Replication of innovative concepts for peri-urban, rural or inner-city mobility

Project Information

RECIPROCITY

Grant agreement ID: 101006576

DOI

10.3030/101006576

Project closed

EC signature date 12 November 2020

Start date 1 February 2021

End date 30 September 2023

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport

Total cost

€ 1 498 831,25

EU contribution

€ 1 498 831,25

Coordinated by

R-TECH GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - RECIPROCITY (Replication of innovative concepts for peri-urban, rural or inner-city mobility)

Reporting period: 2022-08-01 to 2023-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Mobility is changing. Urbanisation, climate change and digitalisation challenge how people and goods move from point A to point B. To cope with these ever-increasing challenges and meet European and global climate targets, urban and inter-urban areas need to become climate-resilient and connected, multimodal nodes for smart and clean mobility.

Despite the success of early pilot projects there is still a gap in terms of transferring innovative solutions to different contexts, cities and regions. These innovations are implemented based on specific needs and requirements of a city, district or area and transferring them to a different area is difficult. City planners and project developers often struggle to find effective ways to use results of mobility pilot projects to foster the implementation of their respective smart city strategies and community initiatives.

The RECIPROCITY project responded to this reality by equipping 19 cities across Europe, of varying size and mobility demand, with the necessary tools, knowledge, contacts and methods to accelerate the replication of +25 existing innovative mobility solutions.

To this end, RECIPROCITY employed a four-stage replication framework, helping cities and municipalities to: IDENTIFY the right innovative mobility solutions together with all relevant mobility stakeholders and citizens; LEARN about requirements, processes and skills needed to put these innovative mobility solutions into action; ACCELERATE the implementation of these solutions through guidance and matchmaking for business and finance and SHARE and build upon lessons learned and best practices to enable fast replication on a wide scale.

The activities implemented by RECIPROCITY along these four stages fostered reciprocal knowledge exchange, matchmaking, partnerships and capacity-building between different cities. Replication projects have been initiated in the involved cities representing rural, peri-urban and urban areas. The learnings from the project make innovative solutions more accessible for a wider set of cities and municipalities beyond the project’s scope.

Therefore, RECIPROCITY's successful conclusion marks a significant step forward in the transformation of European cities into resilient, connected, and sustainable mobility hubs. The project partners will remain committed to continuing our mission to shape the future of mobility in Europe, one innovative concept at a time.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Highlights of RECIPROCITY's achievements along its four-stage replication framework:

RECIPROCITY project successfully established a thriving community including +60 cities and regional representatives, various mobility providers, academia, and clusters.

[IDENTIFY] In the beginning of the project an initial stakeholder mapping was done identifying +260 relevant stakeholders and citizen groups. A total of 65 interviews were conducted with cities and 55 responses on an online survey were received to gain valuable insights into their mobility-related challenges, opportunities, and needs. To discuss the results in depth 13 local and international workshops were performed with +430 participants. Based on this, 47 use cases for potential replications were identifiedand with two of them a simulation based impact assessment was run by OKAN University.

[LEARN] Throughout the project, stakeholders could get in touch with RECIPROCITY through their participation in on-site events, including the Mobility Assembly and Missions in cities such as Paris, Helsinki, Brussels, Linz, Istanbul, and Regensburg. A total of 41 training sessions were held, covering a wide range of mobility topics, benefiting over 1,100 participants who were able to increase their knowledge in this vital area.

[ACCELERATE] To support in business, legal and finance queries the project generated 10 generic business model patterns through a combination of extensive literature review and practical insights gained from various training sessions and three dedicated on-site business model workshops. Various funding opportunities to support sustainable mobility initiatives have been mapped, and matchmaking services have been established.

[SHARE] For knowledge sharing RECIPROCITY implemented the Knowledge Center on its website including training materials, a funding and legal helpdesk and several other publications. For example, position papers, offering policy recommendations related to Drones, Mobility as a Service (MaaS), and Hydrogen have been published as well as five scientific papers. Furthermore, over project duration the number of identified use cases could be increased to over 70 cases in Europe that have been thoroughly documented, offering crucial insights for the development of a comprehensive replication manual. This manual serves as a guide to support stakeholders in effectively implementing solutions within the RECIPROCITY framework and has special worth for cities that have not yet been exposed to European support schemes. To further spread the results and foster collaboration RECIPROCITY maintained close cooperation with more than 15 EU projects and initiatives.

The culmination of these efforts is the ARRIVAL platform (www.arrival-platform.eu) the European Portal for Innovative Transports and Clean Mobility Solutions. This platform serves as both a knowledge hub, housing outcomes not only from RECIPROCITY but also from other projects, and a dynamic matchmaking tool to connect the right partners for research and development or the implementation of existing solutions.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

RECIPROCITY has several key messages, which emphasise the overarching objectives of the project:
• Better, smarter and cleaner mobility for all
RECIPROCITY payed special attention to all population groups to ensure that the developed mobility concepts are accessible by everyone, therefore improving social cohesion, inclusion and gender equality. The project focused on innovative mobility solutions which are at the same time sustainable, safe, efficient and accessible.

• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions and improved air quality
Road transport is still the second most significant source of CO2 emissions in the EU. By deployment of existing sustainable mobility solutions in various European cities, RECIPROCITY contributes to the reduction of harmful transport-related CO2 emissions and air pollutants.

• Prosperity for all regions
RECIPROCITY focuses both on more and less developed European regions. The less developed regions had a unique chance to connect with lighthouse cities and learn from them. By making mobility more sustainable in the involved cities, the project improved the competitiveness, attractivity and innovation capacity in the involved areas bringing more investments and improving the overall image of the cities.

• Improved local governance and transnational collaboration
RECIPROCITY makes cities act in a faster and more targeted manner. It facilitates multi-level governance by connecting institutional and private actors together and by equipping cities with necessary knowledge, skills and tools. Improved community involvement was ensured as well as transnational collaboration by involving cities from different European regions.

• Wide-scale replication despite different backgrounds.
RECIPROCITY developed a holistic human-centric approach which can be applied to different cities and contexts.

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