From La Spezia to Europe for the green revolution of ports: the Blue Ports project presented at DePortibus

On the first day of the new DePortibus festival, which is taking place in La Spezia, the Ligurian District of Marine Technologies presented the European project Blue Ports – Blue Careers in Net Zero Energy Ports of which it is a partner, together with the Technical University of Crete (Polytechnic of Crete – leader), Heraklion Port Authority, Tüv Hellas Tüv Nord, Fundación Valenciaport and Maritime Transport Agency of Georgia and the two associated Secretariat General for the Aegean and Island Policy and Institut méditerranéen de formation aux métiers maritimes.
These are leading companies in the Blue Economy in Georgia, Greece, Spain, Tunisia and Italy, who have implemented this project – financed with an endowment of approximately 1.2 million euros provided through the Community Fund for Maritime Affairs and Aquaculture – thanks to which the staff of the ports of the participating countries will be able to retrain by following ad hoc courses, at the end of which they will obtain an international certification, in order to become an active part of the green transition of EU ports.

A unique opportunity for the workers of these realities, which will also be promoted thanks to the partnership with stakeholders, such as Port System Authorities and Employment Centres.
“Thanks to Blue Ports, an education, training and certification system recognized at European level is being created which will allow the transfer of green knowledge and skills for the training of the workforce operating within port ecosystems, of which the workers will be able to benefit for free.” Davide Ritarossi, the project manager of the Ligurian Marine Technologies District, explains the details of the project. “Our ambition is to position ourselves as a regional hub for the aggregation, sharing and transfer of skills, know-how and strategies to encourage innovation in the local ecosystem, made up of businesses, organizations and people. From this and from our ability to network – he concluded –, the District’s participation in this project was born”.