On Tuesday 1 8th of December 2018 the SUPAIR consortium visited the Port of Barcelona which was hosted by Escola European Headquarters.
Six Port Authorities participated in the study visit (Port of Venice, Port of Trieste, Port of Durres, Port of Thessaloniki, Port of Piraeus and Port of Bar ) including CERTH who participated as a technical partner. The visit falls within the context of Activity T2.2 – “Study visits to best practice port cities” under the Work Package WPT2 –“Accruing knowledge and sharing results: capacity building and mutual learning”. The Port of Barcelona has been recognized by the Project Partners as a “best practice” port regarding sustainable planning and development, following a structured methodological approach.
The purpose of the study visit was to deepen the knowledge on the sustainability activities that the Port of Barcelona has undertaken and to provide the participating port authorities with first-hand experience on the potential problems that may be encountered during the implementation of specific solutions and how they can be overcome, as well as of the benefits to be derived. During the visit, the participants had the opportunity to gain insight on the port’s sustainable development projects and participate in a proactive discussion regarding the
obstacles/problems that the Port of Barcelona faced throughout the implementation of their sustainable strategy.
The study visit begun with an inland tour. Firstly the participants visited the tugs and break followed by the pilots’ center and ending the landside tour with the MARPOL waste management plan. Project Partners had the opportunity to experience and understand the port’s operations and discuss about the already implemented projects and initiatives as well as future planned developments at the Port of Barcelona.
The second part of the visit consisted of a boat tour where the consortium participants visited the different terminals of the port from the maritime side. A thorough description of their current operational situation as well as the potential investments that has been planned was presented.
In the final part of the tour consisted of two presentations. The first was related to the development of the Port of Barcelona and the strategic plan to obtain a greater share of the global maritime market. The second presentation was more focused on the port’s sustainability activities and initiatives and how these could potentially be linked to the economic benefits for the port.
