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SKEMA researchers selected by the EU to work on sustainable last mile delivery solutions
SKEMA's PRISM (PRoject Information and Supply Management) research centre, which includes professors specialising in supply chain issues, is one of the academic entities selected by the European Union to participate in the URBANE* project. With this project, the EU intends to promote research into new last-mile delivery solutions combining green and automated vehicles and models for shared use of urban space.
With the huge increase in e-commerce, driven by strong economic growth and the COVID-19 pandemic, the urban "last mile" supply chains are contributing to a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions in cities.
Making city centres greener
In this context, Europe has decided to act by funding the URBANE project to identify and develop new last-mile logistics solutions in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal, the Paris Agreement, and the Green City Accord. "The URBANE project aims to make city centres more environmentally friendly by reducing traffic, CO2 emissions and the occupation of public spaces, as well as noise pollution," explains Professor Xavier Brusset, director of the PRISM research centre.
Purpose of the project
The objectives of URBANE are in line with the European Commission's goal of promoting emission-free, sustainable, safe, and resilient last-mile deliveries. To achieve this, four European cities will serve as full-scale laboratories: Helsinki, Bologna, Valladolid, and Thessaloniki. In these cities, innovative solutions that are efficient, replicable, and socially acceptable will be tested in real life. "The URBANE project will demonstrate, among other things, how information systems can be used to pool the deliveries of last-mile delivery operators and to implement mechanisms for pooling the supply chain, depending on demand and supply," says Xavier Brusset.
39 partners involved
In total, the URBANE project has 39 partners from 12 different countries within the European Union. They include urban planners, last mile logistics operators, sector associations and impact enhancement partners, and of course, European research centres.
* Upscaling Innovative Green Urban Logistics Solutions Through Multi-Actor Collaboration and Physical Internet (PI) - Inspired Last Mile Deliveries
