Building a lasting expert network that delivers evidence-based recommendations for Vital Urban Nodes along TEN-T Corridors

Project Information

VitalNodes

Grant agreement ID: 769458

DOI

10.3030/769458

Project closed

EC signature date 23 October 2017

Start date 1 November 2017

End date 31 October 2019

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport

Total cost

€ 1 998 715,00

EU contribution

€ 1 998 715,00

Coordinated by

MINISTERIE VAN INFRASTRUCTUUR EN WATERSTAAT
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - VitalNodes (Building a lasting expert network that delivers evidence-based recommendations for Vital Urban Nodes along TEN-T Corridors)

Reporting period: 2018-11-01 to 2019-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The overall objective of the H2020 project Vital Nodes can be broken down into two main objectives. The first was to build a European network of key stakeholders based on existing European, national and regional networks. Starting point for this was to enrich and apply a proven approach for the optimization of economic, social and environmental vitality of urban areas from the perspective of multi-modal transport infrastructure and spatial development (‘Networking for Urban Vitality’, NUVit). The second main objective was to deliver evidence-based recommendations for more (cost) efficient and sustainable integration of all 88 urban nodes in the TEN-T network corridors, addressing specifically the multi- and inter-modal connection between long-distance and last-mile freight logistics.

Challenges
Challenges in integrating freight logistics of urban nodes into network corridors have a multidimensional character: not only network issues of the (freight logistic) transport and mobility system have to be considered, also spatial issues related to urban vitality (socio-economic development, spatial and environmental quality and livability) have to be addressed, as well as issues of short-term and long-term development, value creation and capturing issues, multi-level governance and institutional issues, and issues related to implementation. This calls for an integrated approach (see Figure 1).

Conclusions
Vital Nodes presented five alternatives for a possible structure of a lasting Vital Nodes network, varying from little (ad-hoc) coordination between the members to a full controlled independent network with a management board, secretariat, etc. There is no doubt that there is a need for collaboration on all levels to integrate spatial planning and infrastructure planning in Functional Urban Areas (FUAs). Through the Vital Nodes workshops, it became apparent that the urban nodes ask for such cooperation.

From Vital Nodes and this report, it can be concluded that there is ‘no silver bullet’ for the integration of urban nodes along the TEN-T corridors. This integration issue is complex and multiplicity, and requires a cross boundary-spanning approach. The objective to integrate urban nodes in the TEN-T network, is influenced by different policy domains, i.e. urban mobility and TEN-T policy. It can be concluded that for further deploying and extending the Vital Nodes knowledge and network, there is need for extending the overlapping area between urban mobility and TEN-T, thereby considering the wider policy setting in and enhancing further integration.

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

The Vital Nodes Legacy document
The Vital Nodes Legacy document was finalised at the end of the project, including the strategic plan, description of the Vital Nodes network and the agenda and road map for the years following the Vital Nodes project. The development of this Vital Nodes legacy has been a result of discussions with the EC (DG-MOVE), JASPERS as well as the project’s Advisory Board and the consortium’s internal experts.

Expert pool
The Vital Nodes expert pool continued to grow during the course of the project. It comprises thematic experts and practitioners from different areas (e.g. universities, national transport authorities, policy makers, harbours) working on different levels (local, regional, national and European). The secretariat developed the pool through actively reaching out during VN events. These experts supported validating the Vital Nodes recommendations and their contributions in workshops and in an online survey gave the project additional perspectives on the project results. By the end of the project the pool comprised some 80 experts.

The Vital Nodes Toolbox
Experiences gained in the Vital Nodes project confirm the role of the 6 dimensions and their interconnection (spatial, network, value, time, institutional and implementation dimension) from the existing NUVit toolbox (www.nuvit.eu). After application in Vital Nodes a new configuration of these dimensions better reflects the ‘ideal’ process guideline for integrating urban nodes and TEN-T network and two new elements in comparison to the usual way of exploring transport solutions have been added:
1. The linkage between the broader spatial development of an urban node and transport and
infrastructure (mobility and freight) solutions (space and network);
2. The linkages between the local scale, the (regional) functional urban area scale (FUA) and the European TEN-T / corridor scale.
The Vital Nodes Toolbox is available through the Vital Nodes website.

Outreach to the urban nodes
Altogether, 42 out of the 88 urban nodes have been successfully involved in 20 Vital Nodes workshops, both bilateral as well as group workshops ‘by-invitation-only’. Based on these workshops, it became apparent that the diversity of the urban nodes was even greater than expected. For these urban nodes, Vital Nodes has drafted eight general recommendations on how to integrate urban nodes into the TEN-T network.

Validated recommendations
The project has produced validated recommendations that can be linked to five different clusters: Strategy and value, network and space, governance and time, finance and funding, research and data. In total 25 concrete validations have been made including target groups who can act at the recommendation. These validated recommendations are being disseminated through a validated recommendations brochure.

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)

The impact of the Vital Nodes project is a better and more effective integration of urban nodes into TEN-T corridors which address issues around integration of efficient and sustainable (e.g. using alternative fuel vehicles) solutions for 'last mile' delivery; greater use of intermodal urban freight logistics, and approaches for linking long-distance with last-mile freight delivery in urban areas.

The Vital Nodes project was initiated from the NUVit network which was established in 2012 by a CEDR group of national multimodal infrastructure agencies with the objective to enhance the inclusion of social-economic criteria in the planning of infrastructure. It focused on a selection of TEN-T nodes, set in an urban context. This network has delivered a clear innovation roadmap as well as a first case inventory, in which several cases have been successfully deconstructed using the NUVit toolbox. This preliminary toolbox comprises of pragmatic approaches, mechanisms, tools (such as planning tools, social cost-benefit analysis (SCBA) and Life-cycle Costs (LCC), value capturing), skills and competences for practitioners. Vital Nodes has enhanced this toolbox further by wider application, addressing key infrastructure investments of the 88 listed urban nodes. Approximately half of these nodes have been participating actively in a series of workshops, allowing them to introduce their own socio-economic tools and practices. Building from a core of in-depth assessment and recommendations for 9 nodes (out of 88) specifically applying the toolbox to their socio-economic conditions, the experiences and results have been disseminated and transferred across all 88 nodes on the TEN-T network.

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