WEASTFlows
Launch of Weastflows Project Website
The Weastflows project website has now been launched by the project partners. The website contains all the up to date information about the project activities in the partner regions as well as further information with regard to sustainable freight transport and logistics in Europe.
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WEASTflows Partners' Meeting in London - 3rd and 4th November, 2011
The MWRA attended a meeting of the WEASTflows partners, hosted by the UK's Institute for Sustainability in London on the 3rd and 4th November. At the meeting a detailed methodology was presented for Action 3, which the MWRA is leading, and was discussed among the partners. To download the presentation from the meeting, please click here.
In addition, the South East Scotland Transport Partnership presented their implementation plan for Action 4 - the Development of Greener Supply Chains. The aim of this action is to identify best practices in the area of green supply chains, to identify the necessary conditions to improve freight transport efficiency and to develop more sustainable logistics chains in the North West Europe region.
UST-LAGIS (the University of Lille) presented their plans for Action 6 - Assessment of Innovative ICT Systems. This action will seek to identify and evaluate the existing ICT systems for freight logistics in terms of their technical aspects, their efficiency and the quality of the information provided. The action will focus on the ICT and telematics tools available to promote sustainable transport and supply chains.
Representatives from the National Transport Authority and Rosslare Europort also attended the meeting in their role as Observers to the project.
The next meeting of the WEASTflows partners will be in Calais, France on the 25th and 26th of January 2012.
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Project Meeting in Helmond, Eindhoven, 9th September 2011
The Mid-West Regional Authority attended a meeting of the WEASTflows project partnership in Helmond, Eindhoven, the Netherlands where the implemenatation plans for the project's actions were discussed and agreed upon.
WEASTflows project partners, Helmond, September 2011
The work programme for the project involves 5 Work Packages, 12 Actions and 5 Investments. The three main actions where MWRA will be working over the project are:
Action 1 - Assessment of sustainable transport capacity (lead by AURH, Le Harve)
- Assess the infrastructure capacity (rail, river, maritime, road, air transport infrastructures) globally for North West Europe and specifically for each Weastflows' partner region.
- Identify congested areas / lanes, bottlenecks, underused infrastructures / facilities, alternative corridors inside / between the North West Europe cooperating regions and beyond NWE scope
Action 2 – Solutions to improve an East - West Green Axis (lead by Liverpool University)
- Establish a relationship between existing infrastructures and their level of use, mapping present supply / demand and model evolution scenarios in order to draw a NWE East- West Green Axis in the field of transportation and logistics.
- Transnational collaborative approach between the regional partners in order to work on the gaps to be filled and their solutions for a better use of infrastructures for sustainable freight transportation & logistics.
Action 3 - Implementation of Sustainable Gateway(s) and integration with Regional Policies (lead by MWRA)
- Development of Sustainable Gateway systems
- Support the policy integration for the development of sustainable connectivity
The next meeting of the WEASTflows partners will be in London on 3rd and 4th of November 2011.
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Project Kick-Off Meeting in Lille, France on 26th - 27th May 2011
The project partners from WEASTflows recently met in Lille for the first meeting of the project team. At the meeting, all regions, including the Mid-West Region presented their plans for launching WEASTflows in their region.
WEASTflows project partners, Lille
The Mid-West Regional Authority is leading on the project action regarding the design and implementation of a Sustainable Gateway concept and integrating this with existing regional policies. This will involve undertaking a review of the Limerick-Shannon Gateway as well as working via a collaborative approach with our partners, particularly from the Seine Gateway and the London-Thames Gateway as well as other logistics hubs in North West Europe such as Luxembourg, Duisburg and Mannheim. The WEASTflows project aims to develop a Reference Guide on the creation and development of a Sustainable Gateway and the creation of a Sustainable Gateway label.
The MWRA presented the WEASTflows project to the Irish Exporters’ Association’s Rail Freight Forum on Wednesday 22nd June 2011 (www.irishexporters.ie).
For further information in relation to the WEASTflows project, please contact Deirdre Byrne, EU Project Officer (dbyrne@mwra.ie).
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WEASTflows is a 48 month project under the Interreg IVB North West Europe Programme with participation from 21 partners from Ireland, UK, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Germany. Lead partnership is a joint initiative from France and UK. The Irish partner is the Mid-West Regional Authority, but the project is currently seeking new Irish partners and strong interest has been received from the sector.
General Aim of the Project
The WEASTflows project aims at the development of improved freight transport logistics systems and chains, in the context of North West Europe transnational transport corridors and regional/city distribution systems, in particular by using the potential of ICT technologies, especially in the context of intermodal transport chains (water, air, road, rail).
Specific Objectives of the Project
- To develop and test innovative approaches to freight logistics handling and logistics chains, to include pilot projects and demo projects
- To develop and demonstrate the potential of ICT for freight logistics management, for example for better integration of CVO and AFMS
- To use the results for improved urban/regional planning systems
- To improve connectivity and accessibility in regions and/or NWE international transport corridors
- To improve the economic and environmental performance of regions (by optimising logistics transport with less external effects)
Mid-West Region
The Mid-West Region is strategically located on the West Coast of Ireland and is an important logistics hub in Ireland with the Shannon Estuary and Shannon International Airport. The Limerick/Shannon Gateway is at the heart of the region and is an important contributor to the economic development of the region
Potential Benefits for Ireland
- Opportunity to improve the connectivity from Ireland to the major North West Europe transport corridors
- Opportunity to test out the latest in innovative approaches to freight transportation via participation in pilot projects
- Opportunity to test out new ICT solutions and share experiences with European partners
- The results of project will feed into the regional planning processes
Information Seminar in Shannon, March 2011
The Regional Authority arranged an information seminar in Shannon International Airport on 28th March 2011 to explain the objectives of the WEASTflows project and to seek input from relevant public and private stakeholders about the planned implementation of this ambitious project in Ireland. Representatives from the lead partners in the UK and France as well as from the Mid-West Regional Authority provided information about the project and its planned implementation.
General Notes
The project is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Interreg IVB North West Europe Programme.
For further information on the WEASTflows project, please contact Deirdre Byrne at 067-33197.
