The conference entitled “Green and Smart Ports in the Adriatic-Ionian Region. The decarbonisation and digitalisation of ports and freight transport: the contribution of European territorial cooperation”, organised by the Port Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea in cooperation with the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and under the auspices of the European Macro-Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region (EUSAIR) was held in Trieste on 21 June 2023.
The objective of the workshop was to take stock of the state of the art of the inevitable processes of environmental sustainability and adoption of digital solutions between the ports of Italy, Slovenia and Croatia, analysing their challenges and possible joint strategies.
Over the past few years, the ports of Italy, Slovenia and Croatia have been cooperating to improve their environmental performance and efficiency through telematic solutions, both within the North Adriatic Port Association (NAPA) and in the framework of several projects co-financed by European funds and led by the Port of Trieste, among which the projects “SUSPORT – SUStainable PORTs” and “DIGSEA – Digitisation of Multimodal Transport in the Adriatic Sea”, (Interreg Italy Croatia), “ACCESSMILE – Improving the accessibility of the last best for rural and peripheral areas to the main TEN-T nodes in Central Europe through ICT” (Interreg Central Europe).
The knowledge developed within the framework of these projects, together with that of the broader project “EALING – European flagship action for cold ironing in ports” (CEF Programme), was pooled by bringing together the experiences of more than thirty ports, freight villages and logistics operators from eleven European countries.
During the conference, the main results of these projects were illustrated and a joint protocol was signed between the representatives of the ports of Italy, Slovenia and Croatia for the creation of a system of cross-border cooperation in the field of decarbonisation of the port sector.
Among the speakers, Prof. Thierry Vanelslander from the University of Antwerp presented the latest research results on the challenges and possible solutions available to improve environmental performance. Gadi Benmoshe, Vice-Chairman of the IAPH (International Association of Ports and Harbors) Data Collaboration Committee, emphasised the increasingly topical challenges related to cyber security, also in the port sphere. Finally, Prof. Pierluigi Coppola, coordinator of thematic group no. 2 of the EUSAIR Strategy highlighted the role of green and digital ports in the broader context of the Adriatic-Ionian Region.
Anne Jensen, European coordinator of the Adriatic-Baltic Corridor, also attended the conference and visited the port of Trieste in the afternoon.
The conference has been recorded and the video is now on YouTube for you to watch.