Valencia hosts the kick off meeting of the European project for port-city integration SIMPYC

The General Manager of the Valencia Port Authority (VPA), Ramón Gomez-Ferrer, was responsible for welcoming participants to this Life project which aims to facilitate and promote port-city environmental integration.

As Gomez-Ferrer recalled in his opening address, the Port of Valencia has been committed to the environment for quite some time and has carried out cutting edge projects which have been compatible with the commercial development of the port and the city.

The Manager for Safety and the Environment of the Valencia Port Authority, Federico Torres, stated that this is one of the most important projects to be carried out to date, where the experiences of all participants working on different projects relating to the ‘port-city interface’ will be shared. Torres pointed out that the municipalities will also be taking part.

Unresolved Challenge

"This is one of the greatest unresolved challenges of the Administration so Simpyc is going to demonstrate to society that the Administrations can collaborate on environmental issues” he pointed out. In this respect, all those taking part can contribute the findings of specific actions by sharing individual experiences.

This meeting has served as a first point of contact for defining the tasks of the project which aims to establish a co-ordinated approach to visual impact, noise and the emission of particles.

In the first phase, a meetings schedule will be drawn up after which intangible challenges will be established to be later transferred into actions by specific dates and a work programme will then be drafted for each task. All of the above will lead to a diagnostic document which will probably be ready by 17 January.

The SIMPYC project will run until the month of July 2007 by which time various objectives will have been fulfilled. These, on the one hand, will demonstrate the socioeconomic importance of ports and carry out co-ordinated eco-management processes in both the urban and port environments. At the same time, awareness will be encouraged among the general public on the importance of the coastal environment and the need to preserve it.

After the opening address, the participants each introduced themselves. Then, Sara Ibañez, from Fundación Ecoports outlined the initial steps of the project while Rafael Company spoke about the financial aspects.

A second project meeting is due to be held on either 14 or 17 January. The exact date was due to be fixed yesterday.

Project partners

J The Ville de Toulon, the Chambre du Commerce et I’Industrie du Var, the Comme de Livorno, the Port of Livorno, and the Ente Público Puertos del Estado (Public Agency State Ports), the University of Valencia, Azahar Ingeniería, the Fundación Comunidad Valenciana - Región Europea and the Regional Government Department for Infrastructure are taking part in the project along with the Valencia Port Authority. Also taking part are Síntesis and FEPORTS although not as full members.

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