News
08/05/2018

Vital Nodes Masterclass at the TEN-T Days.

It kicked-off by an introductory talk of the European Commission (EC) delivered by Gudrun Schulze. She pointed out that the EC perceives the urban nodes at the centre of the TEN-T network. Jos Arts, the innovation manager of Vital Nodes, explained the project, before the group split into breakout groups.

  • Sylvain Pollet (Société du Grand Paris) explained how Paris uses international CEF funding to built its Grand Paris Express that connects the city with the surrounding.
  • Rainer Müller (Urban Innovation Vienna) explained how Vienna approaches the development of multimodal freight transport together with its counterparts in the region.
  • Siegfried Rupprecht (Rupprecht Consult) discussed aspects of multi-level governance with participants, based on different project results.
  • Jos Arts (RWS) and Tomas Holmlund (Trafikverket) introduced the history of the Vital Nodes approach and its application in Sweden and the Netherlands.
  • Ivo Cré (Polis) facilitated a discussion about the Vital Nodes tools, the potential outcomes of the project and opportunities for cities to join.

The workshop looked at various aspects of the projects, including knowledge transfer from other modes and it facilitated direct knowledge exchange between the participants to built a network of stakeholders. The participants pointed out that they enjoyed the open discussion and the availability to discuss questions and aspects that had not been looked at before. The discussions centred around approaching real-life challenges rather than theoretical frameworks.

Vital Nodes also presented the project at the TEN-T Days exhibition, promoting the project among external stakeholders within the TEN-T world. There, the project met Commissioner Bulc who supports the idea of integrating the Urban Nodes stronger into the TEN-T network.