On 28 and 29 October, CulturalRoad partners gathered in Copenhagen for the project’s 3rd General Assembly, hosted by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). With the project now entering its final stage, the meeting gave the consortium an opportunity to review the latest progress, share results from all five demonstration sites and align on the next steps.
The first day of the meeting began with an overview of the project’s main objectives and progress to date. Partners then presented insights from the participatory planning activities, as well as the workshops with stakeholders and focus groups with citizens held in the five demonstration sites, including lessons learned and practical experience in engaging stakeholders and citizens, drawing on the different local contexts in which the project has been working.
Across the demo sites, the workshops showed a common picture: confidence in the technology itself, but more doubt about approval, funding and implementation. The main themes that emerged from the discussions were linked to accessibility, safety, infrastructure, and trust. The preliminary focus group findings confirm these results, with users focusing on safety, trust, accessibility and human assistance. Participants also highlighted that trust grows through exposure, that accessibility must go hand in hand with practical support, and that the role drivers play in assisting and supervising passengers remains important.
Partners also presented the latest updates related to the project’s Five-Pointed Star Rating System, which aims to provide an equity score based on five pillars: inclusivity, network optimisation, psychological factors, safety and acceptance, as well as initial recommendations for each of them for equitable CCAM services.
The second day focused on the datasets, toolkits and KPIs for each demonstration site, and on how CulturalRoad solutions can be transferred to new contexts and scaled up. Partners also planned the dissemination of the project’s results, including future workshops and the final event, and reviewed the knowledge transfer mechanism. The meeting closed with a collaborative workshop. Partners had the opportunity to work in smaller groups to refine their business model canvases and to explore how the project’s results can be sustained beyond its lifetime.
As CulturalRoad enters its final stage, make sure to follow the project’s LinkedIn page for more exciting updates!
