Twentieth Meeting
Vilnius, Lithuania
April 1-2, 2004
SOG 20/5/9
Item 5
New Hansa of Sustainable Ports and Cities project - a proposal for a Baltic 21 Lighthouse project
Submitted by: UBC
Required Action: for consideration and decision
Note by the Secretariat:
As written in the Report of the ad hoc Working Group on Policy and Strategy II to the SOG (document SOG 20/5/1) “Baltic 21 should adopt and act as the umbrella for a focused set of new ‘Lighthouse Projects' designed to demonstrate sustainable development in action”.
To that end the WGPS II recommended three potential Lighthouse Projects for possible immediate adoption by the SOG, among them the New Hansa of Sustainable Ports and Cities project. Those three projects met the conditions set by the WGPS. However, considering that not enough information was available for the WGPS II to make a strong recommendation; the leaders of those projects have been invited to present their projects to the SOG in more detail. The working group recommended that, if adopted, the three projects would become part of the formal proposal to the Prime Ministers at their summit meeting.
In line with the above, this paper provides information about the New Hansa of Sustainable Ports and Cities project for consideration and decision, as appropriate.
Commission on Environment Secretariat
R. Veivo, 19 March 2004
Briefing Memorandum for Baltic 21 SOG 20, Vilnius 1-2 April 2004
Strategic dimensions of the New Hansa of Sustainable Ports and Cities project
The project
New Hansa of Sustainable Ports and Cities project is a Baltic Sea Regional (BSR) co-operation project of 17 partners aiming at increased co-operation, harmonised environmental policies and practices, as well as improved sustainable development and spatial planning strategies in all ports and port cities of the Baltic Sea Region.
The project is being co-funded by the BSR Interreg III B Programme, Finnish Ministry of Environment and all the partners. Some of the partners are also receiving Phare-funding. The total budget exceeds 1 Meur. The project period is 3 September 2003 - 31 June 2005 (with planned 6 months extension, the closing date will be 31 December 2005). The Lead Partner of the project is Stadtwerke Lübeck and the project has been endorsed by the General Conference of the Union of the Baltic Cities (17-18 October 2003) as part of the UBC Agenda 21 Action Programme 2004-2009.
Co-operation Challenge
The New Hansa project is Baltic Sea Regional. There are 17 partners from all sides of the sea. Several of the most important ports and port cities and one of the largest shipping companies are directly involved as partners of the project. In addition, through the Union of the Baltic Cities, all other larger ports and port cities in the whole Baltic Sea Region have been informed and will be involved into the co-operation process during the project and its follow-up.
All these ports and cities are facing a number of similar challenges. These challenges concern the balance between different environmental, social, health and economic interests in the port area, its vicinity and coastal waters. For example, the status of Travemünde as Health Resort has been endangered by the emissions to the air from ferries at the port. Same emissions in Stockholm were considered as health risk towards residential areas. In Turku, further development of the port area needs to be balanced with the maintenance of Natura 2000 nature protection areas nearby. The condition of the whole Baltic Sea is continuously being affected by the emissions and waste water effluents from the ships.
Such examples are available from all major ports and port cities. However, none of the cities and ports can effectively solve these problems alone. The ports are in continuous economic competition with each other. Therefore only harmonised solutions developed together in co-operation and agreed by all main players on Baltic Sea Regional level can lead to considerable improvements. All ports will for example need to implement similar reception practices for sorted waste, be able to receive waste waters effectively, and apply similar regulations and economic instruments to reduce emissions to the air from the ships. Otherwise the implementation of corresponding practices on ships is difficult and cargo will just select the cheapest routes with less consideration on environmental impacts. This is why the 17 ports and port cities and the Union of the Baltic Cities have developed the New Hansa project.
The large co-operation and consortium created for the New Hansa project are major achievements. They provide a unique chance to take major steps forward in the whole Baltic Sea Region.
Methodological approach
The New Hansa project is addressing the challenge of creating sustainable port policies through three concrete themes: (1) emissions to the air, (2) waste management, and (3) water management of vessels and interplay between the ships, ports and cities in managing these issues. The themes will be analysed through research and good practices and basis for common solutions analysed. Research results, practices and experiences from the ports and cities will be discussed in a number of joint workshops of all partners.
On basis of the outcomes of the research and exchange activities, a Baltic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Sustainable Port Policy will be created and endorsed by all the partners. The MoU will also be presented for endorsement at the VIII General Conference of the Union of the Baltic Cities in autumn 2005, and endorsement by all the main ports, port cities and BSR stakeholders will be sought.
It is foreseen that the Baltic Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Port Policy would provide all Baltic ports with common guidelines for the most important issues of environmental management of ship traffic at ports. This is expected to decrease competition on the cost of the environment.
Political context
Co-operation between the ports and port cities within the Baltic Sea Region is the core success factor of the New Hansa project. However, it is not a sufficient one alone.
The development and implementation of the solutions and joint policies to be built in the project will benefit from co-operation and consultation with the main political co-operation processes and structures of the Baltic Sea Region, with European Commission, and with National administrations. The step from policies and practices agreed between the ports and port cities into harmonised regulations and recommendations at National and European levels requires this. The project will be presented to Baltic 21, HELCOM, and to number of European Commission working groups as an important pilot activity, which can provide inspiration and lessons also for their policy processes on maritime transport and ports.
At the same time, the implementation of technical part of the new solutions in the ports requires RTD and other resources as well as suitable regional and national infrastructure. The next step, implementation of the developed and tested solution in all main ports of the Baltic Sea Region, can only be successfully carried out with the support of the regions and countries in question.
For enabling the necessary stakeholder involvement and support, an effective dissemination strategy has been developed for the project. The strategy includes direct reporting and involvement of stakeholders through the strategic committee of the project, as well as broader dissemination through project web-site, newsletters and leaflets. Through its topical issues and effective dissemination, the project will become highly visible among stakeholders and target groups in the whole Baltic Sea Region. The New Hansa of Sustainable Cities and Ports is a true Baltic Sea Regional Lighthouse Project with good dissemination potential also to other coastal regions of Europe.
