#EPSOchairman - Santiago Garcia-Milà has been unanimously elected for a second term as Chairman of the European Ports Organisation (ESPO) following a vote of the organisation's General Assembly held in Brussels this afternoon.

The General Assembly also elected Annaleena Mäkilä and Eamonn O'Reilly as Vice-Chairs.

Mr. O'Reilly, who serves as the Chief Executive of the Dublin Port Company, will now start a second term in the role. Ms. Mäkilä is currently Executive Director of the Finnish ports Association.

Santiago Garcia-Milà starts his second term as Chairman of ESPO, following his tenure for the years 2012-2014.

Upon his re-election, Mr Garcia-Milà said "the last two years were quite challenging for ESPO, both with a new port regulation proposal on the table and the development of a new TEN-T policy framework. On both topics, ESPO has succeeded, notwithstanding the diversity of its ports, in taking a solid position and work in a professional way with EU policy makers towards a better policy".

The work is not finished, he added. "I hope we can continue on this path, explain to EU policy makers how ports function, share our knowledge and our experience and convince Europe's decisions makers that Europe's ports work. I am happy to contribute to this work for two more years and would like to thank ESPO members for this vote of confidence".

Mr.Garcia-Milà is currently Deputy General Manager of the Port of Barcelona, in addition to being Vice-President of the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH), the President of Barcelona's Port Community System, PortIC, Chief Executive Officer of tmZ, Zaragoza Inland Terminal and associate lecturer in International Marketing at the University of Barcelona.

The election of Mr. Garcia-Milà coincides with the publication of ESPO's Annual Report 2014, which outlines the activities of the organisation over the past year. A copy of the report can be downloaded HERE.

In addition, tonight will see the awarding of the sixth annual ESPO Award on Societal integration, as previously reported on Afloat.ie. The winner will be announced by Joao Aguiar Machado, Director General, DG MOVE, at a ceremony at the Albert Hall in Brussels.

The theme of this year's ESPO Award is 'Innovative Environmental projects'. The shortlisted candidates are the Ports of Huelva, Koper, Lisbon, Marseille and Rotterdam.

 

#PortAward2014 - The ports of Huelva, Koper, Lisbon, Marseille and Rotterdam have been shortlisted for the sixth European Sea Port Organisation (ESPO) Award on Societal Integration of Ports.

The jury yesterday selected these five applications from a total of twenty submissions. The theme of this year's competition as previously reported is 'Innovative environmental projects'.

Reducing the environmental impact of port operations and improving local environmental conditions for the people working and living around the port are key success factors for the societal integration of ports.

In fact, ports grant and maintain their license to operate and to grow from their local communities. Therefore, through the award, ESPO hopes to identify and promote innovative projects set up by ports that address the typical port-city concerns in the environmental field such as local air pollution, water pollution, noise, dust and odours.

"It has been very difficult to select five shortlisted projects. The five shortlisted ports prove to be concerned about the way they interact with their neighbours. These ports clearly demonstrate they respect the people who live close to them and carry responsibility towards the environment they work in," said jury chairman Dirk Sterckx.

The winner of the sixth ESPO Award will be announced during the Award Ceremony and Port Night taking place on 4 November in Brussels. The shortlisted projects will be presented on the ESPO website in the running up to this event.

The ESPO Award was established in 2009 to promote innovative projects of port authorities that improve societal integration of ports, especially with the city or wider community in which they are located.

In this way, the Award wants to stimulate the sustainable development of European ports and their cities.

 

#PortAward -This year, European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) will be holding their 6th Award on Societal Integration of Ports.

The awards are to address innovative port projects that lead to environmental improvement for the benefit of the wider port and local community.

If you take innovative actions to improve literally the local environment, if your port tries try to respond to the environmental concerns of the population by setting up specific programmes addressing local air or water pollution, or you are doing something against noise or odours from your port, then you could apply for the ESPO Award 2014 and have the chance to make your project known internationally.

Project submissions have to reach the ESPO secretariat by the 1st July at the latest.

The ESPO Award was established in 2009 to promote innovative projects of port authorities that improve societal integration of ports, especially with the city or wider community in which they are located.

In this way, the Award wants to stimulate the sustainable development of European ports and their cities.

For the 2014 competition, the theme 'Innovative environmental projects' was chosen.

Reducing the environmental impact of port operations and improving the local environmental conditions for the people working and living around the port are key success factors for the societal integration of ports. In fact, ports grant and maintain their license to operate and to grow from their local communities.

Therefore, through the award, ESPO hopes to identify and promote innovative projects set up by ports that address the typical port-city concerns in the environmental field such as local air pollution, water pollution, noise, dust, odours.

The organisers warmly encourage you to participate in this year's competition.

Project submissions must be received by the ESPO secretariat by 1 July at the latest. The ESPO Award will be officially handed out during an Award Ceremony and Port Night, which will take place on 4 November 2014 in Brussels.

The following ports were winners over the last six years: the Port of Gijón (2009), Port of Helsinki (2010), Ports of Stockholm (2011), Port of Genoa (2012) and the Port of Antwerp won last year.

For the terms of reference click HERE and application form can be found from this LINK.

 

#HeritagePORT- Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas yesterday handed out the fifth edition of the ESPO Award on Societal Integration to the Port of Antwerp for its project 'Heritage: the breadcrumbs trail between city and port'.

This year's edition of the ESPO Award as reported on Alfoat.ie in September, had 'heritage' as theme.

The ESPO Award jury was especially impressed by the way the project of the port of Antwerp celebrates the past, provides new civic amenities for the citizens of today, creates a new iconic building as the heritage of tomorrow, and sets out to educate its citizens about the importance of a thriving port for their lives.

In his word of thanks, Port of Antwerp Chief Operations Officer, Christiaan De Block said: "Antwerp Port Authority and the port community are particularly pleased about winning the 2013 ESPO Award. We see it as an appreciation for the sustainable development of our port, and for our efforts towards maximum symbiosis between city and port, an important precondition for creating social support. The ultimate aim is to bring citizens and visitors closer to the Port of Antwerp. Our motto 'Strong through collaboration' has once more proved its value."

As every year, the award ceremony was held in the Town Hall of Brussels. The event was followed by a walking dinner, which was attended by more than 200 representatives from the European port and transport sector and EU institutions. The event also marked the 20th anniversary of ESPO.

The 15 projects that participated in this year's competition have been brought together in a PDF format booklet which can be downloaded from the ESPO website LINK HERE.