On Wednesday, November 13, the annual general meeting of ESPO members took place in Brussels.
In addition to the formal agenda items (including the 2020 budget), which were unanimously approved, the assembly was attended, upon invitation, by three new MEPs of the new European Parliament's Transport Committee, Mr. Andris Ameriks (Latvia), and Ms. Caroline Nagtegaal (Netherlands) and Ms. Elena Kountoura (Greece), who were invited to inform the House of their positions on the priorities of the new Committee, with primary importance, as raised by all, the issues of promoting green development and environmental preservation in port facilities, deepening transparency and healthy competitiveness in port activities and completing the integration of the Trans-European Transport Networks.
Also, within the framework of the General Assembly, the results of the annual ESPO competition were announced.
Port of Dover wins award ESPO 2019!
The ESPO 2019 award had four nominated projects for the award this year, from the Port of Dover, the Port of Dublin, the Port of Stockholm and the Union des Ports de France (UPF).
Finally, the Port of Dover was awarded the 2019 ESPO Award in recognition of its successful strategy of reaching out to the local community and communicating directly with the citizens of the port. The use of social media as a new way of communicating and demonstrating a high level of transparency regarding operational achievements, future strategies and environmental challenges and performance is becoming increasingly important for European ports.
Referring to the selection process in this 11th edition of the ESPO Award, the chairman of the jury, Dimitrios Theologitis, stated: “The judges were impressed by the Port of Dover's strategy which focuses on its campaigns across all media, electronic and otherwise, leaflets, advice, forums, workshops, sporting events. But the most important component of this successful strategy is community re-engagement, whether that is through financial participation in charities and community groups, making facilities available to the public for events or providing spaces and buildings open to the public. ».
The Port of Dover won the 2019 award for its project ‘Transparen-SEA’, which aims to create a comprehensive and meaningful programme of consultation practices and social engagement activities. All of this was supported by the use of social media that directly connects with the local community and reinforces the project’s objectives.
