Category: Events

On Friday, 8 July 2022, we participated in the conference Smart Citizens for Smart Cities in the organization Smart RI, and as part of the project CEKOM – Smart Cities Competence Centre.

The conference was preceded by the opening of the exhibition at the posts on the Rijeka Korzo dedicated to this project.

At the opening of the exhibition, they spoke. Nenad Antolović, Director of Smart RI, Marko Filipović, Mayor of the City of Rijeka and Damir Medved, technical coordinator of CEKOM. The objectives and segments of the project were presented on the posts.

The conference was held at the Ri Hub and introductory words were given by Nenad Antolović, Director of Smart RI and Marko Filipović, Mayor of the City of Rijeka.

After the introductory words, it was introductory lecture of the conference which he held Damir Medved stressing that we are at the heart of an energy storm that we will have to adapt to, and that this storm highlights the inequality of people and that this project is a way to address this inequality.

Then it is, Saša Vojnović (Ericsson Nikola Tesla) held a lecture Urban and rural mobility highlighting the problem of transport and finding solutions in an intelligent transport system.

Lecture Electromobility in the Smart City System held Vedran Kotarski from Croatian Telecom. In his lecture, he pointed out that many large companies are turning to electric vehicles in both the auto industry and the oil industry, so Shell, who has the largest pump network, plans to introduce electric vehicle charging stations.

There was a lecture Sharing economy in transport which he held Marko Škrobo from Apsolon, which encouraged a debate about citizens' willingness to share means of transport.

A panel discussion was then held on The future of public transport in urban and rural areas moderated by Damir Medved, and panelists were Saša Vojnović, Vedran Kotarski and Marko Škrobo. The discussion highlighted the problems of parking in the city center, the small rate of introduction of electromobility in Croatia, the habit of sharing the means of transport of Croatian citizens. The solutions to these problems are also highlighted, and what are the motives for solving these problems.

This panel discussion completed a block of lectures at the conference, followed by a presentation CEKOM application for citizens. Dorjan Cindrić (Exevio) presented the applications RiLive, Roads i eTendering from the Modesty project, Davor Pasarić (Creative department) presented the application etinerary and Dražen Keresteny (Alarm Automatika) introduced the application Safety Barometer.

This was followed by a presentation of the platforms related to energy efficiency and the environment, which are being developed as part of the CEKOM project. An introduction to the platform presentation was given by Maja Božičević Vrhovčak from the Energy Institute Hrvoje Požar. Then it's Blaž Peternel (SmartIS) presented a platform for decision-making on reducing the carbon footprint in a smart city and Tomislav Sladonja (Hrvatski Telekom) presented SmartWaste waste management system.

Then they are presented Testimonies of the most digitally-ready city – the City of Rijeka through the presentation of the online services of the City that he presented Aleksandar Tomulić, Lea Stoiljković Medved presented the efforts of the City of Rijeka in terms of participatory decision-making and similar initiatives, and in the end Tamara Grubiša presented the Incubator for Creative Technologies and IT Industry - Energana.

To the end it is Prof. dr. sc. the Golden Car, Head of the Department of Automation and Electronics at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka presented the Erasmus+ WICT project ‘Introduction of joint short-cycle ICT courses for better employability of students and graduates’ and, in addition, presented their contribution to the CEKOM project.

All presentations can be found at link.

Six months separates us from the day when the euro becomes the official currency in the Republic of Croatia. Croatia meets all the criteria and is ready to adopt the euro on 1 January 2023, if officially confirmed by a decision of the Council of the EU in July. The process of introducing the new currency requires adjustments and changes, both business processes and timely training of workers to work in the new official currency. It is very important not to underestimate the scope of activities and adjustments that need to be made in order to prepare each business entity to operate in the new official currency in a timely manner.

EUROPE DIRECT Rijeka invites you to a free workshop for entrepreneurs - Introduction of the euro, organised in cooperation with the European Commission Representation in Croatia, the CNB, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and the Ministry of Finance, which will take place on Friday, 15 July 2022 starting at 12 o'clock in the premises of the Torpedo Production Park, Rijeka Development Agency Porin d.o.o., Milutina Barača 60/ conference hall, 1st floor (for the sake of great interest there is a possibility of changing the venue of the workshop, which we will inform about later).

At the workshop, from expert practitioners involved in the process of the introduction of the euro, you can find out what are the main determinants of the process of the introduction of the euro as the official currency in the Republic of Croatia contained in the umbrella Act on the introduction of the euro as the official currency in the Republic of Croatia (OG 57/22), what is the Code of Ethics and why business entities that are in direct relationship with consumers should join this initiative, what are the most important activities and necessary legal adjustments in the process of the introduction of the euro for businessmen and public authorities. Also, experiences from other member states where the euro is the common currency will be briefly presented, and at the end of the workshop there will be a separate time for your questions.

Registration for the workshop is mandatory via forms by 13 July 2022.

Based on the partnership activities within the second phase of the implementation of the Blue Green City project (Interreg Europe), the Rijeka Development Agency Porin d.o.o. participated in a partnership meeting held with partners in Växjö, Sweden, from 14 to 15 June 2022.

The meeting was hosted by the partner City of Växjö, whose representatives presented the region and the city to the partners and organized a tour of the city administration, which forms a sustainable building in the city center, which also includes a train station. A new approach to organizing the premises of a building in which there are no classic offices, but common rooms with IT units that employees use for their work. The building is built of natural materials, wood and metal construction and glass, energy efficient.

On the agenda of the meeting, the partners presented the current state of implementation of their Action Plans, so Doris Sošić, project manager of the partner of the Rijeka Development Agency Porin d.o.o., presented the implemented activities of the Action Plan in the territory of the City of Rijeka.   

Considering that the final conference of the project is planned in Ingolstadt, Germany, the partners have agreed on the date of the same, and for October this year. A Steering Committee meeting was also held.

On the second day of the partnership meeting, the host organised a study trip and a visit to the Bee paradise & Bokhultet Nature Reserve, and Bergsnäs bay – nature parks and a new location to build a hospital.

As part of the PoWER PLUS project, 10 June 2022. Institute for Cooperation and Development from Tirana (Albania) together with its partners CETEOR (Sarajevo, BiH) and Rijeka Development Agency Porin (Rijeka, Croatia) organized in online regional format webinar on "Predictability of territorial cooperation".

From March to April, the PoWER PLUS project engaged a group of experts from various fields related to port activities who responded to a structured questionnaire and gave their opinion and views on the possible future of Adriatic-Ionian ports in the middle to long term in the light of the Covid-19 outbreak and the related economic crisis.

After carefully analysing their contributions, the project partners brought together these experts around joint regional working tables to compare and build on each other’s visions and to discuss these ‘future scenarios’ and in their light, so that the methodology and strategy of PoWER for developing ports into innovation hubs could be improved. The results of this regional workshop were distributed to the general public and interested stakeholders at the Foresight for Territorial Cooperation (FCT) event. This online event was organized with the specific aim of raising awareness among potential beneficiaries and stakeholders about the role of European Territorial Cooperation and promoting the practical use, relevance and transferability of project results.

Webinar started with the welcoming words of Ms Krisela Hackaj, Executive Director of the Institute for Cooperation and Development, who highlighted the main achievements of the PoWER and PoWER PLUS projects. Ms. Hackaj highlighted the role of experts in conveying experiences, expertise and attitudes in the foresight process, especially in the context of the wider situation and trends in the Adriatic-Ionian area.

The event was then welcomed by Mr Marko Opančar, Acting Head of Service for Transnational and Interregional Cooperation and Sector for Macro-regional Strategies for the Coordination of European Territorial Cooperation Programmes and Macro-regional Strategies, Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds. Mr Opančar stressed the importance of a Territorial Cooperation Programme such as ADRION, and briefly highlighted the new Interreg IPA ADRION programme for 2021-2027, its selected policy objectives, specific objectives and funding opportunities.

Before she went to the panel discussion, Mrs. Serena Kovači, responsible for the Project Coordination Sector, shared the main results of the workshop that took place on the same day. Ms Kovači focused on forecast scenarios related to the port environment following the Covid-19 outbreak and the ensuing economic crisis, as suggested by experts from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

The panel on “Adriatic-Ionian ports after Covid-19 and the economic crisis 25-30 years from now” started with the intervention of Ms Florens Haxhi, Head of Business Development of the Albanian Investment Corporation (CDI), who explained the national measures expected from the Albanian government regarding energy efficiency practices. Ms Haxhi also focuses on the Blue Economy programme, which, in addition to being a new driver of inclusive development, job creation and economic diversification, will also lead to a better contribution to wastewater pollution and nutrients.

Mr Mladen Rogić, CETEOR then focused on the practice of energy efficiency in the port of Brcko and how connections with the hinterland, apart from infrastructure, play an absolute leading role in international trade policy.

On the other hand, mrs. Dragica Franulović from the Port of Rijeka and mrs. Nataša Zrilić from the City of Rijeka also explained the energy efficiency practices in the area of the port of Rijeka, focusing on the relationship between the port and the city including the social responsibility that the port of Rijeka has towards the citizens, given that the port is close to the city. Both Mrs. Franulović and Mrs. Zrilić also focused on the effects of the pandemic on the work of the port of Rijeka.

In the end, mrs. Inva Nela, Project Manager, CDI Albania, concluded the webinar highlighting some of the main findings such as the digitalisation of port service activities and operations; the introduction of the concept of smart port and smart management; addressing current challenges such as environmental or climate change; Investing in sustainable ports to face unexpected challenges, such as Covid-19. Ms Nela added that these findings would be used to update the PoWER methodology and strategy.

This Foresight for Territorial Cooperation event was the final step of the scenario forecasting carried out as part of the PoWER PLUS project and aimed at detecting the main problems that could affect the Adriatic-Ionian ports in the short and medium term in the light of the Covid-19 outbreak and the related economic crisis, thus providing further support to local administrations in decision-making processes.

Video-streaming Events can be found here.

• AGENDA  events;
• PoWER Methodology a summary description;
• PoWER Strategy a summary description.

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ABOUT THE PROJECT

PoWER PLUS is a 6-month accompanying project financed by INTERREG V-B Adriatic-Ionian ADRION program from the European Regional Development Fund and IPA II Fund. It is particularly dedicated to improving the results produced by the previous project, the PoWER project, supported by the same program.

More can be found at the following links: https://power.adrioninterreg.eu/ i http://www.powerports.eu/

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