DocksTheFuture is a voluntary cooperative Network of Excellence gathering the most innovative ports willing to team up and take actions to support the maritime community achieving the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, using the opportunities given by International funding programmes such as the ones set by the EU Green Deal.
WHY WE ARE SETTING UP THE NETWORK
On December 2019, the European Commission presented the European Green Deal, a new the growth strategy that aims to make Europe the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050, as an an integral part of the EU plan to implement the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development
Agenda.
Since transport accounts for a quarter of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions, there are essential contributions required from the port and shipping sector to achieve the UN and EU targets. Despite being a challenging path, it also provides promising benefits for the whole society and important business opportunities for the sector.
WHAT IS THE NETWORK
The DocksTheFuture Network of Excellence is a tool supporting ports to develop innovatively projects to achieve their sustainability targets, based on the opportunities deriving from funding programmes such as the ones promoted by the Green Deal.
● It shall promote ideas for the Port of the Future, inspired by other ongoing initiatives and proposals and have a leading and proactive role in the process of overcoming the industry challenges of today and tomorrow, also in order to implement co-funded projects and support policy changes;
● It shall speed up the distribution of practical innovative ideas, hasten the spread of best practices, promoting new technologies to innovate the business and the whole port industry;
● It shall enrich the dialogue with and among other organisations such as the European Technology Platforms, international associations, and maritime clusters – without any kind of competition character.
The setup of the Network is based on ports participation while other maritime and logistics actors will be invited to join and contribute to the activities based on their willingness to cooperate and their relevance in the different initiatives.
THE CORE TOPICS THE NETWORK WILL FOCUS ON:
Essential parts of the EU Green Deal founding elements clearly relates to the port industry:
● Supplying clean, affordable and secure energy to any port-related transport means
● Mobilising the community and the industry for a clean and circular economy
● Building and renovating port infrastructures in energy and resource-efficient way
● Supporting smart digital seamless solutions for the entire port community
● Accelerating the shift to sustainable and smart mobility, to achieve a 90% reduction
in transport emissions by 2050.
In this respect, some preliminary core topics to set up new projects have been identified:
➢ Energy efficiency (e.g. cold ironing, smart grid)
➢ Alternative fuels (e.g. bio-fuels, hydrogen)
➢ Sustainable and resilient transport infrastructure system
➢ Emerging technologies and digitalisation across the logistic chain
➢ Cyber-security
➢ Innovative financing tools
➢ Multimodal transport
➢ City-Port relation
➢ Circular economy
For information or requests, please contact us at info@docksthefuture.eu
Network of Excellence Team