Acronym: SUPAIR
Project title: SUstainable Ports in the Adriatic-Ionian Region
Duration: 24 months (01/01/2018-31/12/2019)

Description: The Adriatic-Ionian region benefits from a strategic geographical location between East Europe, Mediterranean and Asia. The latter has laid the foundations for the development of an extensive network of ports and port-cities, witnessing the exchange of increasing flows of people and goods. Transport has actually become a key driver of economic growth in the region, bringing along however increasing levels of pollution and significant environmental externalities. There is therefore a pressing need to reduce the environmental impact of transport and significantly optimize transport chains, supporting in that way the transition towards a greener, safer and more efficient transport system.
Ports represent core nodes of the multimodal transport chain in the Adriatic-Ionian basin, and can serve as strategic key drivers for economic growth, reducing negative environmental impacts and supporting a sustainable development strategy for the area. Within the SUPAIR project, 7 key ADRION ports, supported by 3 leading technical partners, engage in the development of targeted action plans for the sustainable and low-carbon management of their operations. A wide range of interventions are to be explored including on-shore power supply, green upgrading of port machinery, emission control systems, ballast water management, ICT applications, etc. offering a comprehensive review of possible solutions that can be applied to other interested ports, beyond the project partnership, for moving towards less congested and more efficient port operations and further enhancing mobility and modal connectivity.

Objectives: The SUPAIR project responds to a major challenge i.e. tackling the reduction of emissions from shipping and on-shore port operations following an integrated, territory-based approach, and aiming to enhance the capacity of port authorities to efficiently plan and implement low-carbon and multimodal transport and mobility solutions, thus further empower the main political, technical, trade stakeholders and partners in related decision-making. More specifically, the SUPAIR project:

• Establishes a transnational network of port authorities, technical institutions and relevant key stakeholders (“Network of ADRION low-carbon ports”) to jointly elaborate the project’s durable and transferable methodology, considering first the project partnership, but then extending it to new territories willing to take-up the approach
• Develops a shared transnational methodology (“Guidelines for Sustainable and Low-carbon Ports”) for the development of sustainable low-carbon action plans for ports, based on the participation of all main political, technical and trade stakeholders and actors.
• Develops operational low-carbon action plans in 7 key ports, complete with technical and economic feasibility studies and in line with local and/or regional planning tools (SEAPs, SECAPs and SUMPs).
• Produces a ‘transnational strategy for low-carbon transport systems’, supporting the enlargement of the network and the dissemination, enhancement and widening of its scope, methodology and results

Overall, the SUPAIR project aims to provide port authorities with lasting and enhanced technical competences and skills to produce, implement and finance their operational plans, thus widen territorial integration and ownership of decisions, leading in this way towards increased feasibility and fostering investments in low-carbon and environmentally-friendly port-related transport and mobility solutions.

HIT key role and responsibilities: CERTH-HIT is one of the three technical partners devising and supporting the implementation of the project’s methodology thus providing technical assistance to the participating port authorities (especially to the port authorities of Piraeus and Thessaloniki) for the successful development of their action plans. Furthermore, CERTH-HIT acts in the project as the leader of WPT2 which aims to:

• Secure a common understanding of the SUPAIR Guidelines, through the implementation of an internal workshop focusing on supporting ports to apply the same methodology
• Provide practical experience and deepen current knowledge regarding possible solutions that can increase ports’ sustainability by means of study visits to “best-practice” European ports
• Share experience and achievements accrued from the design of “Action plans for Sustainable and Low-carbon Ports” by means of a dedicated mutual learning training workshop, which will be open to other ADRION ports and stakeholders.
• Establish the “Network of ADRION Sustainable and Low-carbon Ports” formalized by the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding
• Develop a transnational strategy that aims to increase ports’ capacity and expertise to develop and implement sustainable low-carbon action plans following an integrated, territory-based approach.

For more information please visit the SUPAIR website. 

Contact Person:
Lefteris Sdoukopoulos
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+30 211-1069596