Successful Final Event of SMiLES
Supporting photo
Last Wednesday, around 60 participants braved the heat to attend the event "Mobility and Logistics of the Future: Smart and Sustainable Transport with SMiLES". The event marked the conclusion of the SMiLES project. Consortium partners shared the knowledge they had gained, presented new insights, and discussed how these would be embedded within the Hive.Mobility network. Scientists and researchers presented the outcomes of their work. Jasper van der Velde, Program Director at Hive.Mobility, emphasized that this is not the end of SMiLES: the partners will remain active within the innovation center that continues to develop smart and green mobility solutions for the Northern Netherlands.
The day’s chair, Prof. Aline Klingenberg (University of Groningen, IT Law), guided the program and gave the floor to scientific project coordinator Dr. Berfu Ünal (University of Groningen, Social and Environmental Psychology). She reflected on the eventful and dynamic years of the project. In an interview with Prof. Dr. Iris Vis (University of Groningen, Industrial Engineering and Captain of Science at Topsector Logistics), the origins of SMiLES, the formation of the consortium, and the involvement of practical partners were discussed.
During thematic sessions, various speakers shared their experiences:
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In the session on CO₂-neutral urban logistics, Prof. Dr. Kees Jan Roodbergen (University of Groningen, Quantitative Logistics) spoke about collaboration in logistics and the challenges of vehicle sharing. Remy Baas (Municipality of Groningen) gave an update on the zero-emission zone, while Johan Betten (CityHub) explained the concept of freight bundling. Postdoc Valerija Golubic Woudstra (University of Groningen, Campus Fryslân) addressed motivation and success factors in collaboration.
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The second session, Sustainable and Accessible Mobility and Logistics, featured Yvonne Dubben (Arriva), who shared insights from studies on hydrogen trains and smart energy networks for bus companies. Prof. Dr. Taede Tillema (University of Groningen, Transport Geography) presented findings on sustainable mobility concepts for the Wadden Islands and the role of hubs in Groningen and Drenthe. Erwin Stoker (Public Transport Authority Groningen Drenthe) continued with a talk about mobility hubs and the goal of happy travelers. PhD candidate Michelle Lohmeyer (University of Groningen, Environmental Psychology) presented her research on car sharing and the willingness to give up the second (or even first) car.
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The third session, Data & AI, highlighted innovations such as autonomous bus transport (Michel van der Mark, Qbuzz) and crowd logistics software (Matthijs Platje, representing Hanze University of Applied Sciences). Dr. Gerard Jan Ritsema van Eck (University of Groningen, IT Law) addressed legal issues surrounding hydrogen use in ports and smart streetlights.
The event concluded with a panel discussion about the outcomes and challenges of the project. Central to this was the strength of the network that had been built—across disciplines, educational institutions, practical partners, and governments.
In short: an inspiring conclusion to 5.5 years of collaboration on smart and sustainable mobility!
