Project overview
MED COLOURS is an EU co-funded project under the Interreg Euro-MED programme, aiming to transform urban logistics across Mediterranean cities. The project focuses on enabling the transition towards decarbonised, resilient, and smart urban freight systems.
By developing a new generation of Sustainable Urban Logistics Plans (SULPs), MED COLOURS supports cities in designing integrated, collaborative, and innovation-driven solutions.
Objectives
MED COLOURS addresses key challenges in urban logistics, including congestion, emissions, and air pollution, which significantly impact both the economy and citizens’ quality of life.
The project contributes to EU climate goals by:
- Supporting the 55% emission reduction target by 2030
- Enabling progress towards climate-neutral cities by 2050
- Promoting low-carbon and efficient urban freight distribution
What the project does
MED COLOURS aims to upscale urban logistics planning and implementation through:
- Development of 6 Sustainable Urban Logistics Plans (SULPs)
- Implementation of 5 pilot actions and/or studies
- Deployment of innovative and collaborative logistics solutions
- Integration of digital and environmental transition measures
The project introduces new approaches to urban freight planning, combining policy, technology, and stakeholder collaboration.
Cities involved
MED COLOURS supports six Mediterranean cities and their Functional Urban Areas:
- Lisbon (Portugal)
- Thessaloniki (Greece)
- Koper (Slovenia)
- Livorno (Italy)
- Lyon (France)
- Cesena (Italy)
Expected results
MED COLOURS will deliver:
- Guideline for the development of resilient SULPs for Mediterranean cities
- SULPs
- pilot actions and/or studies
- A cross-monitoring strategy for SULPs
- Scalable solutions for sustainable urban logistics
- Capacity development materials
These outcomes will:
- Reduce the environmental impact of freight transport
- Improve urban livability
- Enhance urban logistics competencies of local public authorities
- Support the implementation of sustainable urban logistics policies
Consortium
The MED COLOURS consortium brings together 11 partners and 7 associated partners from 7 European regions: Italy, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, and France.
Lead Partner:
- Institute for Transport and Logistics Foundation
Project partners:
- European Network of Logistics Competence Centers
- Hellenic Institute of Transport
- Zaragoza Logistics Center
- SPL Lyon Confluence
- MemEx
- Municipality of Livorno
- University of Maribor
- Municipality of Koper
- Lisbon City Council
- Lisboa E-Nova
Project associated partners:
- Municipality of Cesena
- Emilia-Romagna Region
- Municipality of Thessaloniki
- Regional Development Center Koper
- Marjetica Koper
- Port of Koper, port and logistic system
- Alliance for Logistics Innovation through Collaboration in Europe
Why it matters
Urban freight accounts for 25% of total urban transport emissions, while congestion costs the EU economy €100 billion annually.
MED COLOURS tackles these challenges by enabling cities to:
- Reduce the negative impact of freight transport and logistics activities on the environmental and living quality of Mediterranean urban areas.
- Enable sustainable urban freight distribution in Mediterranean FUAs, thus giving cities a boost in sustainable development and human well-being.
- Upscale to a new generation of urban logistics and planning, enabling the transition to decarbonised and smart cities.
- Enable logistics communities to plan resiliently and adopt sustainable, integrated and collaborative innovation-driven solutions.
