Port centricity on the agenda at Seawork 2013

As part of Seawork’s conference programme, there will be a workshop and seminar discussion to showcase the final report of the CAMIS INTERREG IVa project on Port Transport and Diversification due for completion in June 2013.

The project, which has become known as ‘port centricity’ has 19 partners across the south of England and the north of France - including local authorities in Northern France and the south of the UK including Sussex, Hampshire, Kent, Devon and Cornwall, Bretagne, Picardy, Haute Normandie and Pas de Calais, as well as the universities of Caen, Chichester and Plymouth.

The work started in 2010 and has focused on how smaller ports can work with local authorities and businesses to maximise growth potential, reduce costs, access new markets and reduce the impact on the environment. Case studies have involved the ports of Shoreham, Dover and Portsmouth in the UK and St Malo in France.

Dr Dawn Robins, senior lecturer & research coordinator, at the School of Enterprise, Management and Leadership (SEMAL), University of Chichester, UK, said to GreenPort: “The current economic downturn coupled with larger ships, larger lorries, bigger containers, increasing road congestion and rising costs meant that many smaller ports were needing to diversify to survive. On the other hand, ports are perceived as ‘closed’ entities with little interactions with the local area and an often misunderstood role within the growth and development of a region. From this, a port centric idea emerged as a strategy of increasing value to port communities and growth to the port itself.”

The seminar at Seawork next year will tackle the final outputs of the project which includes evidence of best practice and a ‘menu’ of options and requirements for all port stakeholders to take advantage of in the future. There also will be an opportunity to learn from each and form future collaborations.