New meeting place for transport and infrastructure at Elmia

Next autumn is the premiere for Elmia’s new transport fair, Elmia Nordic Transport Infrastructure, which is being held in parallel with Elmia Nordic Rail. Together with the conference Elmia Nordic Future Transport Summit, the fairs form the Nordic region’s most important meeting place for the development of tomorrow’s transport and infrastructure on 8–10 October 2019.

“It is incredibly important that we develop society in a sustainable way – environmentally, economically and socially – and we must do so for the long term,” explains Lars Redtzer, head of infrastructure issues at the Swedish Construction Federation, a partner organisation of the fairs. “One important way to contribute to the positive development of society is by having well-functioning infrastructure. The fairs and conference form a clear thematic thread. With the planned high-speed rail link, Elmia and Jönköping will become a physical hub at the heart of the entire infrastructure development, a central point of the whole Nordic region’s infrastructure.”

For some years now, Elmia Nordic Rail has been the Nordic region’s most important meeting place for the entire railway industry. This is the meeting place for planning managers, purchasers, operators, specifiers, government departments and agencies, organisations, researchers and educationalists – all with a shared interest in rail transport. Elmia Nordic Transport Infrastructure is the new transport fair that takes a comprehensive grasp on all the transport modes plus the technology and services that will be needed in future to meet the various transport challenges: various transport modes, intermodality, infrastructure and building the fabric of society.

Strategic seminars

The Elmia Nordic Future Transport Summit is the conference forum for the big strategic issues about transport and infrastructure, with a focus on politics, strategies, the future, industrialisation, Nordic cooperation and infrastructure that builds the social fabric.

“With this new arena we bring together all the actors involved – everyone who can look ahead – land-use planners, politicians, government authorities, consultants, contractors and futurologists – and achieve a result that we can follow up every second year to shape a future roadmap towards the sustainable society,” says Redtzer, who is also a member of the programme committee that is planning the conference.

“It’s also a matter of working across borders and being an arena for the whole Nordic region,” he adds. “Whether we’re talking about passengers or freight, they don’t stop at the borders. We have to expand our horizons so we get efficient flows both in and out of the country so the entire region becomes competitive.”

At the fairs, visitors can participate in Tech Talks – technical seminars in the midst of the exhibitor stands – and Tech Walks – guided tours on special topics. The fairs also offer a Matchmaking service with short, efficient meetings between suppliers and purchasers.

“We’re now creating the next generation of meeting place, which explores the technology in depth but also tackles the big strategic issues about climate and cooperation,” explains Magnus Ringqvist, manager of Elmia’s new transport fairs. “We have everything necessary to be a constantly relevant meeting place for transport and infrastructure.”