Workshop brings cities and regions together to shape CCAM urban deployment roadmap
On 8 October 2025, over 100 stakeholders gathered in Brussels for the first CCAM Urban Deployment Workshop, organised by POLIS, the CCAM Partnership, and the CCAMbassador project, to brainstorm on challenges and priorities for deploying Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility (CCAM) in urban environments.
POLIS and the CCAM partnership invited cities and regions to contribute to co-creating the CCAM Urban Deployment Roadmap, developed under the CCAMbassador project. Local and regional governments are key to turning CCAM research and innovation into real solutions for urban mobility. They face different challenges and begin from varying levels of readiness. There is no single route to deployment, and local and regional authorities know best how to tailor innovation to their contexts.
The roadmap aims to define what it takes to deploy CCAM in real urban and regional contexts, by identifying priority use cases, realistic pathways, and the conditions needed for deployment to happen at scale. Although developed within the CCAMbassador project, the initiative bridges all current research and innovation (R&I) activities supported by the CCAM Partnership with the deployment needs of public authorities. It seeks to foster alignment among stakeholders by clarifying roles, surfacing shared needs, and connecting urban deployment goals with the work of industry, researchers, and regulators. Other stakeholder groups were therefore also invited to take part in the first workshop of this process.
Gathering cities’ and regions’ perspectives: The first CCAM Urban Deployment Workshop
This topic is high on the agenda of many stakeholder types, resulting in broad participation both in Brussels and online. The agenda was designed to facilitate discussion among cities, regions, researchers, and the private sector. In total, around 90 participants joined the event—70 in person in Brussels and 20 online. After a brief introduction to the workshop’s purpose and framework by POLIS, opening remarks on the event’s relevance and expectations were delivered by the City of Helmond (Netherlands) and the Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket). A brief consultation with the audience provided initial insights into the objectives of CCAM deployment in urban settings, after which participants joined breakout sessions tailored to different urban profiles.
City and regional representatives, the main target audience of the event, were divided into three on-site discussion groups according to their geographical distribution and expected diversity of deployment profiles. Online participants joined a single common discussion, which included seven different local and regional authorities. On average, three to five public authorities were represented in each breakout room. The main objective was to help local and regional authorities define:
- their profile when it comes to readiness for CCAM deployment (from low readiness and high need to early mover with a clear mandate)
- the most relevant CCAM use cases based on their specific profiles
- their priorities in terms of investment and action, depending on their feasibility constraints.
The discussions helped identify key obstacles to address for each city and region profile. Some participants saw themselves positioned between different profiles due to specific political contexts or limited resources to build on progress made through pilots and tests. Despite these challenges, most participants were optimistic about the feasibility and relevance of the use cases they identified as priorities. They also noted that engaging with implementing organisations and operators would be a necessary next step, although this fell outside the scope of the workshop.
After the breakout sessions and a well-deserved coffee break, the complete audience resumed to summarise key outcomes from each group. Another online consultation with the audience further contributed to reflecting on the support needed for cities and regions to facilitate CCAM deployment locally, the first steps to take, and the potential for contribution by different types of stakeholders involved in the event.
A panel of representatives from several EU-funded CCAM projects then gathered on stage to reflect on the priorities raised by cities and regions, and share how their work can support deployment. Discussions focused on opportunities, gaps, and ways to better connect research with real urban needs.
To conclude, all speakers, facilitators, organisers, and the numerous participants were warmly thanked and applauded for a joint effort to contribute to CCAM deployment in urban environments.
The next occurrence of this process was announced to be taking place in Utrecht, Netherlands, on 27 November 2025, alongside the POLIS conference site visits. Concrete agenda and focus points will be shared soon.
This was overall a very fruitful first step in this ambitious and impactful initiative. POLIS and all involved stakeholders are looking forward to the following ones!
- Related Projects
