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.
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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