European ports and research initiatives launch new sustainability and science frameworks

European port authorities have released a Green Port Master Plan to facilitate the transition to net-zero emissions. This initiative follows five years of research conducted through the EU-funded PIONEERS and MAGPIE projects.

PIONEERS, coordinated by the Port of Antwerp-Bruges alongside ports in Barcelona, Venlo, and Constance, executed 19 pilot projects focused on clean energy, digital innovation, and sustainable port design. MAGPIE, coordinated by the Port of Rotterdam, tested 14 solutions involving partners such as HAROPA PORT, Sines, and DeltaPort.

The results include free digital tools for all European ports, such as the PIONEERS Green Port Master Plan Explorer Guide for carbon footprint assessment and the MAGPIE Green Innovation Compass, an open knowledge platform for maritime logistics transformation.

In a separate development regarding scientific infrastructure, the Ibercivis foundation is advancing European citizen science through the RIECS-Concept and EOSC-CSN projects. RIECS-Concept has completed a technical feasibility study to establish a research infrastructure for citizen science within the European Research Area (ERA). This aims to integrate citizen-generated data into the European Open Science Cloud, ensuring high-quality, sovereign data is used for evidence-based decision-making.