Notes from the first interim meeting
The GOLIA project’s interim consortium meeting, held over two days in Brussels, marked a key milestone in advancing both the strategic and the technical dimensions of the project.
This first gathering brought together participant cities, partners and technical experts to review progress, validate early results, and co-design the next steps toward more inclusive and sustainable urban mobility systems.
Setting the scene
On the evening before the meeting officially began, GOLIA project partners took part in a Mobility Safari in Antwerp, a dynamic and hands-on study visit designed to experience the local mobility system from a user’s perspective.
Rather than discussing mobility solutions only in a meeting room, participants were invited to explore the city by going out into the streets, testing different modes of transport, observing mobility solutions in real-life conditions, answering guiding questions, and capturing key moments along the way. This immersive approach offered first-hand insight into how Smart Ways to Antwerp works in practice.
The Mobility Safari also created a space for informal exchange, allowing partners to share ideas, perspectives, and best practices across different urban contexts.
Advancing inclusive mobility
The next day, the meeting officially began by focusing on the project’s overall progress and its emerging knowledge base, all shared and discussed with Yannick Bousse, Project Advisor from CINEA, helping to align the project’s direction with broader EU policy objectives.
The participant cities, Pilsen, Florence and Antwerp presented current key challenges, past measures implemented to transform a traditional mobility system into an inclusive sustainable transport model, and ambitions within the project.
In Pilsen, GOLIA will support efforts to address strong commuting patterns into the city. Despite a solid public transport infrastructure, car use remains high. “It’s difficult to change habits,” noted Jaroslava Kypetová from the City of Pilsen. Florence highlighted the pressures associated with intense mobility flows linked to its role as a major tourist destination. As one presenter explained, “as a tourist city, Florence faces a high flow of mobility.” Antwerp will upgrade its Smart Ways digital tool for vulnerable groups in different parts of the city.
What we did on day 1
The first workshop explored stakeholder engagement methodologies in partner cities, combining presentations, group work, and discussions.
The Hellenic Institute of Transport of the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas held a dedicated workshop to define the Social Optimum Mobility Index and validate user personas with participants.
The core discussion centred on the standard traffic models measurements, which usually focus on cars’ related elements: speed, flow, or traffic. In GOLIA, it will measure people’s transport needs. This session allowed partners to collectively test and refine the methodology, ensuring that it captures the diversity of mobility needs, particularly those of vulnerable groups.
To this end, cities are working to embed equity into mobility planning platforms and digital tools, while developing solutions that are transferable across different urban contexts.
What we did on day 2
Day 2 shifted the focus toward implementation and coordination. The morning was dedicated to a co-design workshop on GO-X modules use cases, with a particular emphasis on the technical interaction with ENGAGEMOVE. This session enabled partners to jointly explore how technical components can effectively support participatory and inclusive mobility planning processes.
The meeting concluded with updates from several work packages, outlining key results, achievements, and upcoming activities, as well as a first step toward internal reporting and training on open science and open access principles. These sessions helped consolidate a shared understanding of progress across the consortium and ensured alignment on responsibilities and timelines.
Overall, the interim meeting reaffirmed GOLIA’s core approach: placing city needs and equity considerations at the centre of sustainable mobility innovation, while fostering strong coordination between governance, stakeholder engagement, and technical development.
