“City logistics in top class” was the name of the seminar where Maria participated. Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö in cooperation with other parties are aiming to lift this subject to the agenda and they have created a national freight network to exchange experiences and together force the work with city logistics forward.

— The goal is to reduce emissions from freight in city centres by 70% by 2030, but it is not fully defined how to reach that. The next step is to create an action plan. In my lecture I tried to explain how complex it can be to explain what the concept city logistics really means, Maria says.

Knowledge and cooperation are key factors

Maria says that knowledge and cooperation are the two most important factors to reach the goal. She says that the people that are going to work with this question need to cooperate with all the different actors that have an interest in city freights. Another way is to employ more people with logistics expertise.
— Through cooperation and exchange of experiences complemented with a discussion about problems and possibilities you can find a solution that works out in a long-term perspective. The cooperation within the national freight network opens up a possibility to share solutions between cities, explains Maria.
 

Packed seminar

The seminar that Maria held was packed to the last seat and among the guests you could find representatives from the public and private sectors, as Maria also had hoped for. She believes that the seminar became an eye-opener, she explained that city logistics and freight in cities really needs attention and work.

— One person that participated in the panel during the seminar mentioned that “shoes don’t grow in the shoe store and milk doesn’t grow in the grocery store”. Afterwards I heard someone in the audience saying that she had never thought about how the product reaches the stores. That is interesting, Maria says.

Brilliant opportunity to network

Maria thinks that the week in Almedalen was a brilliant opportunity to network, she met many new contacts and she hopes they will lead to new cooperations.

— The best thing about Almedalen was the experience, the fact that the event is very social. Everyone is participating to get to know new people and spread their word. It was also fun that there was a big interest in transports during the whole week.

It was the first, but for sure not the last, time that Maria participated in Almedalen. The visit is something she wants to experience again.

— Now, I am aware of what to expect and how to prepare myself. My time at Almedalen was too short this year. If I get the opportunity to go next year again, I will make a plan of what seminars I want to participate in and also make a better plan of what seminars I want to listen to and have a more specific goal for the week.