NIRD GeoEcoMar organizes the 2nd Transnational Event and the 3rd Pan European Forum under the auspices of the European co-funded Project “Environmental Management of Transborder Corridor Ports – ECOPORT 8”, on 21 & 22 October 2010 respectively. These international events will take place in the headquarters of the GeoEcoMar Institute in Bucharest, Dimitrie Onciul Street, 23-25.
Over 10 European specialists and over 5 Romanian authorities (Romanian Port Authority, Romanian Port Administration, Constanta Townhall Representative, Water Basin Administrative Dobrogea Littoral, Environmental Protection Inspectorate etc), as well as stakeholders (port operators), NGO representatives and the local media have been invited to attend and actively participate in the events that will approach and treat important issues regarding European ports environmental problematic within Pan-European Corridor.
More specifically, during the events the participants will have the opportunity to be informed of and discuss incentive topics such as the legislative framework within the European ports, the technological solutions applied in the area as far as environmental protection is concerned, the monitoring activities and the perspectives towards the application of new concepts of integrated management of European ports etc.
The implementation of the project ECOPORT 8 started in 2009 in the framework of the SOUTH EAST EUROPE Transnational Cooperation Programme that is co-funded by the European Union. 10 bodies (Research Organizations, Universities and Governmental bodies) from 4 EU and 2 non-EU countries and 7 Port Authorities (Constanta, Bourgas, Bari, Bar, Durres, Igoumenitsa, Patras) participate in the activities of the project.
The principal aim of ECOPORT 8 is to define reference actions to prevent the pollution of (sea) water, air, ground, and preserve all natural resources in port areas and nearby coastal zones, through close cooperation of scientific institutions and local port authorities. The main objective is to create a Pan-European network to develop, strengthen and transfer coordinated initiatives of cooperation for eco-management of PAN-EU corridor ports (voluntary and pro-active) in each single component.
From the beginning of the project great steps were made towards the direction of understanding the legislative framework in force concerning each port involved in the project and a complex SWOT analysis for each port and an integrative approach of instruments, tools and policies for environmental protection have been elaborated by ports. On this purpose, a holistic analysis of port infrastructure and environmental protection related facilities was also done.
The next step consists in practical actions for quality port assessment using the results of the Context Analysis through which the sensible environmental parameters and further methods to asses their quality have been set. Therefore, a common monitoring plan for all involved ports has been designed and a shared protocol and instruments will be applied in 2 pilot ports (Bourgas and Bar). Finally, guidelines for a PAN-EU eco-management system of ports and a shared protocol will be produced and submitted to Authorities, guaranteeing EU eco-competition and cooperation.
The project will ultimately allow the involved port Authorities to move towards self-certification. It should be noted, and is widely recognised, that EMAS certification activates processes of permanent improvement.
Only through shared rules and standards, a common safeguarding policy for marine environments between a range of ports, an up-to-date and integrated monitoring network, and the acknowledgment of management bodies will it be possible to guarantee healthy eco-competition between SEE routes and ports and avoid irreversible environmental damage.
It will be our pleasure to see you at the eventDr. Glicherie Caraivan
Director
GeoEcoMar - Constanta Branch
Director
GeoEcoMar - Constanta Branch