Regional goods now arrive by UCKER Warentakt

Since 7 April, the UCKER Warentakt has been transporting goods from participating retailers to Gerswalde and Flieth. The regional transport service, developed and implemented by the Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE) and the Uckermärkische Verkehrsgesellschaft (UVG), connects regional retailers, service providers and customers with the bus. The latter can now order online or by phone directly from regional retailers and have their goods delivered by bus.

"When developing the project idea, it was important to us to combine innovative approaches with existing infrastructures in a new way. With the Uckermärkische Verkehrsgesellschaft (UVG) as a cooperation partner, we have succeeded in doing this brilliantly," says project team member Eva Greischel. "We want to create a new awareness of regional goods and suppliers by offering an opportunity that combines the advantages of online shopping with the qualities of local retail. Sixteen retailers in the region have already been convinced by the idea and we are working on expanding the circle. So that the people of Gerswalde and Flieth can ideally get everything they need delivered locally by the UCKER Warentakt."

"We want to strengthen regional value creation and contribute to the quality of life for everyone in rural areas with the UCKER Warenentakt. So that what is closest to us also arrives nearby," says project manager Professor Dr Alexander Conrad, describing the background. "We are initially launching the UCC goods cycle in Gerswalde and Flieth. If the approach is successful, it can be extended to other locations in rural areas. The prerequisites are a bus connection and a central point of contact in the town."

How customers can order
The contact point for the UCKER Warentakt is a local shop. In Gerswalde it is the "Landhandel", in Flieth it is the "bonUm gustUM" regional shop. There are displays with retailer information. These explain who is taking part, what is on offer and how to order. Customers can use this information to order directly from the retailers. They receive the deliveries and keep them for customers until they collect them.

Delivery is then made to the shops in Gerswalde and Flieth via the UCKER Warentakt. All information about the retailers and their offers can be found online on the website of UCKER Warentakt website.

This is how returns parcels are sent on their journey
It works the same way on the return journey. Consumers hand in their returns, which are to be sent back to the online retailers via Hermes or DPD, for example, as usual with a returns label at the "Landhandel" Gerswalde or the "bonUm gustUM" regional shop in Flieth. They collect the parcels and give them to the UVG bus once a day. This takes the parcels to Prenzlau's central bus station, where a cooperating parcel shop collects the returns and hands them over to Hermes or DPD. This means that the UCKER Warentakt closes a gap, as until now people have usually had to travel to the nearest larger town to a parcel shop themselves.

UCKER Warentakt is a research project of the region 4.0 innovation alliance to promote identity and quality through regional value creation networks at Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development. It is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in the programme "WIR! Change through innovation in the region" („WIR! Wandel durch Innovation in der Region") programme.

Note on image material
The photos available here may be used for reporting purposes. Please note the copyright notice © HNEE / Steffi Pohlan