It was held online, on 02nd February 2022, the first Inter-Connect PLUS consortium meeting. The project is a follow up of the 2018-2020 Inter-Connect project and it is meant to mainstream the key results of the project, provide an update of the key policy and technical tools developed during the project and implement additional analysis to assess the impact of the COVID-19 emergency on the Adrion passengers transport solutions.
The Municipality of Igoumenitsa, as project coordinator, welcomed all the participants and made some preliminary consideration on the peculiar moment for the transport due to COVID -19 emergency and the importance to launch new challenges in terms of public transport promotion. In fact COVID-19 changed our way of life and consequentially the way we travel. These new perspectives require to change the approach to the public transport promotion at local and cross border levels.
Centre for Research and Technology-Hellas / Hellenic Institute of Transport (CERTH/HIT), technical coordinator of the project, presented the Inter-Connect PLUS project, financed in the framework of the 4th ADRION restricted call. The 6 months project duration is an important opportunity for a preliminary examination and a step closer to 2021 – 2027 project ideas. The Inter-Connect PLUS project is composed of three different technical actions: the first one is dedicated to an upgrading of the key Inter-connect tools (in particular Roadmap and Toolkit), the second aims to enhance the recommendations of Inter-Connect project on where and how to invest for supporting sustainable connectivity of ADRION cases – focusing on the smart integration of different public transport solutions and the third part is dedicated to revise the Slovenian and Croatian Inter-Connect case studies adding the new norms brought by COVID-19.
After this presentation Ms Karpodini Evangelia, financial officer of Adrion JS, presented the key administrative aspects to be followed in the project implementation.
The technical session of the meeting was opened by CERTH/HIT presenting the activities that will be developed in order to refresh Inter-Connect Roadmap, update the “Intermodal Transport Capacity Building Toolkit” and develop new training/topic guide materials.
The Institute for Transport and Logistics (ITL) presented the technical activities focusing on understanding the existing best practices in terms of soft measures (not infrastructures oriented) for a seamless connection of coastal areas to the city centres at regional and national levels and to TEN-T network main nodes. The key goal is to update the Inter-Connect study “Cases key generalized messages” concerning the elaboration of policy recommendations for the promotion of intermodality for passengers’ mobility in the ADRION area taking into consideration COVID-19 impacts on intermodality.
In relation to the Inter-Connect PLUS technical activity focussing on specific pilot actions, the Regional Development Agency of Ljubljana Urban Region (RDA LUR) presented the plan for an update of the Inter-Connect Ljubljana pilot focussing on the development of inter-modality solutions between the Slovenian coastal area, the Ljubljana Urban Region and the Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport’ addressing COVID-19 pandemic impact. The HŽ Passenger Transport Limited Liability Company (HZPP) presented its pilot related to the revision of the Inter-Connect Croatian feasibility study, defining a methodology for determining passenger flows between railway node of Zagreb and the Adriatic coastal area, taking into account COVID-19 pandemic impact.
The last part of the meeting was coordinated by the CEI-Executive Secretariat (CEI-ES) with focus on the communication activities. The planned communication activities, including dedicated promotional campaigns in the traditional communication channels (Inter-Connect website and updated social media) and several high level events focussing on specific intermodality promotion concrete actions, have a special importance for the project.. These events will focus on behavioural change (HZPP), stakeholders’ cooperation principle for reaching passengers’ sustainable mobility goals (Municipality of Igoumenitsa), passengers’ intermodal transport solutions (ITL) and specific mobility related needs of the IPA countries (MIE). These thematic events will be completed with an online authority training session for travellers’ engagement in sustainable mobility planning (CERTH/HIT), participation to ADRION Programme and other relevant events as well as liaison with the ADRION thematic clusters (the previous one on passengers’ mobility and the 2nd call thematic sub-cluster No3 in tourism).
Stay tuned to Inter-Connect PLUS project social media. Technical events, training sessions and many others contents are coming!
DISCLAIMER
This press release has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. Its content is the sole responsibility of Inter-Connect PLUS partnership and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union and/or ADRION Programme Authorities.
