Eight CO2 reduction pilots set in motion as TRACER-X launches

Four cities, two regional authorities, and a leading research institution across Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Sweden have officially launched TRACER-X. The project tests innovative mobility solutions in real-world settings to lower CO2 emissions in the Central Baltic region.

• TRACER-X brings together:
  • Forum Virium Helsinki, Finland (lead partner)
  • City of Stockholm, Sweden
  • City of Tallinn, Estonia
  • Riga City Council, Latvia
  • Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council, Finland
  • Union of Harju County Municipalities, Estonia
  • KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

Full details about the project and its participating organisations are available on the official TRACER-X website.

Practical solutions for a regional challenge

Transport emissions are a shared headache across Northern Europe. Over the three-year project, the partners will develop diverse mobility hubs and related services for urban centres of different sizes. The aim is to make multimodal travel chains smoother and improve the efficiency of the first and last mile of journeys (and deliveries) to speed up the shift toward low-carbon transit.

Beyond immediate local testing, the project provides local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) a framework to test new mobility technologies in one country and scale them across neighboring markets.

Kick-off meeting in Riga: networking and setting next steps

The partners met on September 17–18 in Riga, Latvia, to kick off the project. Teams planned early pilot locations, agreed on immediate action plans in the project, and shared stories of previous piloting successes, setbacks, and local challenges.

“Cross-border cooperation is essential here and not a single city can transform urban mobility alone,” noted Jussi Knuuttila, Project Manager from Forum Virium Helsinki. “The eight pilots are central to the success of this project. By testing smart mobility solutions jointly across Latvia, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia, we ensure that innovations proven, for example, in Riga or Tallinn can be adapted in cities across the entire Central Baltic area.”

The meeting included presentations about the first actions and deliverables in the project together with an interactive workshop mapping key stakeholder needs. Attendees also received project implementation guidance from Samu Numminen, Contact Point at the Interreg Central Baltic Joint Secretariat (JS).

Partners also participated in the Riga Smart Cities Conference, taking part in local site visits and engaging with the broader smart mobility community gathered in Riga.

What happens next?

Project partners will host local challenge-definition workshops this Autumn with citizens and regional businesses, finalise piloting plans, and gather baseline data about CO₂ emissions alongside project partner KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

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TRACER-X is co-funded by the European Union’s Interreg Central Baltic Programme.