The AIVP General Assembly was held in New York on November 18, 2026, ahead of the World Cities & Ports Conference. Among other things, it elected new members to the Board of Directors. The newly elected Board met on November 20 to appoint the Executive Committee.

Renewal of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee

1/ College of Local Authorities

  • Outgoing members: City of Marseille (France);
  • Outgoing members seeking re-election: City of Libreville (Gabon);
  • New members:
    • City of La Coruña (Spain), represented by Ms. Inés Rey García, Mayor,
    • City of Busan (South Korea), represented by Mr. Keun Lock Park, Director General of Maritime Affairs, Agriculture, and Fisheries.

2/ College of Port Authorities

  • Outgoing members: Port of San Antonio (Chile), Agence Nationale des Ports (Morocco), Port of Brussels (Belgium), HAROPA PORT (France);
  • Outgoing members seeking re-election: Port of Taranto (Italy);
  • New members:
    • Grand Port Maritime de La Rochelle (France), represented by Ms. Sandrine Gourlet, Chair of the Executive Board,
    • Port of Antwerp-Bruges (Belgium), represented by Mr. Johan Klaps, President of the board Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Vice Mayor for Port and Economy, City of Antwerp,
    • Port of Quebec (Canada), represented by Ms. Olga Farman, CEO.

3/ College of Professionals

  • Outgoing: Porto Antico de Genova (Italy)
  • No new nominations

The Board of Directors has elected Ms. Olga Farman, CEO of the Port of Québec, to the position of Vice President of AIVP, succeeding Mr. Alberto Cappato (Porto Antico Genova).

Review of the year 2025

At the General Meeting, the General Manager of AIVP, Mr. Bruno Delsalle, accompanied by the outgoing Vice President, Mr. Alberto Cappato, presented the year’s key achievements:

1/ Development of AIVP in North America

The creation last April of the non-profit organization AIVP North America, chaired by Olga Farman, CEO of the Port of Quebec, marked the opening of a permanent AIVP representation in Quebec City starting in 2026. It will be headed by Caya Hein, who will be responsible for developing the network and an action program tailored to the needs and issues of North American members.

2/ New collaborations

In 2025, AIVP embarked on new collaborations for the benefit of its members and city-port relations. These involve:

  • Green Marine Internationale, which wishes to develop its environmental certification program by incorporating societal issues that are important to AIVP;
  • Blumorpho, which is developing an innovative approach to facilitate the financing of climate-resilient projects in city-port ecosystems;
  • The port group of the C40 organization, with which AIVP exchanges information on a regular basis.

Following the UNOC last June and the launch of the Global Coalition for Coastal Resilience to Climate Change, AIVP has also been mandated to lead a working group on port cities. The coalition is currently in a practical organization phase with a dual secretariat in Nice and New York. Work has not yet begun.

3/ International cooperation projects

Since 2021, AIVP has made the strategic choice to get involved in international cooperation projects, facilitate exchanges within the network, and create and disseminate knowledge. In 2025, AIVP continued its involvement in three major projects funded by the European Union:

  • MAGPIE on the theme of energy transition in ports;
  • Connected River, which focuses on shared uses of waterways;
  • SAFARI, dedicated to the resilience of port infrastructure in the face of extreme climate risks.

4/ Network events and working groups

The year 2025 will also be marked by:

  • Preparations for the World Cities & Ports Conference, which took place in New York from November 18 to 21, 2026;
  • Ongoing coordination of working groups: Cruises, Port Center, River Port Cities

Perspectives 2026

The year 2026 will focus on several priorities:

  • Operational implementation of the AIVP North America representation in Quebec City;
  • Launch of the 4th edition of the course program Sustainable Port Cities in French, as well as the launch of a first edition in English;
  • Completion of the MAGPIE and Connected River projects, with two highlights in particular: the inauguration of the MAGPIE exhibition, organized by AIVP, in March 2025, and the Connected River project consortium meeting scheduled to take place in Paris (France) from March 31 to April 2;
  • Continuation of the work of the Cruises, Port Center, and River Port Cities working groups;
  • The launch of the 2026 edition of the AIVP Antoine Rufenacht Prize;
  • Organization of the World Cities & Ports Conference in Dunkirk, from November 3 to 6, 2026.