On Wednesday 2 October, the Aula Magna of the University of Naples Parthenope will host the International Conference ‘Italy and Spain: Bilateral Meeting between Ports and Cities’. The initiative, developed in the framework of the Naples Shipping Week 2024, is organised by the Institutes of the National Research Council Itc and Iriss, RETE – International Association for the Collaboration between Ports and Cities, International Propeller Clubs and University of Naples Parthenope.
Programa Conferencia Encuentro Bilateral entre Puertos y Ciudades
The conference is intended to compare Italian and Spanish port cities to identify common elements and differences between the two systems, sharing their respective problems and the strategies adopted to solve them, with a view to mutual learnin. The discussion is divided into three thematic talks on different governance models, approaches to port-city interaction and challenges of sustainability for the Mediterranean area.
The initiative is promoted by the research group of the National Research Council (CNR) coordinated by Massimo Clemente, Director of the Scientific Committee of RETE, which is committed to developing the issues of sustainable development of coastal urban areas through interdisciplinary research activities and the analysis of good practices/case studies at national and international level.
Talk 1, dedicated to port governance and moderated by José Luis Estrada, Director of PORTUS, will provide concrete experiences on the different models of port governance and management in Italy and Spain for the sustainable development of port cities. Speakers will include: Teófila Martínez, President of Port Authority of Cádiz y President of RETE; Rafael Carmona Ruiz, President of Port Authority of Sevilla and Vicepresident RETE Spain; Barbara Bonciani, Vicepresident of RETE Italia. The talk will be an opportunity to reflect on the Puertos del Estado management model that is also attracting interest in the Italian context, which will be presented by Alicia Paz Antolín, Head of Legal Support to the Directorate of Planning and Development, Puertos del Estado.
Talk 2 will investigate the theme of port-city interactions: the experiences shared by the speakers will show how the dialogue between port and city can lead to an integrated, shared and balanced development of the urban and port context, resulting in an improved quality of life for all citizens. Speeches will be given by Sergi Carulla y Óscar Blasco, SCOB arquitectura y paisaje; Pilar Fernández-Fígares, Director-Manager at Fundación Málagaport and Sergio Pareja, Economic-Financial Manager, Gerencia Urbanistica Port Vell de Barcelona who will share the experience of the America’s Cup and its impact on the port-city relationship and Matteo Ignaccolo, Director of the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania and RETE
Finally, talk 3, will focus on the challenges and strategies for the sustainable development of port regions and port-city ecosystems in the current critical phase of climate change and extreme events. In this session, Gaia Daldanise, Iriss CNR Researcher and RETE Scientific Secretariat, will speak.