DISCO project convenes successful General Assembly in Thessaloniki

The Municipality of Thessaloniki welcomed the DISCO project consortium for its most recent General Assembly on 22-23 April 2024.

The meeting featured two intense days of productive discussions and activities on the project's advancement - read more below!

On 22-23 April 2024, the Municipality of Thessaloniki opened its doors to the DISCO project consortium for its latest General Assembly. Partners gathered for two intense days of fruitful discussions on the project's progress, as they continue steadfast towards the Physical Internet transformation of urban logistics.

Day 1: Starring Living Labs take centre stage

The first day kicked off with a welcome speech from the City of Thessaloniki's Deputy Mayor, Mr Athanasios Ziogas, setting a tone of mutual collaboration and progress.

The meeting then proceeded with discussions of various critical aspects, including a DISCO progress overview and brainstorming sessions within specific work packages. DISCO's Starring Living Labs, composed of Copenhagen, Ghent, Thessaloniki, and Helsinki, provided exciting updates on their respective activities: in Ghent, efforts have been focused on optimizing data sharing between cities, logistics service providers, and green last-mile service providers. Copenhagen reported significant progress in partnership agreements and digital twin development, while Thessaloniki highlighted advancements in urban logistics real estate databases and citizen engagement through the hosting of a DISCO Citizens Bootcamp. Finally, Helsinki showcased developments in micro hub implementation and service design discussions.

Day 2: Ongoing collaborative initiatives and exciting site visits

The second day continued with further enriching discussions, featuring the presentation of the DISCO Knowledge Hub, an open-source digital platform designed to serve as a collaborative online space offering a range of resources, tools, and opportunities for knowledge sharing, capacity building, innovation, and collaboration. Updates were also provided on liaison efforts and the institution of the Impact Creation Board For Transformation (ICBT), which will feature planned expert involvement and collaborative initiatives for the project.

The meeting wrapped up with an exciting site visit to the Thessaloniki Living Lab, where partners got to visit the TIF-HELEXPO Exhibition Centre which is being optimised into a flexible logistics hub. The consortium also got to visit the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), where they learned more about the Mobility Living Lab being hosted within CERTH. 

Overall, the General Assembly highlighted the consortium's ongoing commitment to work together for a new generation of sustainable urban logistics. Stay tuned as we reveal more of DISCO's progress in the next months!