Is it possible to make regions more attractive and competitive while addressing climate issues? Can efforts to combat climate change offer new business opportunities to transport companies? Answers to these questions are being sought through projects based on international cooperation.
A vision of the future. A green corridor leads through the European transportation network. Some of the corridor's environmental benefits are created through the development of more effective combined transport.
Development of combined transport (road, rail, sea) creates the potential for transport terminals and even a network of terminals in Europe. The international Scandria project, which involves 19 different partners from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany, is seeking to develop more efficient and environmentally-friendly transport systems.
"The establishment of combined transport terminals will create more cost-effective logistics services and new business opportunities for international operators. Innoroad Park could be one of the Finnish players linked in a pro-environmental way to the European transport network," says Development Manager Jani Viitasaari of Jyväskylä Regional Development Company Jykes Ltd.
Innoroad Park is an international cluster of companies specialising in road transport and vehicles, together with supporting businesses, in Jyväskylä region. It brings together business, academic research and training.
Work is being done to develop transport systems without neglecting the need to combat climate change.
The international Baltic Climate project, which is targeted at the Baltic Sea Region, aims to identify ways of reducing the costs and environmental impacts of transport. At the same time the project is seeking new business opportunities for the transport sector. "One of the main areas is the development of transportation for bioenergy. The aim is to determine how road, rail and water transportation can be utilised efficiently," Viitasaari says. Innoroad, a road transport expertise network located in the Jyväskylä Region, is contributing its own know-how to the project. The areas concerned are the optimisation of logistics operations, pro-environmental innovations in transport systems, and research into transport emissions.
The project, which will run until the beginning of 2012, involves 24 partners from Finland, Germany, Sweden, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Lithuania and Poland.
words by tommi salo, photo by photobank plugi