On Monday, June 21st, 2010, a Pan-European Forum on the theme of “Environmental Status of SEE ports: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats” took place at Patras Science Park S.A. The conclusions resulted by the Forum were really interesting as far as the Environmental Management of the ports is concerned. This was the 2nd Forum organised with great success in the framework of the transnational project ECOPORT 8, which implements activities that is aimed at the improvement of the environmental performance of the ports of South-East Europe.

In his introductory speech, the President and CEO of PSP S.A., Prof. Petros Groumpos, welcomed all participants, and particularly those who travelled from Italy, Albania, Montenegro, Romania and Bulgaria in order to participate in the works of the Forum, and underlined that innovation and entrepreneurship could become the tools for compensating the economic crisis which Greece is undergoing.

The event was honoured and greeted by the Dean of the University of Patras, Prof. Stavros Koubias, who congratulated PSP S.A. for the initiative and the organisation of Forum that brought in Patras people from a great number of european regions so as to discuss and argue over the subject of great significance that is the sustainable growth of the ports. For this reason, he welcomed in the Region of Western Greece the distinguished guests and wished a pleasant and mainly productive stay.

The representative of the Region of Western Greece, Mr. Christos Tzomakas, reported that initiatives, as ECOPORT 8, are more than welcomed as real economic growth cannot exist without taking into consideration its environmental dimension.

The representative of the Mayor of Patras, Mr. Zafeiropoulos, Deputy Mayor, spoke regarding the audacity that the institutions should manifest so as to achieve innovation and growth, and underlined the Municipality’s interest in the results of the project, as the city and its port cannot been seen independently but as a unified territory.

Mr Nikolaos Mantzaris, representative of the Department of International Activities & EU Issues of the Ministry of Environment, Energy & Climate Change, expressed the intention of the Ministry to support every important initiative that concerns the protection of the marine environment

The introduction to the subject of Forum and the activities of the project ECOPORT 8 was made by Dr Chrysostomos Stylios, Research & Technology Consultant of PSP S.A. Afterwards, Professor Leonardo Damiani of the Polytechnic of Bari exploited the technological advances and addressed his greeting to the audience via videoconference and simultaneously he pointed out the lack of sufficient transportation between the ports of Europe which became the reason for not travelling in time in order to participate in the Forum. Finally he talked about the opportunities created by the project for mutual comprehension and collaboration among the ports on issues of environmental interest.

The northern and southern port of Patras and its future growth were presented by Mr. Stavros Antipas, representative of Patras Port Authority S.A. that recently joined the Pan-European network of the Project as an Observer.

Igoumenitsa Port Authority S.A. (OLIG) was represented by Mr. Konstantinos Grinias, Director of the Development, who made a presentation of the experience gained till today by the implementation of the Project, as well as of the European Sea Ports Organization (ESPO) and how ECOPORT 8 contributes and supports the activities and initiatives concerning issues of environmental management.

The presentation of Mrs Petkova, representative of the Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company, attracted the interest of the audience as she gave an overview of the activities developed by the Company in the framework of ECOPORT 8, activities which are expected to lead to important changes in their national legal framework that has been proved to be inadequate and does not cover issues of environmental interest as far as the ports of the Bulgaria are concerned.

With three presentations, on which the open discussion that followed was based, began the second part of the Forum. First of all, Mr Mantzaris presented, on behalf of the Hellenic EMAS Committee, main points of the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme. Thereinafter, he referred to how EMAS is applied in Greece, he presented the steps that the organizations who wish to get the EMAS certification have to take and he concluded by saying that “the certification of an environmental management system is not and should not be a goal unto itself. The most important aspect is to have an environmental management system in place. The external certification should only be a "by-product", or an "extra" that will simply certify what the organization itself has set out to do”. Then, Mr. Athanassios Dimas, Professor in the Dept. of Civil Engineering of the University of Patras, presented to the audience a proposal for environmental management of Patras Port based on the results of a study conducted by his team. As a general conclusion, he underlined that “the successful application of an EMS depends more on the design and execution of a good plan and less on the acquisition and use of sophisticated technological solutions”. Thereinafter, the representative of the Institute of Water Problems of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Professor Jordan Marinski, in his extended presentation, referred to the results that came to light after the data analysis regarding the existing situation of the environmental issues within the ports of South-East Europe.

Considerably significant are the results of the discussions that followed. Significant, first of all, because of the interesting good practices suggested which can be adopted by all collaborating ports, as well as by other ports within SEE area. And secondly, because during the discussions there was given the possibility to build new channels of mutual understanding, communication and future collaboration between the ports of South-East Europe that were represented, and between institutes and Universities of the collaborating countries.

The last session of the Forum was dedicated to issues related to Ports Environmental Monitoring Tools. Professor George Ferentinos, who is in charge of the Laboratory of Maritime Geology & Physical Oceanography of the University of Patras, after his breathtaking presentation stressed the importance of “co-ordination” when it comes to environmental policies. Port Authorities should plan and apply coordinated activities and not independent, individual actions, always in collaboration with all involved and interested parties. Then, Mr. Zoran Kljajic of the Institute of Marine Biology of Montenegro presented the General Monitoring Plan (GMP) for ECOPORT 8 Ports and Mrs. Stefania Arborea of the Polytechnic of Bari made a presentation on the importance of hydrodynamic parameters and bathymetric reliefs of port aquatorium.

In the works of the Forum participated over 60 persons who exchanged views, arguments, experiences and the final impression expressed is that it was significantly fruitful for all the involved in ECOPORT 8 bodies and regions.