GREEN-LOG

The Horizon Europe project, GREEN-LOG, explored innovative approaches to achieving economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable urban logistics. Its focus was on improving collaboration among all stakeholders within the urban logistics ecosystem. In Flanders, the cities of Ghent, Leuven, and Mechelen joined forces to establish a large-scale “Flanders Living Lab,” where a Logistics-as-a-Service (LaaS) platform was tested to connect the various actors involved in urban logistics.

The Horizon Europe project GREEN-LOG aimed to make urban logistics ecosystems more sustainable, considering economic, environmental, and social impacts. To achieve this, innovative solutions were tested in real-life settings, including cargo bikes, parcel deliveries integrated with public transport, and autonomous vehicles.

GREEN-LOG was implemented in five cities and regions: Athens, Barcelona, Flanders, Oxfordshire, and Ispra. The project also examined how these solutions could be transferred to other urban contexts. For this purpose, GREEN-LOG collaborated with three additional cities: Arad (Romania), Helsingborg (Sweden), and Valga (Estonia).

A central pillar of the project was the active involvement of all relevant stakeholders, including consumers, city authorities, and transport operators. In each city, these actors were brought together through pilot projects to exchange knowledge and strengthen collaboration between the public and private sectors. In this way, GREEN-LOG promoted co-creation to develop shared solutions for sustainable urban logistics.

The Flanders Living Lab

Within the Flemish pilot project, an innovative LaaS platform was tested in Ghent, Mechelen, and Leuven. Each city started from its own specific urban context. Nevertheless, all three cities shared a common ambition: the introduction of low-emission and zero-emission zones for urban freight transport.

To support this ambition, the cities encouraged online shoppers and local retailers to choose more sustainable delivery options, such as bicycle courier services.

The LaaS platform played a central role in this effort. It matched logistics demand and supply: online shoppers and local retailers could register their transport needs on the platform, while bicycle couriers offered various delivery options at dynamic prices based on the desired service level and degree of consolidation. Using nudging techniques, the LaaS platform guided users towards the most sustainable and efficient choice. In doing so, the cities sought not only to promote sustainable delivery behaviour but also to achieve their policy objectives regarding emission reduction and sustainable urban logistics.

The Challenge

Three key challenges were defined for the Flemish pilot project:

• Implementing a uniform LaaS platform across multiple cities while allowing sufficient flexibility for local policies and business rules and ensuring transferability to other cities.
• Developing and offering sustainable, data-driven alternative delivery options to the stakeholders involved.
• Investigating how the use of these sustainable alternatives can be encouraged, through a toolkit for designing incentives and policy measures.

The Objective

The project aimed to develop and implement a LaaS platform that uses urban logistics data to efficiently match logistics demand and supply.

In addition, a transferable implementation guide was developed for cities wishing to establish their own operational LaaS platform. This guide supports cities in creating a platform that connects logistics demand and supply while enabling different levels of policy control and governance.

Results

The three Flemish pilot cities each tested the LaaS platform to address a different logistics challenge. In Mechelen, the focus was on improving the consolidation of e-commerce deliveries. In Ghent, the project explored how local retailers could organise deliveries more efficiently through collaboration and the use of cargo bikes. In Leuven, the platform was used to facilitate the sustainable redistribution of food surpluses in cooperation with local retailers and social organisations.

The results demonstrate the impact of this approach in each city.

Mechelen

In Mechelen, the LaaS platform proved to contribute to more efficient and sustainable urban logistics. By consolidating deliveries through an urban hub:

• The number of transport movements decreased by 55%.
• Average delivery costs were reduced by 29%.
• 86% of participants were satisfied with the service.
• 60% indicated that they would continue using the system in the future.

Ghent

Ghent demonstrated that collaboration and consolidation lead to more efficient freight flows.

• 271 collections were carried out for 18 retailers.
• Delivery consolidation increased efficiency by up to 52%.
• Up to 85.7% of trips were combined with existing transport movements.
• 87% of participants were satisfied with reliability.
• 86% were satisfied with delivery times.
• 61% intended to continue using the system.

Leuven

In Leuven, both logistical and social value were demonstrated.

• The system processed 66 food surplus collections.
• 1.42 tonnes of food were rescued in collaboration with 10 retailers and 11 social organisations.
• 21 diesel-powered trips were replaced.
• 26% of journeys were consolidated with existing logistics routes.
• 80% of participants wished to continue participating.
• 90% reported increased awareness of sustainable logistics and food waste reduction.