The City and Eurometropolis of Strasbourg have earmarked almost €50 million in additional funding for the future districts to be developed on a 74 hectare site along the Rhine. The aim is to add public amenities to the facilities already planned, develop low-carbon solutions, and build a more resilient city with a greater focus on inclusivity and solidarity. The result of 15 months of studies and analyses, these changes to the project were also put to the public for consultation.

In early February, the Port of Barcelona officially inaugurated seven “climate islands” in the Port Vell district. They not only reduce the heat island effect, but also combat pollution, improve urban biodiversity, and provide the city’s residents and visitors with a more attractive promenade area. The initiative is part of the “Inclusive Climate Action” scheme organised by the C40 Cities network, of which the City of Barcelona is a member. In this same Port Vell district, one of the first redeveloped waterfronts in Europe, plans for two major projects have been announced: the demolition of the Imax cinema and the redevelopment of the Moll d’España with its flagship Maremagnum shopping centre and aquarium.

The ports of Valencia (Spain) and Porto (Portugal) are both set to host pilot schemes testing wave power.

In Valencia, the port authority has granted the city council permission to install a wave power facility on publicly owned land. The “WEC” (Wave Energy Converter) project is 50% co-financed by Valencia city council and the EU.  The project is expected to generate around 130,000 kw per year, equivalent to a 16 t reduction in the city’s annual CO2 emissions. Construction is due to begin in 2023.

In Port, the port authority APDL is set to make port land available to the private firm “Ew Portugal – Wave Energy Solutions”. The aim is to install a small power plant with a maximum capacity of 1 MW on the ocean side of the Barra do Douro breakwater. This pilot project is planned to last 10 years.

According to the AFD, some 8 million tonnes of plastic waste end up in the oceans every year, threatening our ecosystems. Port stakeholders are coming up with a variety of ways to address the problem.

Innovative solutions allow plastic waste to be collected. They include the Jellyfishbot created by IADYS, a waste-collecting robot that weighs just 20 kg. One model deployed at the port of HAROPA – Le Havre in 2021 collected a total of 150 kg of waste in one year.  Finnish group Wärtsilä and Italian shipping line Grimaldi Group are even more ambitious, and have developed a system that filters out microplastics from open loop scrubber washwater.

What can be done with the plastic waste collected? The port authority of Valencia (Spain) is supporting AIMPLAS, the Technological Institute of Plastics, which is creating new furniture from plastic waste.