Italy created waves across Europe this spring when signing a cooperation agreement on the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative. The objective of this agreement is to become a main destination of the maritime Silk routes in Europe with the marine city of Trieste playing a lead role.
In forthcoming years, Trieste may very well become a pivotal focal point for global trade, and this will reposition the city at both national and international levels. Further transformation into a global commercial shipping hub calls for prior planning to prepare the city for sustainable growth.
Trieste recently joined forces with cities such as Helsinki, Hamburg, State of Washington and Rotterdam to become a member of the SEA20, an international network of the world's foremost Smart and Ecologically-Ambitious marine cities, dedicated to the radical transformation of the marine and energy industries into one supremely efficient, ecologically sound, digitally connected and collaborative ecosystem. This network is enabled by Wärtsilä, and for this reason Trieste partnered with the Smart Tech company to co-host an event together with Confindustria Venezia Guilia to explore the pathway toward a prospective new future; ‘HORIZONS - PREPARING TRIESTE FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH’
The event, held today on May 9th 2019, opened by Roberto Dipiazza, the Mayor of Trieste, together with Andrea Bochicchio, President of Wärtsilä Italy, Zeno D’Agostino, President of the Port Authority and Sergio Razeto, President of Confindustria Venezia Giulia. The primary goal is to bring together key stakeholders in the city’s ecosystem under one roof to discuss the best strategies for implementing sustainable growth in the port city and to plot the course towards a digitised, connected, safer and ecological marine ecosystem for the locality.
Big questions are presented for debate: If the city should experience increased vessel traffic, how best to implement Ship-to-shore data exchange to enable optimised navigation and port operations? And with that, what are the best data-driven safety solutions to mitigate the chances of collision in a congested port area? As EU and IMO policies seek to reduce emissions at sea and in port, new clean technologies are emerging that involve connecting ships to port electricity networks while they are at berth. Taking the Port of Trieste as a case study, what are the best solutions to bring electric power to the ship during port operations? C02 emissions from transport, including shipping, can be swiftly reduced by adapting rather than replacing existing technology - allowing for the use of alternative fuels in marine applications too. But what are the leading solutions and future-focused fuel strategies available today?
A diverse mix of participants are contributing to the discourse and conversations will run deep as the city stakeholders commit to jointly ensure that the Adriatic location’s natural beauty remains protected from prospective rapid expansion. As is the motivation behind the SEA20 initiative, this event is proof-in-point that pan-city alliances can instigate positive change and allow for the carving out of new solutions based on democratic values and shared interests.
It will be fascinating to see what kind of developments are greenlit for Trieste in the coming years. Here’s hoping for sustainable growth to the benefit of local industries, the environment, international trade and most of all, to the benefit of the citizens of Trieste.
If you would like to join the discussion, please get in touch with:
Stefano Mullner
Dipartimento Territorio, Economia, Ambiente e Mobilità
Comune di Trieste
stefano.mullner@comune.trieste.it
Elisabetta Michieli
Agevolazioni finanziarie – Uff. Studi – R&S
Confindustria Venezia Giulia
e.michieli@confindustriavg.it
Matteo Natali
GM, Digital Business Incubation
Wärtsilä Marine
matteo.natali@wartsila.com
+ 39 339 446 7645
Horizons is a series of events tailored to enable dialogue and collaboration across the political, scientific, business, and industry worlds.
Inspired by Wärtsilä to bridge the gap between the present day and a desirable, sustainable future, these sessions deliver an experience and promise attendees the opportunity to come together to co-create tangible solutions, which will transform our industries and help us secure a future we can all be proud of. We believe that together we can stimulate and accelerate change.
Wärtsilä - Enabling sustainable societies with smart technology
