Current

Invitation to participate – INFUTURE Round Tables

Operational and Safe Inland Navigation Between Finland and Russia

Most international cargo traffic between Finland and Russia goes on land, via roads and railways. Inland waterway connection from Saimaa to Russian inland waterways could constitute a potential environmentally friendly option for transportation between the countries. ​

Each Round Table includes short introduction to the theme, presentations on findings and time for comments and also for Q & A.

Please note, registration is necessary
Registration here

Doctoral dissertation today

Mirka Laurila-Pant, M.Sc. will defend the doctoral dissertation entitled “When do we attain our objectives? On the role of indicators, values and uncertainty in environmental management” in the Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, on 4 September 2020 at 12:00. The public examination will take place at the following address: Biocenter 2, auditorium 1041, Viikinkaari 5.

LIVESTREAM: https://helsinki.zoom.us/j/61561004472?pwd=WHpoZVByMGd6eUg0eUVwUDVFc21FQT09

PASSWORD: 929929

Open post-doc position at Aalto University

Aalto University School of Engineering is looking for enthusiastic candidates for a post-doctoral position in the Safe and Efficient Marine Systems and Experience Research group at the Department of Mechanical Engineering (Marine and Arctic Technology).

More information here

COMPLETE Stakeholder Conference materials now downloadable at the web

COMPLETE Stakeholder Conference ‘Towards solutions for sustainable boating and shipping: better biofouling and ballast water management’ was organized on 4-5 December in Jurmala, Latvia. Over seventy participants from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the HELCOM Secretariat joined the stakeholder conference, representing different stakeholders from policy makers at international, regional, and national level, (e.g. maritime and environmental administrations) as well as local administrations, ports/port authorities, chemical safety authorities, shipping companies, boating associations, marinas, environmental NGOs, and companies providing hull cleaning services. At plenary sessions, stakeholders presented their views on the problems of biofouling and ballast water management, and project partners described how the results of the project can help solve problems.

Conference materials can now be downloaded at the official conference web pages.

 

Comprehensive Academic Studies on Finnish – Russian IWW

INFUTURE Steering Group and Working Group meetings were held in St. Peterburg at the Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping October 15-16th.

The Chairman of the Steering Group, Pekka Koskinen, as opening the meeting noted that the project has been on-going for a year now and it is time to have a look on the results so far.

All 4 work packages presented the outcomes so far including very comprehensive academic studies and practical analyses.

1) Transshipment Hub Development – Cargo potential from both sides, Finnish and Russian, has been studied and evaluated

2) Inland Waterways Fairway Technologies – the water areas have been studied and analyzed. The aim is to conduct a pilot on the Neva river.

3) Inland Waterway Vessel Concept – based on the information from the WP1 a new vessel type concept for multipurpose vessel has been studied. The aim is the have a design of this vessel by the end of the project.

4) Dissemination and Stakeholder Engagement – A lot of work has been done within the WP1-3 and now we have good material for dissemination and having round tables, like within the NEVA Trans.

The next steps on each work packages were also agreed during these two meetings.

The project members visited the Museum of the Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping, which tells about the history of academic maritime education.

Text: Heli Koukkula-Teixeira

Final evaluation of the DigiPort project, part 4.

The realization and social impact of the DigiPort project can be assessed through four themes, the fourth of which is presented here.

Theme 4: Port Data Innovations Based on Open Data

To accelerate digital innovations, the project organized a hackathon event in April 2019 in Mussalo harbor in Kotka. The aim of the event was to bring in open data-driven innovations for the identified challenges of ports by multidisciplinary student teams. The challenges to be solved were shaped by workshops in Kotka and Turku. The event was successfully marketed and 20 students from different educational programs were invited to attend. They represented education in maritime and logistics, service design, data analytics, game design, information technology, and cyber security. In solving the challenges, students were instructed to use various open data sources and data processing tools to create new service concepts. The hackathon event culminated in a pitching competition that rewarded the three best innovations. The judges of the competition were representatives of companies, who also acted as mentors for students. All participating teams were given the opportunity to participate in the *Ship Startup Festival in July 2019 to further develop their idea. The social impact of the theme is the creation of new port innovations for further development.