General background
Region Zealand is the project leader in the Interreg-project Green STRING corridor (www.stringcorridor.org). The project was launched in December 2011, and is scheduled to run for three years. It is financed by the Interreg IVA Öresund Program and brings together 12 partners from the Öresund Region.
The main objective of the Green STRING Corridor Project is to promote and highlight the potential of innovative transport and logistics solutions in the promotion of a green transport corridor between the Öresund Region and Hamburg. The project sets out to facilitate cooperation between the business sector, research institutions and public authorities in the STRING corridor. The project content is divided into several work packages and tasks.
Region Zealand is the task leader for the work package entitled ‘Development of a Green STRING Transport Corridor’ (WP1) and is responsible for the activity ‘Environmental effects of a green STRING transport corridor’ (WP1.3). WP 1.3 aims to highlight the environmental effects of a Green STRING Transport Corridor by exemplifying how innovative and efficient logistics and transport solutions can contribute to improve the environment in the STRING Region.
Background for the study
The STRING Corridor covers the geography between the Öresund Region, representing the largest logistics hub in Scandinavia, the metropolitan region of Hamburg, with the third biggest overseas port in Europe, as well as the interfacing geography between these two regions.
The Green STRING Corridor represents the political ambition of the STRING Network to promote a resource efficient use of the upcoming opportunities created by a fixed link across Fehmarn Belt for better access, cross border cooperation and business opportunities (see www.stringnetwork.org).
The idea of resource efficiency as a synergy between sustainability and business is becoming increasingly relevant for various stakeholders in the STRING corridor. There are two major perspectives on the issue of green corridors that both lead to the same outcome: support of advancing a green STRING corridor.
First, a green STRING corridor is aligned with policy objectives set by national and European policy-makers. However, in order for these objectives to become a reality, and for the business community to be brought on board, a second perspective is equally, if not more, important in terms of understanding the concept of green corridors: green corridors make good business sense.
The central message is that the ‘green’ component of efficiency is in itself not a key selling point to businesses, the ultimate drivers of system development. Indeed, resource efficiency is embedded in a wider set of concepts related to the efficiency: security, timeliness, and reliability. In WP 1.3 a central objective will be to exemplify how politically formulated aims of more environmentally friendly transports can be in line with a more business-oriented approach towards efficient logistics.
Objective of the study
1. Identification of (at least) six good and illustrative examples of companies from the STRING Region providing or buying transport and logistics services within different types of industry that has organised their logistics and transport activities in a more efficient and environmentally friendly way along the STRING corridor Öresund - Hamburg. We are looking for companies buying or providing internationally oriented transport and logistics, meaning operations to or from locations within the STRING Region via Fehmarn Belt. Operations should not be confined only within the STRING Region.
The selection of companies has to be done under the following criteria:
• Minimum of one example in all the three countries of the STRING corridor (e.g. each country has two examples in a different region). The overall number of cases has to be a minimum of 6. The cases should be described via personal interviews and other types of secondary data.
• The cases should illustrate examples from different types of industries, e.g. manufacturing, retailing, forwarding, transport and thereby different potentials and challenges for the companies (see example on similar study for inspiration on www.allianz-pro-schiene.de/eng/brochures/, “From Truck to Train – 12 examples of successful modal shifts in freight transport”, 2007.
• The selected companies needs to be already engaged in a kind of effectively/rationalization process, which makes it possible to identify and show related environmental impacts.
2. The study should highlight the main drivers behind decisions within the selected companies for re-organising their logistics and transport activities in a more efficient and environmentally friendly way. Environmental issues may not have been the initial reason, but may have proved to be an important side-effect stemming from more efficiency-driven issues.
3. The study should explain the origin/starting point of this process and what actors would see as ‘lessons learned’ from this process of re-organizing their logistical and transport setup. This includes presenting both obstacles and successes which both businesses and public authorities can relate to.
4. The study should via the selected businesses illustrate the potential for combining (economically) efficient with (documented) environmentally friendly logistics and transport in terms of reduced emissions, energy use, traffic work per transported unit and other relevant indicators.
5. The cases should, where appropriate to the selected cases, how an upcoming fixed Fehmarn Belt Link will affect the current logistics and transport setup in terms of efficiency and environmental performance.
6. Moreover, has the study to set its result into a context that relates to the seven vision points of the green STRING corridor (see report of Activity 1.1 by Oxford Research on www.stringcorridor.org). Can the study results provide a hint on how we can approach this vision?
Results of the study
The output of the study has to be in the form of a report, in English, which can be included as part of the work package 1 activity, WP 1.3 ‘Environmental effects within a green STRING transport corridor’.
The study should contain both a quantitative and qualitative analysis of business related transport and environmental parameters.
The description of the selected business cases should have a form that makes it possible to communicate the content at political forums, conferences and seminars – e.g. key statements, key figures across the cases illustrating efficiency and environmental performance, routing maps, illustrative pictures and figures.
It is expected that the study will be coordinated with the WP leader and project partners in WP 1 working group. The task is completed, when Region Zealand has approved the final report.
Budget
25.000 euro
Time schedule
The study/report has to be finalized by the 30th of April, 2013. A draft/work in process version should be available the 2nd of April, 2013.
Criteria for assessment of tender
- Presentation in the tender of a preliminary and relevant selection of six (or more) cases to be examined in the study
- Documented experience and results within similar assignments
- Overall design and consistency of study and use of methodology
- Cost efficiency
Tender must be presented at Region Zealand the 28-29th of January, 2013. Time and place will be announced directly to tenders.
Submission of tender
The submitted tender should include information on:
- Preliminary selection of six (or more) relevant cases to be examined in the study
- Expected use of resources to solve the task
- Name and position of person connected to the task with CV
- Documented experience and results within similar assignments.
Deadline for tender
24th of January, latest 12 o’clock, 2013.
Tenders, incl. annexes, have to be sent as 1 written edition and an electronic version in pdf-format to Secretary Tina Charlotte Jacobsen, Region Sjælland, Alléen 15, 4180, Sorø. E-mail: tinaja@regionsjaelland.dk.
Tenders will be invited for a presentation of tender the 28-29th of January, 2013, at Region Zealand in Sorø.
Contact persons at Region Zealand:
Sandrina Lohse, Workpackage leader
Tel.: +45 2494 3843
E-mail: sloh@regionsjaelland.dk
Leif Gjesing Hansen, Project Manager
Tel.: +45 2927 2292
E-mail: lgi@regionsjaelland.dk