From 12 to 14 September, the second project meeting of "Connected River" took place and all partners came together in the pilot area of "Ports de Lille" in France. The meeting focused on developing innovative solutions for the conflicting uses on the Deûle River.
The Pilot Area
Ports de Lille consists of 12 multimodal locations along the Deûle River and is one of 6 pilot regions within the EU project. Through their activities in container handling, real estate management and development, they are working together with many stakeholders in the region to provide alternative mobility solutions for the economic use of the waterways.
Exploring the Deûle River
On the first day of the event, about 50 local and European partners were welcomed aboard the Eldorado barge to explore the Lille area. The event gave the floor to the local waterway management (VNF), cultural and sport associations, economic players and local authorities to present development project, challenges and ideas for a shared and sustainable use of the Deûle River.
Practical Work
Two intensive workshop days followed, with focus on "Design Thinking & Experimentation, hosted by the Antwerp Management School". The project partners learned how to define problems and solutions from the user perspective and how to involve stakeholders more intensively in identifying problems and finding solutions.
At the Université Catholique de Lille, the group also received exciting insights about combining creative thinking & innovation with academic methods. The aim is to use designers’ sensibility (design thinking), along with their tools and working methods, in order to enable innovation in teaching, research and entrepreneurship by multidisciplinary teams.
Outdoor Workshop
At the outdoor workshop on the grounds of Le Colysée, the exercise was to visit, understand and observe the activities on and around the Deûle River.
As a fictional case about conflicts of use on the waterway, the group dived into the pilot area and developed different solutions by using the "design thinking" approach (and many LEGO bricks).
Innovative Experiments
At the final workshop, organised by InnoValor, the partners developed evaluation processes and innovative experiments for the pilot region "Ports de Lille".
In the coming months, Ports of Lille will continue to conduct individual interviews to deepen their understanding and identify the challenges for the stakeholders connected to the waterway.
Following these interviews, a group meeting will be organized to bring together all the stakeholders involved to start building the local Connected River community. This community will be involved throughout the project to validate the desired shared vision, in order to develop and test a suitable solution.
The team in Lille will now also look for an innovation coach to support them throughout the project.
Source: Ports de Lille