EMMA contributes to “BSR Access” Project Platform

Port of Hamburg Marketing, the lead Partner of EMMA, represents project EMMA in the BSR Access Platform.

Project platforms are a new type of project to capitalise on the results of existing projects and to contribute to institutional capacity building in the region. Teaming up of projects increases the impact of the Interreg Baltic Sea Region’s projects and other EU-funded projects in the area.

Following the Interreg Baltic Sea Region’s first call for project platform applications, BSR Access was one of the six approved project platforms. BSR Access signifies “Access to clean, efficient and multimodal transport corridors in the Baltic Sea Region” and its specific objective is interoperability of transport modes.

Platforms are only open for lead partners. Thus, the lead partner of EMMA, Port of Hamburg Marketing, represents project EMMA in the BSR Access Platform.

BSR Access invites leaders and stakeholders in TEN-T and regional policies to a more coherent, cross-sectoral and adaptive planning approach. This ensures a better access infrastructure to the TEN-T core network corridors and thereby sustainable regional growth. Synergies are created by collecting, benchmarking and disseminating projects’ good practices in transport interoperability.

“Our aim is to represent EMMA partnership and actively communicate and bring in achieved EMMA results as well as ensure that inland and river-sea shipping will be considered in discussions related to transport corridors”, says Stefan Breitenbach, Head of Project Department at Port of Hamburg Marketing.

Inland navigation in logistics chains is one of the inadequately addressed topics that BSR Access adds competence to. More attention will be paid also to topics such as coherent alternative fuel models across national borders, aligning of long-haul transport with first and last mile delivery, and interdependencies between spatial and transport planning.

The lead partner of the BSR Access platform is Helsinki-Uusimaa Reginal Council (lead partner of NSB CoRe). In addition to Port of Hamburg Marketing, the platform community consists of Region Blekinge (lead partner of TENTacle), Joint Spatial Planning Department Berlin-Brandenburg (lead partner of Scandria2Act), Kvarken Council (lead partner of E12 Atlantica Transport) and Capital Region of Denmark (partner in STRING network) as well as associated organizations and supporters. BSR Access is the first stakeholder and communication platform to combine viewpoints of three TEN-T European Coordinators (Scandinavian-Mediterranean, North Sea–Baltic and Baltic–Adriatic TEN-T core network corridors), EUSBSR Priority Area Transport and Horizontal Action Spatial Planning Coordinators as well as a wide community of public and private transport stakeholders.

By mid-2021, BSR Access will deliver status reports presenting good practice and transferable solutions in transport interoperability; policy and action proposals in corridor-related interoperability; position papers on streamlined planning for seamless access infrastructure to the TEN-T core network corridors; a tested model for cross-sectoral, multi-level and transnational stakeholder dialogue on transport interoperability challenges and solutions; as well as recommendations for new EU-funded projects and initiatives.

Further information on project platforms: www.interreg-baltic.eu/apply-for-funds/project-platform-calls.html