The Green LaMiS project focuses on developing a common transnational solution for the sustainable management of the “last mile” of home social services in small and medium-sized urban centers in Central Europe, whether it involves delivery services (meals, groceries, medications, etc.) or the provision of home care services (home care, nursing, help with household management, etc.).

Today, home social services are often provided by Social Enterprises on behalf of local authorities, using vehicles that are not always eco-friendly, often owned by the home service operators themselves. This leads to unsustainable and inefficient organization, thus contributing to already high CO2 emission levels and traffic congestion due to poor connections between urban areas and the nearest functional urban areas (FUA) where both social operators and end beneficiaries live.

While various proposals exist to improve the sustainability of the last mile in product delivery, little to nothing has been done in the field of social services provided to vulnerable groups of the population such as the elderly, people with disabilities, or those in economic and social hardship, whose numbers are increasing.

This project will initially develop a common strategy and action plan based on an innovative methodological tool (WP1) derived from the calculation of the ecological footprint in combination with other indicators related to territorial morphology and the characteristics of the social services provided. Then, pilot tests (WP2) will be conducted to test both the strategy and the action plan in the directly involved territories (Bergamo-Italy; Szombathely-Hungary; Klis-Croatia), from which the necessary elements will be derived to formulate a joint solution (WP3).

To ensure the lasting impact of the project, a series of capacity-building activities will be implemented to create the knowledge and skills needed to continue monitoring and reducing CO2 emissions produced by the urban mobility of local authority operators and those of social enterprises (WP3).

The current sustainable and “green” urban mobility plans for these reference territories will be integrated with the results obtained by applying the new methodological tool (WP3), which will be provided to local authorities as support to improve their sustainable plans in the future.

The project will be managed by a consortium of organizations from Italy (Fondazione Politecnico di Milano – Lead Partner; National Consortium CGM; Municipality of Bergamo), Hungary (Westpannon Regional and Economic Development Public Nonprofit Ltd; Municipality of Szombathely City with County Rights; Institute for Computer Science and Control), Germany (University of Passau), and Croatia (Eupolis Group Ltd; Municipality of Klis), bringing together their expertise as research institutions,  point of reference for cooperatives, local development agencies and Public Authorities.