ECOPORTIL newsletter

In this newsletter:

Project Information Summary

ECOPORTIL Kick off meeting in Arta, Greece

Launching Events of ECOPORTIL organized in Greece, Bulgaria & Albania

Bilateral and Regional Partners’ Meetings

Next Steps

Check our Partnership

Catch-up on our latest news and upcoming events

Project Information Summary

The scope of ECOPORTIL Project is the enhancement of the environmental protection of ports and surrounding areas with the use of innovative learning tools for the Legislation, in the basis of the sustainable Blue Growth, the main objective of Europe 2020 strategy. ECOPORTIL aims to improve the environmental quality of ports and their surrounding areas by supporting their sustainability, with the use of innovative tools and methods for the training and capacity building of stakeholders via the:

Establishment of networks and working groups aiming at integrated environmental – friendly transport and mobility services, while at multimodality practices in port areas

Design and operation of Advanced Environmental Hazards Early Warning Systems

Geographical Information System for the optimal visualization of environmental parameters

Special training courses aiming to adopt best practices and support effective implementation of the Legislation

ECOPORTIL Kick off meeting in Arta, Greece

The Technological Educational Institute of Epirus, Lead Partner of ECOPORTIL- Environmental

Protection of Areas Surrounding Ports using Innovative Learning Tools for Legislation project organized

the kick-off meeting that took place in Arta, Greece, on 19 – 20 December 2017, at the headquarters

of the Lead Partner. All project partners participated in this meeting in order to launch the

management and coordination process, to confirm the objectives and the implementation plan, to

define the communication strategy and agree on the composition of the project team. “See more”

Launching Events of ECOPORTIL organized in Greece, Bulgaria & Albania

The Launching event in Arta, Greece

The Launching Event of the ECOPORTIL- Environmental Protection of Areas Surrounding Ports with

Innovative Learning Tools for Legislation project was organized and held in the city of Arta, Greece, on

20th December 2017 within the “Interreg Balkan- Mediterranean 2014-2020” Transnational

Cooperation Programme, with the presence of all project partners and local stakeholders. “See more”

The Launching events in Sofia, Bulgaria

The Launching Event of National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NIMH-BAS) for the implementation of the ECOPORTIL took place on 30th March 2018 in Metropolitan Hotel in Sofia. The event was organized by NIMH-BAS and attended by representatives of governmental, educational and research institutions and stakeholders from Sofia and the rest country that they were interested on the project subject. “See more” Moreover, the Launching Event of Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company (BPICo) took place on 3rd April 2018 in Metropolitan Hotel in Sofia. The event was organized by BPICo while the project scope and objectives were presented. “See more”

The Launching events in Durres, Albania

The Launching Event of Institute of Transport (AIT) took place on 27th April 2018 n the Port of Durres, Albania. The event was organized by AIT and it was held with the active participation of local stakeholders. During the meeting the ICT tools for monitoring environmental issues were presented as well as the needs of shipping transportation, the commercial port activities and the environmental protection measures. “See more”

Stakeholders’ Meetings

Assessment of environmental issues & Development of environmental ICT tools

The Regional Meeting took place in Igoumenitsa (9th August 2018), Greece, with participants from

Igoumenitsa Port Authority, Albanian Institute of Transport, Technological Educational Institute of

Epirus and Municipality of Igoumenitsa. “See more”

Meeting with stakeholders in Burgas

The Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company (BPI Co.) organized in Burgas, on 29th November 2018 a

very interesting meeting with project stakeholders. The Deputy Director-General of BPI Co. Alexander

Alexandrov and ECOPORTIL Project Manager, together with his team, representatives of public

organizations, regional and local authorities, the maritime sector and the business identified the

ecological problems of ports and coastal areas and discussed the measures to be taken for their

resolution. During the meeting, they environmental legislation analysis was and discussed as well as

the methodology developed so far and the potential points for monitoring and ecological mapping.

The interviews with the Port Public Authorities

The University of Aegean organized two Stakeholders’ Meetings. In particular one meeting took place

with the Hellenic Port Authority Fund of the Municipality of Lesvos on September 2018 and the second

with the Port Police Bureau for Marine Environment Protection on October 2018 in order to inform

them about the project and discuss its implementation and the possible involvement of the port

authority. The port authorities completed a questionnaire regarding the pollution in the area and their

training needs

Conferences and exhibitions

5th Technology Transfer Exhibition - Patras Innovation Quest (Patras IQ)

The Laboratory of Knowledge & Intelligent Computing of the T.E.I. of Epirus participated in 5th

Technology Transfer Exhibition - Patras Innovation Quest (Patras IQ), organized by Universities in

Western Greece, in Patras.

Τhe ECOPORTIL project was presented in the exhibition and generated significant interest and

anticipation among visitors, including the Minister of Digital Policy, Telecommunications and Media,

Mr. Nikos Pappas, who was informed about the actions of the project. “See more”

18th IFAC Conference on Technology, Culture and International Stability (TECIS 2018)

Researchers from ECOPORTIL partnership, namely from the Technological Educational Institute of

Epirus (TEIEP) and the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology – Bulgarian Academy of

Sciences (NIMH-BAS), participated in the 18th IFAC Conference on Technology, Culture and

International Stability (TECIS 2018), which took place during 13th – 15th September 2018, in Baku,

Azerbaijan. “See more”

2018 IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for the Sea

Researchers from the Technological Educational Institute of Epirus (TEIEP) and the National Institute

of Meteorology and Hydrology – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (NIMH-BAS), participated at the 2018

IEEE International Workshop “Metrology for the Sea” (8th -10th October 2018, Bari, Italy) and presented

the paper titled: "Implementation of a Pilot Monitoring Plan in Bourgas Seaport", authored by Anna

Kortcheva (NIMH-BAS), Jordan Marinski (NIMH-BAS), Veronika Andrea (TEIEP) and Chrysostomos

Stylios (TEIEP). “See more”

Check our Partnership

ECOPORTIL project could not be realized without transnational cooperation. The transfer of knowledge

& expertise among PPs & among countries is vital. Each PP carries not only its own experience but also

the experience gathered on a national basis. In order to ensure joint implementation, most of the

deliverables are foreseen to be the product of joint work and therefore, all the Project Partners share

responsibilities and contribute to all Work Packages with clearly defined deliverables.

The Project Lead Partner is the University of Ioannina (UoI).

The project partners are:

University of the Aegean(Greece) Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company(Bulgaria)

National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (Bulgaria) Maritime Institute of Eastern Mediterranean(Cyprus) Institute of Transport (Albania)

Catch-up on our latest news and upcoming events

Next ECOPORTIL PSC Meeting in Vlore, Albania