG’s objectives with the latest industry trends and best practices.

During the session, GREEN-LOG partners shared an overview of the project’s objectives and recent progress, including:

✅ Project processes towards Living Labs formulation
✅ The first version of the technical services and tools developed
✅ Insights into ongoing work across the project’s five Living Labs

The collaboration with the EAB is set to play a pivotal role in steering the project towards the successful achievement of its goals and ensuring a seamless market introduction once the project concludes.

The GREEN-LOG consortium extends a warm welcome to the EAB members and looks forward to the invaluable insights and contributions they will bring to the project.

 

Prof. Joris Beckers from the University of Antwerp presented GREEN-LOG at the inaugural European edition of the Urbanism Next Conference, held in Amsterdam from October 9-11, 2024.

GREEN-LOG introduced its cutting-edge decarbonising solutions for urban logistics during “The Last Mile Challenge: Innovating Urban Freight Deliveries” session. This 90-minute panel discussion brought together representatives from several EU-funded projects—DISCO, GREEN-LOG, UNCHAIN, and URBANE—sharing their experiences and lessons learned in co-creating sustainable solutions with businesses and cities to achieve zero-emission freight transport.

Urbanism Next Europe 2024, organised with Urbanism Next at the University of Oregon, TU Delft, TNO, and AMS, is the first live European edition of this U.S.-based conference series, designed to foster collaboration between practitioners and academics across disciplines for real-world impact.

More information about the conference can be found here.

The CIVITAS Forum 2024, held in Parma, Italy, from 1–3 October, once again served as the flagship event of the CIVITAS Initiative. Since its launch in 2003, this dynamic conference has been a vital platform for cities, people, and projects driving innovation in smart, inclusive, and sustainable mobility.

This year, the Forum brought together city representatives, policymakers, planners, academics, and mobility enthusiasts from across Europe. Participants explored cutting-edge solutions, exchanged ideas, and strengthened connections with urban mobility changemakers.

GREEN-LOG was proud to showcase its innovative urban logistics solutions at the “Urban Logistics” Thematic Corner of the exhibition, alongside other EU projects in the field such as URBANE, DECARBOMILE, DISCO, SENATOR and CodeZero. Project partners Netcompany-Intrasoft, FACTUAL, and MobyX presented our latest findings and received valuable feedback from participants.

The event marked a major milestone for GREEN-LOG as we prepare to launch demonstrations in five Living Labs located in Athens, Barcelona, Oxfordshire, Flanders, and Ispra. Engaging discussions with city representatives highlighted the importance of co-creative approaches to tackling last-mile logistics challenges.

Sharing the exhibition space with peer projects provided a unique opportunity to exchange knowledge and collaborate towards greener, more sustainable urban logistics systems.

A heartfelt thanks to the CIVITAS Forum 2024 organisers and the city of Parma for hosting this inspiring event. GREEN-LOG remains committed to advancing sustainable urban mobility solutions for a better future.

Learn more about the CIVITAS Forum 2024 here.

 

“Driving systemic change through Soci(et)al Engagement for real impact” was the focal topic of the Open Living Lab Days 2024 Conference, which is a flagship annual event organized by the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL). The event took place on 25-27 September 2024 in Timisoara, Romania.

The GREEN-LOG project was represented at the conference by two research-in-progress papers presented by partners from Halmstad University.

The first paper, delivered by Melania Mihalcea, focused on using co-creative filmmaking as a method for integrating user perspectives in living lab environments. This approach, rooted in the experiences of establishing urban living labs within the GREEN-LOG project, particularly highlights the Oxfordshire case study.

The second paper, presented by Gregor Cerinšek, explored a design ethnographic approach to staging and evaluating co-creation processes in GREEN-LOG Urban Living Labs. This approach involves evaluators actively participating in co-creation from the outset, fostering iterative feedback loops that enhance both the living lab processes and future interventions. The conference proceedings, including both GREEN-LOG open-access articles, are available on the official conference website.

10 September 2024 – REBEL Living Lab Day

Halmstad University hosted the launch of the new Swedish Living Lab Competence Network in collaboration with the City of Helsingborg and the local government of Halland County (Region Halland). The network includes higher education institutions, governmental authorities, civil society organisations, and industry partners. The event focused on exploring Living Labs as future concepts for learning, co-design, and experimentation activities. The GREEN-LOG project was one of three EU-funded projects showcased during the launch event.

 

Read more about the event here.

 

11 September 2024 – Halmstad University Innovation Conference

The GREEN-LOG project was presented at the Halmstad University Innovation Conference by Dr. Gregor Cerinšek. This annual event, held every September, showcases projects where Halmstad University is represented. This year’s theme was “Ripples on Water,” emphasising collaboration, with ample opportunities for networking.

 

Read more about the event here.

 

The Horizon Europe GREEN-LOG project consortium is excited to announce the successful completion of its first 18-month phase, achieving a key milestone in the project’s life course. The consortium has released the first version of its technical tools & services and finalised the demonstration plan for five urban Living Labs, which are in charge of designing, testing and validating these solutions.

GREEN-LOG aims to transform last-mile delivery by implementing economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable logistics practices. The project brings together 30 partners using cutting-edge technology to develop and deploy real-world solutions across diverse urban logistics environments. The five Living Labs – Athens (Greece), Barcelona (Spain), Flanders (Belgium), Oxfordshire (UK), and Ispra (Italy) – will serve as the primary test sites for these innovations.

 

Blueprints for Sustainable Last-Mile Solutions

By analysing the urban contexts and mobility patterns in these cities and areas, GREEN-LOG identified key factors impacting urban freight and service demands, such as city layout, population density, infrastructure, regulatory frameworks, and technological readiness. The project’s co-creative and collaborative approach, involving local governments, research institutions, and logistics professionals, led to the creation of practical and scalable logistics solutions tailored to each city’s needs.

These efforts culminated in the development of comprehensive blueprints specifying and providing innovations that will be integrated and deployed in each demonstration case providing environmental sustainability and improving urban living standards.

 

Innovative Delivery Methods and Deployment

During project’s first 18 months, GREEN-LOG released an alpha version of tools designed to optimise last-mile deliveries. The key developments (alpha version) include:

• GREEN-LOG data space for managing project and Living Labs data;
• AI algorithms to predict logistics demand for various scenarios;
• Optimisation models for scheduling daily deliveries via Micro-Consolidation Centres (MCCs);
• Simulation platforms for evaluating long-term planning and what-if scenarios.

These innovations are expected to reduce congestion, exhaust emissions, and response times, significantly enhancing the sustainability of last-mile delivery.

 

Real-Time and Connected Services

Last-mile logistics face ongoing challenges due to real-time disruptions. In this vein, GREEN-LOG has developed services and a user-friendly interface that balance the needs of logistics providers, clients, and local authorities. These services are designed to bridge the gap between demand and supply by incorporating a dynamic pricing framework and nudging mechanisms. These mechanisms reward clients with credits while providing logistics providers with advanced toolsets aimed at optimising their operational efficiency. The key innovations introduced include:

• GREEN-LOG Logistic-as-a-Service (LaaS) Marketplace;
• A flexible and modular collection of Software Development Kits (SDKs) integrated into Bring your own Device (BYOD) for on-line real-time tracking;
• Nowcasting and forecasting services for near-now and short-term transport demand and traffic pattern predictions;
• A toolset for reactive routing of transport requests to reduce travel time.

The first version of the services was successfully delivered in June 2024.

 

Living Labs Demonstration Planning

Each Living Lab is developing customised solutions tailored to its urban ecosystem, guided by a shared set of high-quality pilot implementation standards. A roadmap for the first trials, set to begin in Q4 2024 in a controlled environment, is already in place, involving consortium partners and external stakeholders. After these trials, an evaluation will refine the solutions for the final round of real-life testing.

Additionally, the project will involve three follower cities experiencing rapid economic and social change – Arad, Helsingborg, and Valga – that will test the transferability of GREEN-LOG’s innovations.

The outcomes of these trials will be assessed for their economic, environmental, and social impacts, setting the stage for broader adoption.

The relevant project deliverables will be available on our website upon their approval by the European Commission.

Go to the respective Press Release.