No-one that is in the business of shipping and logistics will deny the important role that seaports play as gateways for trade and transport and the contribution they deliver to the European economy.
But does anyone outside the industry know this too? And what do we really know ourselves about the performance of the European port system? Let’s face it, this sector has an obsession with the movement of tonnes, boxes and passengers, but apart from those there are very few indicators available that tell us something more about how European ports perform as a whole.
The ‘PPRISM’ project intends to change that. PPRISM stands for ‘Port Performance Indicators, Selection and Measurement’. The project aims to identify a set of sustainable, relevant and feasible port performance indicators to be implemented at EU level in order to measure and assess the impact of the European port system on society, environment and economy. This may sound rather ambitious, and perhaps it is. Together with the European Commission, that co-finances the PPRISM project, we however feel that this sector deserves to have a proper set of indicators that go beyond the well-known volume statistics we all seem to be so keen of. If we look around at other transport and utility sectors, it is amazing indeed how one-sided the available data on seaports are. Aviation and railway sectors are for instance way beyond us in reporting on their environmental and socio-economic performance.
The problem is that many seaports - and even their national governments - may collect various indicators, but they are difficult to compare and aggregate at EU level. Also, ports may be reluctant to share certain data with others because they could be commercially sensitive. Devising a set of European port performance indicators is therefore by no means an easy task.
A first important element in PPRISM is that we do not seek to publish or compare the performance of individual ports or terminals. The indicators that will follow from the project will be calculated at European level, so as to highlight the performance of the European port system as a whole.
Secondly, we believe stakeholder acceptance is as important as feasibility and comparability. The project, which runs until the end of 2011, is therefore based on two rounds of stakeholder consultation. The first focuses on the ESPO membership, i.e. port authorities and port administrations, whereas the second round seeks the opinion of all other stakeholders, both in the business and societal sphere.
ESPO has teamed up with renowned academic partners to bring the project to a good end: the Institute of Transport and Maritime Management Antwerp (ITMMA), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, Cardiff University and the University of the Aegean. Each of them specialises in one of the five main performance fields we want to explore: market trends and structure, socio-economic impact, logistics chain and operational performance, environmental performance and governance.
In the first phase, the academic partners have devised a longlist of potential indicators in each of the above categories. These have been assessed by our members on acceptance and feasibility, which has resulted in a shortlist of 42 indicators. This shortlist is now put out for assessment to all other stakeholders through an on-line assessment tool that has specifically been designed for this purpose. It is an easy-to-use tool which contains only one question per indicator. Stakeholders do not have to assess all 42 indicators, but can ‘pick and chose’ the category within their own expertise or interest.
The external assessment runs until 13 May, one week after the annual ESPO conference in Cyprus, where port performance will feature as one of the principal themes. After the external assessment, the final selection of indicators will be made and these will be tested out in real time through a pilot project that will run until autumn. The pilot will reveal practical problems and probably lead to final revisions of the indicators.
The project will finish with a series of recommendations for the set-up of a permanent port performance 'dashboard' of indicators. Aim is to publish this dashboard on an annual basis so that over the years, evolutions in the overall performance of the European port system can be measured. ESPO intends to play a prominent role in the coordination of this dashboard.
As mentioned earlier, environmental performance is one of the key-fields that is addressed in the PPRISM project. At the present stage, the proposed indicators cover carbon footprint as a measure of total amount of greenhouse gasses produced in the port, the amounts of waste produced, total water consumption within the port area and environmental management. The latter will be a composed indicator, based on indicators that have been tried and tested for years through the EcoPorts network.
We encourage all readers of GreenPort Magazine to fill out the on-line stakeholder assessment and help us devising a useful and practical set of port performance indicators for Europe!
More information on PPRISM and the on-line stakeholder assessment: pprism.espo.be
More information on the ESPO conference: www.espo-conference.com
Patrick Verhoeven
Secretary General of European Sea Ports Organisation
