Danube Ports Days (23 and 24 November 2023)

On 23 and 24 November 2023, the Danube and Rhine ports and other stakeholders met in Vienna for the Danube Port Days 2023. The hybrid meeting with around 100 participants was hosted by Pro Danube (PD) at thinkport Vienna.

The Danube Port Days were initiated by DAPhNE and successfully continued by DIONYSUS. They offer a transnational platform to bring together decision-makers, experts and the inland shipping sector and discuss key aspects of port development.

The hybrid workshop served to create an environment where EU stakeholders in business, national administrations, port authorities, social partners and sector organizations can discover new tools and solutions for the implementation of green objectives, share experiences and good practices, address common challenges in their transition, and receive relevant updates. It provided a platform of cooperation between public and private entities with a dedicated interest and involvement in port development and terminal logistics, hence stimulating the know-how sharing and feedback collection.

This year’s event was organized in cooperation with the MultiRELOAD and SYNERGETICS projects, funded under the Horizon Europe Programme. The first day was dedicated to the study on Greening of Inland Ports. The study was commissioned by the European Commission/DG Move and focuses on the sustainable development of inland ports. The general objectives of this study are to identify and evaluate the factors affecting the sustainable development of inland ports and propose solutions for implementing green objectives for inland ports paired with their economic development. The study team will organize a total of 10 workshops during the implementation of the project. It has been preliminarily agreed that one of the final workshops will be organized in cooperation with DC within the EM Ports in 2025.

During the second day of the meeting, various stakeholders took the floor including Ms Karin Voglsam from Port of Enns presented the development of the Seanergy project – Sustainability Educational Programme for Greener Fuels and Energy on Ports.

On behalf of the DC Secretariat, Mr Dejan Trifunovic, delivered a presentation on the topic of knowledge exchange and action plans for Danube ports, within the context of EM Ports. He reminded of the next EM Ports, which will take place on 12 March 2024, and the development of the Joint Statement of the Danube Port Authorities and Ports Stakeholders initiative. Also, Mr Antonio Stoean (DC Secretariat-external consultant) presented the activities undertaken and positive results in the framework of the EU-UA Solidarity Lanes since May 2022.