From 4 to 6 June 2025, BEPROACT’s partners gathered in Cologne for the fifth EU Partner Meeting, hosted by the Federal Highway and Transport Research Institute (BASt). The event brought together project partners from across Europe to exchange insights, review progress, and align on the next phases of the project.
Over the course of three days, the programme featured a variety of sessions, including project management updates, a bazar-style walk-around focused on WP2 progress, and the interactive BEPROACT Café with discussions in smaller expert groups. Partners also joined asset-type specific cluster meetings, explored demos and VR experiences, and attended presentations by BASt and Autobahn on their current initiatives and a demonstration of an innovative EasyWIM system. The partner meeting was well-attended and included strong engagement from all partners. The final day included forward-looking sessions on results achieved in the AI/ML workshops in Luxembourg, the demo of the pilot case development, a demo of the pilot case results of RTC4Water, a framework of asset dashboards for asset management and demo of the Rijkswaterstaat national asset dashboard, and an inventory of progress and examples of academic papers and international conferences. The event concluded with a wrap-up, planning for the next meeting in the Netherlands, and a shared lunch. An one-hour guided tour through the centre of Cologne was also given by the head of department of BasT, Dirk Jansen.
Bazar style interactive session: project Management & WP2 Progress Session
On June 5, a dynamic “Bazar style” session was held as part of the ITS European Congress in Cologne, focusing on project management and progress within WP2. Led by Natalie Oonk-Abrahams, Raymond Feron, and Deborah Geerlof, the session covered financial reporting, deliverables for P4, and key project updates. In an open walk-around format, all partners showcased their contributions to the pilot cases’ Proof of Concept. Pilot leads engaged with attendees to discuss progress, answer questions, and explore collaboration opportunities. Academic partners also shared research outputs and interim results. This format was proved successful, as this setup encouraged spontaneous conversations and dialogue between different partners. During Friday’s plenary session, BASt, the University of Lille, RTC4water, LIST and Rijkswaterstaat offered extended presentations, building on the posters they had showcased earlier.
The bazar style session offered valuable space for peer exchange, alignment, and strengthening the joint development of BEPROACT pilot cases. Some posters were further elaborated later in the programme, making the bazar a central linking element throughout the event. Partners responded enthusiastically to this format and we are planning to adopt this style in future events.
BEPROACT Café
Lastly, the BEPROACT Café took place as part of the partner meeting in Cologne. This interactive session brought together participants in separate subgroups to exchange insights on four core topics central to the project: data processing, test and validation, implementation and training, and finalizing proof of concepts. Each topic was introduced by a designated coordinator who facilitated the discussion and later shared key takeaways in a collaborate wrap-up. Topics included the integration of multiple data sources and machine learning (Group 1), approaches to test and validation within pilot cases and stakeholder engagement (Group 2), the design of an integrated roadmap for implementation and training of authorities (Group 3) and finalizing the proof of concepts (Group 4). The feedback gathered during the session provides valuable input for the refinement of the BEPROACT pilot cases and supports further knowledge exchange across the network.
BEPROACT regarded this multi-day partner meeting as a success. The meeting offered valuable insights for the BEPROACT project, reinforcing collaboration and shared vision across all partners. The next partner meeting is already scheduled for late November 2025 in the Netherlands.
