The cross-border region of Euregio joins the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Initiative, to foster the effectiveness of its emergency services for public safety.
The "Urban Air Mobility" (UAM) Initiative of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC), which is supported by the European Commission, aims to bring together cities, citizens, businesses and other stakeholders in order to accelerate practical application studies and their consequent implementation. The initiative is led by Airbus, while institutional partners include Eurocontrol and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The EIP UAM initiative is founded on a city-centric approach with a diversified set of demonstration projects with engaged smart cities and regions. The target is to jointly develop, through a horizontal cooperation of diverse mobility actors, concrete urban air mobility solutions (intra-city and inter-city mobility) with real impact by addressing established mobility needs of the specific cities.
Euregio and its cities of Enschede (NL) and Munster (D) sign the Manifesto of Intent and join the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Initiative
The Euregio, a cross border region around Twente and bordering parts of Niedersachsen and Nordrhein-Westfalia, becomes the first UAM Initiative demonstration project featuring crossborder regional cooperation between two European countries. The intended cooperation aims to improve public safety in the border area by using innovative air mobility. As such, Euregio becomes the first region to join the EIP-SCC UAM Initiative following the cities of Geneva Hamburg, Ingolstadt, Gent, Plovdiv and Brussels.
Today, September the 6th the Manifesto of Intent was formally signed at the City Hall of the City of Enschede. Signatories include inter alia Mr Onno van Veldhuizen, (Mayor of the City of Enschede), Mr Markus Lewe (Mayor of the City of Munster; signed on the 4th), Mr Rob Welten (Board Chairman of Euregio), Dr Vassilis Agouridas (EIP-SCC, UAM Initiative Leader; Airbus), Mr Michiel van Dorst (CEO, Air Traffic Control The Netherlands, LVNL), Prof. Rolf Henke
(member of the executive board of German Aerospace Center, DLR), Mrs Marja Eijkman (Director of Aerospace Operations at Netherlands Aerospace Center, NLR), Mr Stephan Wevers (Chief Fire Officer at Fire Department Twente), Mr Bas Leerink (Board Chairman of Medisch Spectrum Twente Hospital).
The signatures of the Manifesto of Intent signal the start of a project definition phase in which Enschede and Münster, two of the biggest cities in the area, together with Euregio will explore opportunities of UAM in the field of emergency services for public safety. Advantages to existing solutions will include faster response, lower costs and less noise disturbance. In a first phase, use cases include observation and signalling drones for example in wild fires. In a later phase, drones that can carry people, to bring a trauma doctor to the scene. “The applications that are mentioned, like transporting wounded persons by
drones, may sound like science fiction, but the technology is being developed very rapidly”, says the mayor of Enschede Onno van Veldhuizen. “The first
responders in the Euregio are already working together and air mobility can improve their capacity to respond in emergency situations.”
The list of interested partners is by no means closed. Following the signature of the manifesto, an official Kick-Off Workshop will be organized on 15 October 2018 to detail the next steps and attract new interested partners. The date and venue of the Kick-Off Workshop, as well as registration details, will be announced soon at www.enschede.nl/UAM.