In MAMBA, the Municipality of Trelleborg cooperates with Södra Åbys hembygdsförening, a village association from the region. Together, they develop a rural co-working space in the village of Södra Åby to improve quality of life and reduce transportation needs. On 14 February, they participated at the 2020 Rural Community Centres National Association conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

Christoffer Hernestig and Ulla-Britt Olofsson offered interviews in which they talked about MAMBA’s activity and goals, the rural co-working service and how EU-projects, such as MAMBA, can support and help local development in rural areas.

The audience consisted of rural community centre representatives from all over Sweden and politicians from the Swedish Parliament.

To learn more about the conference, click here (in Swedish only).

On 7 February 2020, the Regional Stakeholders Meeting of the MAMBA project was organised jointly by the District Bielsko and the Regional Development Agency in Bielsko – Biała. The project’s results, its regional context and main activities were presented during the meeting.
The hosts discussed the Virtual Mobility Centre and pilot actions, such as Transport on Demand in Wilkowice, implemented by the District Bielsko and the ride-sharing application for mobile devices produced by the Regional Development Agency in Bielsko-Biała. Panel discussions related to the project’s activities and their value for the local economy of the region of Bielsko-Biała also took place during the event.
The participants of the discussion endorsed the work of the project partners. They expressed their interest in pilot actions in other countries remarking that the local application of similar actions would require significant adjustments to the Polish conditions due to the cultural, economic and legal differences.
The participants hoped that the end of the project MAMBA would not interrupt the further exchange of experiences and ideas between the project partners and also that it would be possible to continue the cooperation in the field of innovative mobility solutions on an international scale.

On 11 February 2020, Trelleborg Municipality welcomed stakeholders and other interested actors to an event discussing mobility and service in rural areas.

During this knowledge day, MAMBA project was presented to the people attending, and a particular emphasis was put on the socio-cultural differences in rural areas around the Baltic Sea Region. These include alternative fuels, new mobility solutions for elderly citizens in Trelleborg, parking spots close to mobility nodes and public transport with train in rural areas.

One village from the Trelleborg Municipality presented their activities during last year and had a discussion around the importance of a living countryside and how the civil sociality could solve this issue. One vineyard from the region introduced their self-organized solutions to mobility challenges to the audience and discussed how private actors could collaborate to solve some problems.

Neighbouring municipalities, farmers, village associations, politicians, private companies in rural areas, students, the region of Skåne, the National Transport Administration, the County Government, science institute were among the participants at the event, the total number of people attending being 59.

A new stakeholders meeting within the MAMBA project took place on the 28 Janury 2020. The event was organised by the MAMBA teams in South Ostrobothnia, Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences and Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia.

In the meeting, attended by Municipalities, joint municipalities and authorities from South Ostrobothnia, we discussed the transport situation in the municipalities and decided to form a Regional steering group for the mobility services. Jani Palomäki from the Regional Council of South Ostrobothnia presented a new model for cooperation as a mobility solution for the region for the time being, before a new health care reform will come in a couple of years’ time. The group will continue working with different stakeholders also after the MAMBA project ends.

Since the Vidzeme Planning Region has launched a pilot project “transport on demand” in two municipalities of the Vidzeme Planning Region – Aluksne and Mazsalaca municipalities, one and a half months have passed and the first data on the results of the service have been collected.

In the first six weeks, since October 21st, 75 trips were organized in both regions, carrying 199 passengers: 109 passengers (51 trips) in Mazsalaca county, and 90 passengers (24 trips) in Aluksne region (data as of 1.12.2019).

The longest journey in Alūksne county was 73 kilometers, with several inhabitants traveling together, while in Mazsalaca county – 21.5 kilometers. The most common destinations are doctor’s visit, pharmacy, post office. Citizens actively take advantage of the opportunity to visit also shops, the library, music school classes, choir rehearsals and more. Citizens are also keen to use the service to attend cultural events, as the service is available on weekdays from 4:00 to 23:00 in the evening and during the pre-arranged time, it also takes people back home.

Līga Puriņa-Purīte, Project Manager: “In our daily conversations with local residents we conclude that the service has significantly improved their quality of life. Residents can apply for a visit to the doctor without fear that the only leisure time offered will not fit into the public transport schedule. Users include people who use the service to get to the workplace or back to home. We are particularly pleased with the recent trip where visually impaired person was carried. We are very fortunate with the companies providing transport services in both regions. In the case at hand, the man was accompanied by a driver to all points of services, for which we are very grateful and proud to have done it so voluntarily.”

It is planned that in January 2020, representatives of Vidzeme Planning Region will organize a meeting with residents who have used the service so far to find out how satisfied they are with the current service of ToD and to hear suggestions for changes or improvements.

Every month, since March 2018, more than 400 people call a phone number, order a taxi and then wait for their ride at the closest bus stop. This system, called “ALFA” was implemented by the county of Plön, in Germany, around the small town Lütjenburg, in the north-eastern part of the county.

The idea behind this initiative, part of MAMBA project, was to offer more and better connections from small villages to the nearby town (Lütjenburg). The aim was to improve the existing public transport, primarily focused on student transportation and without many connections, or any at all, in the evening or on weekends.

The demand responsive transport (DRT) service was planned by the local bus company but is operated by taxis, that should be ordered at least 60 minutes in advance of the trip. The initiative uses only existing bus stops, and a timetable specifies the exact departure times. That makes the use of the system simple and transparent. If no booking occurs, the taxis will remain in the garage.  The price for a trip is the same as for buses, although taxis are used. The driver can sell different types of tickets – group, weekly and monthly.

The fact that there are more than 400 passengers every month who use this offer is quite outstanding when compared to an average usage rate in Germany. “ALFA” proved to be a success story, attracting different target groups – elderly people, students and tourists who spend their holidays on the Baltic Sea. And it has grown into a second mobility initiative started in November 2019.

MAMBA project has been fostering success stories with the partners developing their pilot and Mobility Centre initiatives. One of these cases is that of the Municipality of Trelleborg, where school buses have been put to good use. If during weekdays these are used to transport school children to and from school, during weekends they serve a different purpose. Almost every Saturday, the buses carry between 15 and 20 elderly people, women being more willing to give it a try than men, to places of interest, creating opportunities for them to socialise. During an interview for the regional newspaper, Trelleborgs Allehanda, one of the people benefiting from the pilot, said that these trips are nice and cheap occasions for the pensioners.

By raising the interest of other departments of the municipality, such as the cultural and educational one, this initiative is trying to diversify the trips, and drive the elderly to museums, exhibitions, concerts and so on, also taking into account the wishes of those who use the trips.

Besides trying to increase the mobility of vulnerable societal groups, Christoffer Pettersson-Hernestig, Project manager for MAMBA in the Trelleborg region, and Felix Sunesson, Intern within the Department of Sustainable Development, have also – through the MAMBA project –  developed a hub that serves as a coworking space, that aims at bringing together professionals from the Södra Åby area.

Both, the trips offered to elderly people and the coworking space, will be presented in a short movie, where Christoffer, Felix and Ulla-Brit, the person in charge of the hub, talked about issues and practicalities that come with such initiatives, how easy or difficult it is to convince people to try new things and how the trips and the coworking space have changed the municipality for the better.