Project title

NEW HANSA OF SUSTAINABLE PORTS AND CITIES

Lead Partner

Stadtwerke Lübeck (Public Utility in Hanseatic City of Lübeck)

Contact person

Jörg D. Sträussler

E-mail

baltef@t-online.de

Homepage

Address

Phone

+49-38824-81760

Fax

Measure:

Problem to be addressed:

Ports or lively Cities? “That’s the question” connected with an increasing flow of goods and people particularly in the Baltic Sea region. Now there is already considerable conflict of interest between local residents, tourists, wellness sector, fisheries, shipping lines and port operators. How will these conflicts look like in the future? Increasing maritime transport causes increasing use of land, water and air e.g. air emissions from ships count up to 80% of all emissions in Lübeck-Travemünde, Germany. In Klaipeda, Lithuania, meetings of the City Council cannot take place when ships are in port. Lack of shore based power supply and varying standards for the disposal of waste and wastewater facilities differing from port to port are severe economic obstacles as well as regulations diverging in maritime and road transport.

Ship owners are not prepared to invest in different systems in every harbour. An additional fundamental problem is diverging regulations for maritime and road transport which moreover differ from country to country and is currently based on low standards. The project will aim at providing a holistic approach to make sustainable development to a positive competitive advantage. Combining the various environmental, social and economic issues in the context of ports, shipping, tourism and the local population will serve as a starting point.

Central objectives:

The objective of New Hansa for Baltic Ports and Cities is to create strategic solutions for the conflicts of (1) short-term economic interests and sustainable development, (2) different national and international regulations of maritime transport, (3) different practices and facilities of ports, and (4) the different needs and interests concerning spatial planning with regard to ports. The project aims at harmonising and speeding up the implementation of sustainable harbour policy in all main ports of the Baltic Sea Region. This will be achieved by developing new kinds of infrastructure and good practice models in co-operation between all relevant local, regional and international stakeholders.

An important objective is to combine the strengthening of effective transport corridors with integrated spatial planning - taking sustainability and regional development into account. Within the concept of sustainable harbour policy, the project also aims at a number of concrete environmental improvements with regard to emissions in harbours, coastal zones and at the Baltic Sea, as well as reception and treatment of ship-generated wastewater, solid and oily wastes. The main emphasis will be on integrated solutions and sustainable development including economic, social and environmental aspects. At the final phase of the project, this will be expressed and committed to by the Baltic Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainable Ports (MoU).

Expected outcome:

Most tangible outcome of the project will be the development and installation of one infrastructure facility (ship-shore power interface) in Lübeck-Travemünde, which will serve as a demonstration project for all other ports and ships in the Baltic Sea region. Upon successful pilot operation the system will be invented in other Baltic Sea ports thus creating new economic and ecologic standards.

Further investments will be made into harmonised dry waste separation facilities aboard the ships and reception facilities for waste and wastewater ashore. All investments, associated investigations and plans will lead to the invention of a Pan-Baltic harmonious Port Policy. Outcomes preceding the investments will be analyses of the spatial, socio-economic, ecological and economic problems and pre-investment feasibility studies by the Centre of Maritime Studies. Furthermore soft measures like voluntary agreements between cities and shipping lines as practised by Stockholm will be developed. Finally a common policy paper will jointly be produced, signed by all partners and presented to national parliaments and governments, the European Commission and the European Parliament in order to influence European policy and legislation on sustainable regional development and planning, protection of the environment, reduction of emissions and pollutants and on the reduction of emissions and pollutants.