Monday, July 28th, 2025
ALICE is pleased to announce the upcoming Urban Logistics Innovation Day, which will also serve as the final conference of the URBANE project, taking place on 6 November 2025 at the headquarters of the Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB). Co-organised by the URBANE consortium including POLIS Network, ETP-ALICE, INLECOM, and EIT Urban Mobility, the event promises to be a pivotal moment for showcasing collaborative progress in smart, sustainable last-mile logistics.
Urban freight systems face unprecedented challenges, including traffic congestion, limited access and infrastructure, environmental pressures, and the growing complexity of last-mile delivery driven by the boom in e-commerce. The Innovation Day will create a forum for policymakers, logistics providers, researchers, and technology developers to address these challenges through dialogue and knowledge exchange.
This edition of the Urban Logistics Innovation Day coincides with the Smart City Expo / Tomorrow Mobility events, held from 4-6 November 2025 in Barcelona. Together, these events provide a unique opportunity to explore synergies between city innovation and urban logistics.
The Innovation Day will serve as the concluding event for the URBANE project (Urban logistics and governance for an advanced and sustainable mobility), co-funded by the Horizon Europe programme. Over the past 3.5 years, URBANE has tested and validated innovative tools, governance models, and smart logistics solutions to enable zero-emission urban freight operations. The project has promoted collaborative approaches and data-driven strategies for reducing emissions, improving operational efficiency, and fostering replicable models across Europe.
Throughout the day, participants will hear about the key findings and learnings from the URBANE Living Labs, including hands-on experience from cities like Barcelona, Bologna, Thessaloniki, and others. The event will spotlight replicable solutions and offer insights into the conditions necessary for successful upscaling.
A highlight of the event will be the presentation of the Barcelona Living Lab, coordinated by Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and hosted by AMB. The lab focused on digitising last-mile delivery operations by combining RFID technology, cargo-bike logistics, cloud computing, and Digital Twin-based route optimisation.
The local logistics provider Vanapedal led the on-the-ground implementation, operating a micro-consolidation centre and a fleet of cargo bikes in Barcelona’s dense city centre. The solution integrated RFID-tagged parcels, onboard RFID readers, and data-driven route planning via a VRP algorithm embedded in a Digital Twin platform. Results were transmitted through smart contracts and stored via blockchain-based systems.
Three pilot trials were conducted:
The pilot outcomes were promising. Time savings of up to 4.5 minutes per parcel were recorded for last-mile deliveries, and up to 10 minutes per parcel when combining parcel re-consolidation and delivery. However, gains in distance travelled were inconsistent and often dependent on the courier’s local knowledge.
Several challenges were encountered, including:
Despite these barriers, the pilot demonstrated the real potential of integrated digital solutions in improving operational performance. Importantly, it reinforced the need for user-friendly, end-to-end tools that logistics service providers (LSPs) can adopt without requiring high levels of technical expertise.
One of the most important conclusions drawn from the Barcelona Living Lab is that technology alone is not enough. Effective deployment of advanced logistics tools also requires:
The URBANE project concludes that truly sustainable urban freight requires a system-level shift – combining policy, innovation, and real-world testing. With digital technologies like RFID, Digital Twins, and smart contracts showing proven value, the focus now must shift toward mainstreaming these innovations across Europe.
Read more: Save the date for the Urban Logistics Innovation Day and URBANE Final Event! | Urbane