What is
MAMBA is about maximizing mobility and accessibility of services in rural regions. It is a project under the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme that runs from October 2017 until September 2020. It includes 15 partners from six countries: Denmark, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Finland and Sweden. MAMBA has a budget of 3.54 million EUR.
The challenge
With decreasing and ageing populations in many rural areas in the Baltic Sea Region, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up public transport and other services that depend on mobility, such as home care or home deliveries. This reduced accessibility of services impacts life quality of people living outside urban centres.
The MAMBA project aims to meet this challenge by promoting sustainable “people-to-service” and “service-to-people” mobility solutions in rural areas. In practice, MAMBA partners will collaborate to improve the integration of existing mobility structures with innovative mobility solutions like citizen buses, mobility as a service (MaaS) and ride sharing applications.
The goal is to maximise mobility and accessibility of services in rural regions, while involving users in the process.
Partners
1. Diaconie of Schleswig Holstein, Germany (Lead Partner)
2. Nordregio, Sweden
3. Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, Latvia
4. Vidzeme Planning Region, Latvia
5. County of Ploen, Germany
6. County of Cuxhaven, Germany
7. Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia, Finland
8. Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences
9. Regional Council of North Karelia, Finland
10. Vejle Municipality, Denmark
11. Municipality of Trelleborg, Sweden
12. Bielsko District, Poland
13. Bielsko-Biala Regional Development Agency, Poland
14. Institute for Climate Protection, Energy and Mobility, Germany
15. Road Transport Administration, Latvia
You will find contact information to each Mobility Centre and pilot action here:
Activities
MAMBA pilot actions and Mobility Centres for integrated rural mobility
A core MAMBA activity is our partners‘ ongoing implementation of nine innovative pilot projects/actions to improve mobility and service accessibility for residents in rural areas.
The pilots include transport on demand (ToD) services; car sharing and ride sharing applications; mobility as a service (MaaS) systems; and combined mobility solutions. The pilots will be tested by users, and results, success factors, barriers etc. will be documented. Ultimately, the pilots will serve as transferable solutions for other rural areas in the Mamba partner regions and beyond. The results will be presented at international mobility seminars and study visits to the pilot sites, as well as in the coming MAMBA database and rural mobility compendium. Building on the learnings from the pilots, Mamba partners will also establish physical or digital Mobility Centres in ten rural areas in the Baltic Sea Region, targeting specific mobility needs in each area. For example, enhance transport administration and information systems and create new platforms for public and private transport providers to coordinate their services.
Existing Mobility Services
The MAMBA project doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Clearly, a lot of innovation is already going on in the Baltic Sea Region when it comes to sustainable and smart mobility solutions for rural areas.
An important part of the MAMBA project is to collect and analyze these good practice mobility examples from across the region and make them easy to find and compare through a public database. Below you will find a few examples, representing different kinds of mobility solutions, from ride sharing applications to Mobility as a Service systems and Transport on Demand services.
Involving users to improve the design of new solutions
MAMBA includes users and civil society organisations in the development of sustainable mobility solutions. Seminars and workshops at the local level will promote participation and result in a manual for self-organised mobility which addresses grass-roots initiatives throughout the BSR.
Contact us
Please contact us to learn more about MAMBA, to get involved in the design of new rural mobility solutions, or to share information about existing mobility services or events. If you have a general question, or want to stay up to date, please fill in the form to the right!
Communication and website:
Nordregio – Team Nordregio: info@nordregio.org
Project management:
REM Consult – Hakan Uraz: uraz@rem-consult.eu
Management of the Knowledge Database:
InnovationSkåne – Anders Nilsson: anders.nilsson@innovationskane.com
Mobility Centres and pilot actions:
You will find contact information to each Mobility Centre and pilot action here:
Stakeholders and Networks
Besides our partners, there are many stakeholders around MAMBA, waiting for and contributing to MAMBA results. Our primary stakeholders include: Local, regional and national policy-makers and mobility planners; Public and private transport companies and service providers with clients in rural areas; Grassroots organisations representing rural mobility users; and Technology developers.
Additional stakeholders include related Interreg projects, regional collaboration councils, research institutes focusing on sustainable transport and mobility, and not least civil society organisations working for sustainable rural development, mobility and accessibility of services.
Akademie für die Ländlichen Räume Schleswig-Holsteins e. V. (Academy for rural development) | Visit website
autodelen.net (Carshare Belgium) | Visit website
Baltic Sea States Subregional Co-operation (BSSSC) | Visit website
CONCITO Denmark’s green thinktank | Visit website
Council of the Baltic Sea States | Visit website
CPMR Baltic Sea Commission Transport Group | Visit website
EU Commission DG Regio | Visit website
European Rural Parliament | Visit website
German Association for Housing Urban and Spatial Development | Visit website
Hela Sverige ska leva (Sweden’s main NGO for rural development) | Visit website
HiReach project | Visit website
INCLUSION project | Visit website
Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme | Visit website
Interreg BSR project SEMPRE | Visit website
Interreg Central Europe project Peripheral Access | Visit website
Interreg Central Europe project RUMOBIL | Visit website
Interreg North Sea region G-PaTRA | Visit website
IVL – Swedish Environmental Research Institute | Visit website
Kylätoiminta ry, Village Action Association of Finland | Visit website
NAH.SH (Transport Association Schleswig-Holstein) | Visit website
nexus Institute for Cooperation Management and Interdisciplinary Research | Visit website
Nordic Council of Ministers | Visit website
POLIS Network | Visit website
Rupprecht Consult | Visit website
SMARTA project | Visit website
South Ostrobothnia Health Care District
South Ostrobothnia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment
The Social Insurance Institution of Finland
VASAB | Visit website
Verkehrsbetriebe Kreis Ploen (VKP) | Visit website
VTI (Statens väg- och transportforskningsinstitut) | Visit website
Interreg Baltic
Sea Region
Mamba is a project under the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme 2014-2020, which supports territorial development and cooperation for a more innovative, accessible and sustainable Baltic Sea Region. Partners from countries around the Baltic Sea work together in transnational projects on common key challenges and opportunities.
The Programme offers funding in four thematic fields, known as Priorities:
- Priority 1
“Capacity for innovation”, offers support for development of innovation infrastructures, smart specialisation and non-technological innovations. - Priority 2
“Efficient management of natural resources”, supports projects on resource efficient blue growth, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency and clear waters.
- Priority 3
“Sustainable transport” includes projects like MAMBA on accessibility of remote areas as well as environmentally friendly shipping and urban mobility. - Priority 4
offers funding to Seed Money projects within the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, including coordination of the EU Strategy stakeholders.
