ULTIMO’s sixth General Assembly (GA) was special in many ways. It happened close to the end of the project’s third year, and it was the first time that our consortium gathered in Herford, the German demo site. One highlight of note during the event was a test ride (during the set-up phase for operations). However, every GA is special in its own way. It is a rare moment where we can meet in person, and both collaboratively and efficiently work on complex topics related to the project (e.g. solution development). Of course, this is also an opportunity to deepen our personal connections. Thus, this change from online meetings is very much welcome! As a consortium leadership duo, we want to reflect a few different aspects of this event in the article below.
The GA mission statement
The ULTIMO project had a few intensive days during the 2025 EUCAD conference where we organised a live demo transporting participants(see here the video for more). The conference was the source of a wealth of knowledge as well as many inspiring moments. As the leadership duo, we both had a lot to process. We are extremely grateful for this experience and used it to shape the concept for the GA in Herford.
We were guided by the question of how we, as a consortium, can fulfil the expectations placed on us and what we, as a consortium leadership duo, can specifically do to achieve this? This resulted in the following mission statement for the GA: “We are pathfinders* – what does this mean, how to fulfil this role, and how can we generate added value for the EU as a flagship project?
– Thanks to Andrea De Candido for this inspiring statement
Our opening keynote
Through this mission statement, we wanted to inspire the consortium to look beyond the project timeline and actively fulfil the expectations placed upon us. Besides generating tangible value and making a meaningful difference, we talked about the opportunities and responsibilities we have as a consortium, as partner organisations, professionals and private persons.
The potential significance and impact of ULTIMO was also perfectly highlighted in the speech by the Mayor of Herford, Tim Kähler. He clearly addressed the challenges faced by public transport in small and medium-sized cities and identified autonomous vehicles integrated within a Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) system as a key part of the solution.
Agenda highlights
The ULTIMO Vision 2035 workshop, led by our Scientific Director and Work Package 6 leader, Guy Fournier (Pforzheim University), marked the start of the working phase. At the beginning of the second day, a service blueprint development session took place under Work Package 2 leader, Linda Mathé representing Siemens. Both workshops were main highlights, and we have great appreciation for this special commitment and high-quality contributions from the project team all along the GA.
The ULTIMO Vision 2035 counts among one of the key objectives and implementation goals to fulfil the expectations of the project. It also represents a unique opportunity to make a real impact on the sustainable transformation of European mobility. In keeping with the scope of such a target, we are satisfied that the collaborative work was carried out in such a productive and enthusiastic way, thanks to the effective preparation and implementation of the Work Package 6 core team.
Based on the latest technical developments for L4 operation evaluated at a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6, Andreas, the project coordinator at DB Regio Bus, introduced the idea in a Work Package 2 meeting of drafting a service blueprint to visualise the active stakeholders and technologies interactions in order to develop gaps, optimisation potential and proactive countermeasures for worst-case scenarios. This would allow us to navigate between macro and micro levels in the further development of TRL7 until the end of the project and ensure that we always maintain the user focus as well as enable a positive customer experience. This is key to new and sustainable mobility in Europe.
This co-creation unit was also extremely productive, because it was made of enthusiastic and engaged partners. It was a very helpful experience for newcomers to the project as well as for those who have been involved for many years, providing both an overall view and a smaller level of detail for all the project developments created.
Levelling up the GA experience for project partners
To fulfil our “Pathfinders” mission statement, we used methodologies from the human-centred design framework and specifically engaged Work Package leaders to tackle the complexity related to their project goals in a co-creative and interdisciplinary manner.
We also introduced the concept of playfulness to produce promising results during the GA working sessions. Interactivity and gaming are useful to break down complex challenges into small manageable blocks and activate creativity on prospective-related topics. Andreas established four roles with different wigs for each and worn by different people to make the roles visible. We had:
- the pirate as the master facilitator supporting the working session moderators.
- the punk rocker with innovative ideas and supporting groups with fresh impulses.
- The revolutionary with transformative thoughts.
- And the music box for fun interactions.
There is a lot more to talk about. We will dig into facilitation and share our perspective on the European Public Transport Innovation Ecosystem in upcoming articles.
This article was written by the Project Coordinators, Lars Abeler and Andreas Fehr
DB Regio Bus, ULTIMO Project Coordinator