The URBANE Innovation Transferability Platform: Learnings for Decarbonising Last-Mile Delivery Networks

Rod Franklin; Ioanna Fergadiotou; Maria Kampa; Harris Niavis; Thanos Karydis; Patrycja Antosz; Önder Gürcan; Xavier Brusset; Ade Fajemisin; Aristea Zafeiropoulou; George Misiakoulis; Georgia Ayfantopoulou; Zisis Maleas; Dimos Touloumidis; Merve Seher Cebeci; Timo Szczepanska; Michiel de Bok; Rodrigo Tapia; Lóri Tavasszy

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-82818-8_29

The URBANE Innovation Transferability Platform: Learnings for Decarbonising Last-Mile Delivery Networks

Rod Franklin^*, Ioanna Fergadiotou, Maria Kampa, Harris Niavis, Thanos Karydis, Patrycja Antosz, Önder Gürcan, Xavier Brusset, Ade Fajemisin, Aristea Zafeiropoulou, George Misiakoulis, Georgia Ayfantopoulou, Zisis Maleas, Dimos Touloumidis, Merve Seher Cebeci, Timo Szczepanska, Michiel de Bok, Rodrigo Tapia, Lóri Tavasszy

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volume › Chapter › Scientific › peer-review

Abstract

Logistics plays a crucial role in modern society, particularly in densely populated urban areas, facilitating the transportation of goods. Last-mile e-commerce deliveries are emissions-intensive, contributing significantly to CO2 levels and traffic congestion. Addressing this challenge requires systemic changes in last-mile delivery ecosystems. Based on this observation, in alignment with the EU decarbonisation goals, the URBANE project (GA101069782) aims to promote the adoption of sustainable and environmentally friendly last-mile delivery solutions by introducing a collaborative layered “Platform as a Service” (PaaS) paradigm. The initiative focuses on establishing Physical Internet (PI) inspired interventions combined with the implementation of innovative tools, such as agent-based and AI models, employing a Digital Twin platform addressing the operational and strategic planning challenges of city logistics networks. A multi-factorial impact assessment radar further enhances the evaluation of the PI interventions’ effectiveness. The platform fosters collaboration among urban logistics stakeholders governed through “green” smart contracts, addressing security and privacy concerns by using a blockchain infrastructure and digital IDs, creating a trustworthy system for collaboration. The paper showcases the applicability of the URBANE Innovation Transferability Platform in designing, measuring, testing, and validating targeted logistics interventions in Lighthouse Living Labs. Cities and logistic operators receive suggestions for informed data-driven decision-making coupled with integrated and transferable applications that can be standardised and structured, aligned with the targets set in a citie’s Sustainable Urban Logistics Plan (SULP).

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Climate Crisis and Resilient Transportation Systems
Subtitle of host publication	Proceedings of the 7th Conference on Sustainable Mobility, CSuM2024, September 4–6, 2024, Plastira’s Lake, Greece – Volume I: Advances in Resilience of Transportation Systems and Energy Solutions
Editors	Eftihia G. Nathanail, Nikolaos Gavanas, Evangelos Adamos
Publisher	Springer Nature
Pages	389-400
Number of pages	12
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-031-82818-8
ISBN (Print)	978-3-031-82817-1, 978-3-031-82820-1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82818-8_29
Publication status	Published - 2025
Event	7th Conference on Sustainable Mobility 2024: Climate Crisis and Transportation Resilient Systems - Kazarma Hotel & Spa, Karditsa, Greece Duration: 4 Sept 2024 → 6 Sept 2024 https://csum.civ.uth.gr/

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Intelligent Transportation and Infrastructure
Volume	Part F154
ISSN (Print)	2523-3440
ISSN (Electronic)	2523-3459

Conference

Conference	7th Conference on Sustainable Mobility 2024
Abbreviated title	CSuM2024
Country/Territory	Greece
City	Karditsa
Period	4/09/24 → 6/09/24
Internet address	https://csum.civ.uth.gr/

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care
Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Keywords

collaboration
decarbonisation
Last mile logistics
Physical Internet

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-031-82818-8_29

Cite this

Franklin, R., Fergadiotou, I., Kampa, M., Niavis, H., Karydis, T., Antosz, P., Gürcan, Ö., Brusset, X., Fajemisin, A., Zafeiropoulou, A., Misiakoulis, G., Ayfantopoulou, G., Maleas, Z., Touloumidis, D., Cebeci, M. S., Szczepanska, T., de Bok, M., Tapia, R., & Tavasszy, L. (2025). The URBANE Innovation Transferability Platform: Learnings for Decarbonising Last-Mile Delivery Networks. In E. G. Nathanail, N. Gavanas, & E. Adamos (Eds.), Climate Crisis and Resilient Transportation Systems: Proceedings of the 7th Conference on Sustainable Mobility, CSuM2024, September 4–6, 2024, Plastira’s Lake, Greece – Volume I: Advances in Resilience of Transportation Systems and Energy Solutions (pp. 389-400). (Lecture Notes in Intelligent Transportation and Infrastructure; Vol. Part F154). Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82818-8_29

Franklin, Rod ; Fergadiotou, Ioanna ; Kampa, Maria et al. / The URBANE Innovation Transferability Platform : Learnings for Decarbonising Last-Mile Delivery Networks. Climate Crisis and Resilient Transportation Systems: Proceedings of the 7th Conference on Sustainable Mobility, CSuM2024, September 4–6, 2024, Plastira’s Lake, Greece – Volume I: Advances in Resilience of Transportation Systems and Energy Solutions. editor / Eftihia G. Nathanail ; Nikolaos Gavanas ; Evangelos Adamos. Springer Nature, 2025. pp. 389-400 (Lecture Notes in Intelligent Transportation and Infrastructure).

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abstract = "Logistics plays a crucial role in modern society, particularly in densely populated urban areas, facilitating the transportation of goods. Last-mile e-commerce deliveries are emissions-intensive, contributing significantly to CO2 levels and traffic congestion. Addressing this challenge requires systemic changes in last-mile delivery ecosystems. Based on this observation, in alignment with the EU decarbonisation goals, the URBANE project (GA101069782) aims to promote the adoption of sustainable and environmentally friendly last-mile delivery solutions by introducing a collaborative layered “Platform as a Service” (PaaS) paradigm. The initiative focuses on establishing Physical Internet (PI) inspired interventions combined with the implementation of innovative tools, such as agent-based and AI models, employing a Digital Twin platform addressing the operational and strategic planning challenges of city logistics networks. A multi-factorial impact assessment radar further enhances the evaluation of the PI interventions{\textquoteright} effectiveness. The platform fosters collaboration among urban logistics stakeholders governed through “green” smart contracts, addressing security and privacy concerns by using a blockchain infrastructure and digital IDs, creating a trustworthy system for collaboration. The paper showcases the applicability of the URBANE Innovation Transferability Platform in designing, measuring, testing, and validating targeted logistics interventions in Lighthouse Living Labs. Cities and logistic operators receive suggestions for informed data-driven decision-making coupled with integrated and transferable applications that can be standardised and structured, aligned with the targets set in a citie{\textquoteright}s Sustainable Urban Logistics Plan (SULP).",

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note = "Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository {\textquoteleft}You share, we take care!{\textquoteright} – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public. ; 7th Conference on Sustainable Mobility 2024 : Climate Crisis and Transportation Resilient Systems, CSuM2024 ; Conference date: 04-09-2024 Through 06-09-2024",

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Franklin, R, Fergadiotou, I, Kampa, M, Niavis, H, Karydis, T, Antosz, P, Gürcan, Ö, Brusset, X, Fajemisin, A, Zafeiropoulou, A, Misiakoulis, G, Ayfantopoulou, G, Maleas, Z, Touloumidis, D, Cebeci, MS, Szczepanska, T, de Bok, M , Tapia, R & Tavasszy, L 2025, The URBANE Innovation Transferability Platform: Learnings for Decarbonising Last-Mile Delivery Networks. in EG Nathanail, N Gavanas & E Adamos (eds), Climate Crisis and Resilient Transportation Systems: Proceedings of the 7th Conference on Sustainable Mobility, CSuM2024, September 4–6, 2024, Plastira’s Lake, Greece – Volume I: Advances in Resilience of Transportation Systems and Energy Solutions. Lecture Notes in Intelligent Transportation and Infrastructure, vol. Part F154, Springer Nature, pp. 389-400, 7th Conference on Sustainable Mobility 2024, Karditsa, Greece, 4/09/24. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-82818-8_29

The URBANE Innovation Transferability Platform: Learnings for Decarbonising Last-Mile Delivery Networks. / Franklin, Rod; Fergadiotou, Ioanna; Kampa, Maria et al.
Climate Crisis and Resilient Transportation Systems: Proceedings of the 7th Conference on Sustainable Mobility, CSuM2024, September 4–6, 2024, Plastira’s Lake, Greece – Volume I: Advances in Resilience of Transportation Systems and Energy Solutions. ed. / Eftihia G. Nathanail; Nikolaos Gavanas; Evangelos Adamos. Springer Nature, 2025. p. 389-400 (Lecture Notes in Intelligent Transportation and Infrastructure; Vol. Part F154).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Conference proceedings/Edited volume › Chapter › Scientific › peer-review

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N1 - Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

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Franklin R, Fergadiotou I, Kampa M, Niavis H, Karydis T, Antosz P et al. The URBANE Innovation Transferability Platform: Learnings for Decarbonising Last-Mile Delivery Networks. In Nathanail EG, Gavanas N, Adamos E, editors, Climate Crisis and Resilient Transportation Systems: Proceedings of the 7th Conference on Sustainable Mobility, CSuM2024, September 4–6, 2024, Plastira’s Lake, Greece – Volume I: Advances in Resilience of Transportation Systems and Energy Solutions. Springer Nature. 2025. p. 389-400. (Lecture Notes in Intelligent Transportation and Infrastructure). doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-82818-8_29

The URBANE Innovation Transferability Platform: Learnings for Decarbonising Last-Mile Delivery Networks

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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