GLEAM NSR Lunch & Learn: Mapping the urban logistics ecosystem

Mette Eika Grønvald

Sustainability Consultant, Mayor’s Department, City of Aarhus

Mette is Sustainability Consultant in the business-unit in Mayor’s Department, City of Aarhus working with the Climate Alliance Aarhus as part of Aarhus' climate action plan aiming for CO2 neutrality in 2030. The Climate Alliance Aarhus is a business partnership between large companies and public institutions in Aarhus working together on concrete climate actions on green mobility and green urban logistics amongst others. Mette works as the facilitating part in driving the alliance together with the businesses as well as connecting it to the city’s climate ambitions.

Marij Lambert 

Project Coordinator, City of Leuven 

Marij manages several regional and European co-funded projects. Her projects have a common focus on the transition towards sustainable city logistics. In the past, she worked on the EIT Urban Mobility project FlexCURB, a technology project on the flexible function of the curbside, and on the HORIZON project TOKEN, adding blockchain technology to the mix of UVAR and dynamic access control. She is the current project coordinator of the regional City of Things project Smart City Logistics (dynamic access control), the HORIZON Europe project GREEN-LOG (Logistics-as-a-service) and the Interreg NSR project GLEAM NSR.

Jos Streng 

Transport Planner, City of Rotterdam. 

Jos’ current activities are aimed at efficient and emission free city logistics, and include the electrification of the city’s own fleet and the incorporation of zero emission delivery in the city’s procurement policy. Jos graduated as hydrologist from the Agricultural University of Wageningen. Following the global urbanization trend, his attention has shifted from rural to urban areas, and from the flow of water to the flow of traffic.

Michiel de Bok 

Managing Partner, Significance & Researcher, Delft University of Technology, Department of Transport and Planning 

At Significance, Michiel works on the development of various strategic transport modeling studies in freight- and passenger transport, for clients in different countries. In addition, he advices on the application of strategic models in complex policy studies. At Delft University he works on the development of agent-based models for strategic freight transport models. He holds a PhD and a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from Delft University of Technology in the field of transportation and planning.

INTRODUCTION BY LEAD PARTNER: 

Paul Buijs

Associate Professor, University of Groningen

Paul Buijs is an Associate Professor in the Department of Operations at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, where he also received his MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management (2010) and his PhD on Sustainable Logistics (2014). Paul’s research centers on understanding how different logistics stakeholders are affected by the sustainability transition and how they, in turn, can help achieve sustainability goals. He is interested in a broad range of logistics domains, from urban logistics to heavy road freight transport, and sustainability aspects, from carbon emissions to livability and economic inclusivity. Topics of study include how logistics can adapt to evolving urban spaces, how urban planning can reshape logistics to reduce their footprint in cities, how the decarbonization of road-freight transportation can be accelerated, how novel e-commerce delivery and return options impact CO₂ emissions, and how the transition to green urban logistics can remain equitable for all stakeholders. Paul works closely with firms—from established players to start-ups—and policymakers at all levels to deepen understanding of logistics operations, enabling solutions that are practical and adaptable to evolving sustainability challenges.

MODERATED BY:

Kassandra McCleery

Research & Education Project Manager 

Kassandra is an urban planner specialized in gender inclusive approaches to planning and community development. From her community building work she has developed a strong ability to mobilize people, develop programming, and manage multiple stakeholders and partnerships. She advocates for more bike-friendly and inclusive cities through her work coordinating research projects and educational and outreach activities at Copenhagenize.