The expected outputs of the project are:

1) a website-forum (with provisions for disabled people accessibility-W3C), where content relevant to general environmental aspects as well as information about the area will be uploaded, all the joint activities and practices to be implemented will be disseminated, exchange of experience and transfer of knowledge will be communicated and questions-answers by stakeholders will be submitted and problems will be highlighted.
The items to be covered are:
the promotion and dissemination of common environmental practices, co-operation between the ports, information on progress monitoring and control of environmental programs, public awareness about local community environmental activities and actions taken by each port, submission of questions, comments and discussions from the local community and interested parties, library of environmental  law and other legislation relating to port operations,environmental news and best practices;

2)training courses for the port staff,designed to meet the needs of professionals involved in the proper,implementation of environmental management;

3)a common method for reporting on joint environmental projects,developed in order to support each port in the implementation of the joint environmental policy;

4)equipment and operations to facilitate the monitoring, control and management of solid-liquid waste and air pollution–noise;

5)equipment and operations that will be supplied in order to reduce energy consumption,and equipment tailored to control and monitor natural resources waste (water flow meter),

6)equipment for fire extinguishing systems to be used for the efficient management of emergency situations;

7)Environmental Management Systems will be developed and installed in ports, leading eventually to certification and EMAS registration;

8)Center for Environmental Information and Education that will contributes to the diffusion of environmental actions and to the public awareness

In general, the overall expected results of the projects are foreseen to be the following:

1)the consensus that will be reached by the project partners with respect to the environmental issues arising in the area,providing a clearer focus on the protection, conservation and sustainable use of the area’s marine environment with a view to sustainable development;

2)the enhancement of joint environmental actions that will also take into account human activities;

3)the prevention of environmental accidents by means of coordinated actions,such as:the installation of proper equipment for water management, the supply of depollution float dam, the proper measurement of air and seawater quality, the planning of emergency situations, the adoption of improved energy efficient systems and the installation of fire extinguishers;

4)the implementation of infrastructure works, as planting trees and extensive road works along the marine for noise reduction;

5)a significant raise in the quality of living standards for residents of the town and the region near the ports;

6)raised levels of awareness and stimulation of both local people and visitors/tourists (summing up to more than 1,4 million per year only in Corfu Port Authority) about environmental issues via the web forum, information leaflets, conferences and, finally, the establishment of an Environmental Information Kiosk at Corfu Port; the latter will provide useful information about the local climate, environmental actions taken by each port, environmental news, location of recycling bins in the area, etc,

7)a considerable improvement of the environmental performance by means of the certification for the Environmental Management System;

8) the development of the Environmental Information System used to electronically manage and control sea water/air, etc. measurements, to measure water pipe flows, to facilitate experience exchange, to transfer knowledge via e-libraries and the forum, to provide historical data to the general public etc.

LP1 is the main port of Kerkira's Island and it is among the ports of international importance,with special emphasis on strengthening  the development of tourism and commerce in the island of Corfu. LP1 in addition to its passenger and commercial operation, has a very important tourist operation. Also serves the ship lines between–Corfu-Italy and Corfu–Saranda. The dynamic development of the Port of Corfu is closely related to the future development tendencies of the wider area.The Port of Corfu SA is the operator of all port activities and was established in 27/6/2001. It has a total of 10 staff.The organizational structure consists of:Board-President, Managing Director , Manager,Managing Board.The Areas of responsibility consists of the following Departments:Services and Development,Technical Services, Administrative and Financial Servicesand the Offices of Legal Advisor and Internal Auditor.

The Port of Saranda (LP2) is the main port of South East Albania  and operates  as passenger and commercial port.There is a 60 square meters  ships dock for ships and  hydrofoils  coming from Corfu. The  depth of the sea at this point is  3.5 m.  The cruise ships now “anchoring” at the open  sea.During the summer except  the regular line and there are additional daily cruises from Corfu to Saranda  carrying out tourists (up to 500 daily).  The port Terminal at Saranda is a total of 130 square meters, divided into 2 levels. At the lower level, there is the customs-passport control, while at the upper level  is the lobby and the entrance to the terminal.There is no elevator for the handicapped  and elderly passengers.The total staff consists of 47 persons, of which 15 are Office staff, 12 are Security staff and   20 are workers.The EXPANSION PLANS related on the creation of a new 120m expansion of the ship dock and the depth will become 9m.

The new Port of Igoumenitsa was inaugurated on September 19th 2003. It’s located in the southern side of the ground marine belt, outside the city’s urban area, near the village Ladochori. It occupies a total area of 21 hectares from which 13 hectares are harbor area, while 8 hectares have been given for road construction, parking spaces for private cars and trucks, refuelling stations etc. The new Port provides 5 mooring spaces for Ro-Ro ships, of international ferry routes, twelve piers with the ability of simultaneous mooring up to 7 ships with adequate ground space.

As concerns partners experience, it worths mentioning that LP1 and P3 have taken part in several EU programs either on the IPA Adriatic GR-IT, FP7, MED and TEN (Trans European Network).These are α) APC – THE ADRIATIC PORT COMMUNITY,b) FAROS – FOR ADVANCEMENT RESOURCING AND ORGANIZATION OF SEAFARERS,γ) GAIA – GENERALIZED AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE OF PORT INFORMATION AREA d)NETLAM – NETWORK OF THE LOWER ADRIATIC MARINAS e)PELAGOS f)SECINS showing capacity in managing such projects.LP2 has no experience in EU funded programs and is for the first time taking part in EU funded projects.

The steps to be applied during the project are:

• The recording of the current situation concerning the activities of the ports of Corfu, Igoumenitsa and Sarande,
• The adoption of common environmental practices,
• Control, monitoring and management of solid - liquid waste and air emissions-noise in port area,
• Energy management and monitoring and control of natural resources in port facilities,
• Improve efficient energy consumption sytems,
• Implementation, installation of common environmental management system and EMAS registration,
• The design and develop environmental management information system
• The Centre for Environmental Information and Education.

The methodology of the project will initially start with project meetings that will help in reporting the current environmental situation, risk analysis of the area and waste of natural resources. Then,the partners will come to the conclusion with adopting common environmental practices,to help protect the environment and prevent waste of natural resources of the cross -broader border region. After having formed joint approaches in dealing with common or not environmental problems, necessary actions before obtaining the EMS (or related) and its certification should take place. Such necessary actions are the equipment supplies (fire engines, depollution float dam, water flow meters etc),the external expert hire for making environmental measurements, planting, painting & marine road works etc. All previous activities, will on one hand, effectively support the requirements for EMAS (or related) certification and registration, for the ports of Saranda and Igoumenitsa and on the other hand help ports to take all necessary preventive actions for improving environmental performance.The information system will be used as a joint platform for intra-port monitoring, control and management of environmental indicators for each port providing an electronic data logger as well as a preventive & precautional role.The information system will also be available through the website-forum through authorized access covering the environmental effects of ports and communication of environmental policies. The Project management, progress of the meetings, staff training, publicity and awareness supports all the steps for implementing the project as valuable tools. The Environmental Information and Education Centre helps to highlight the environmental actions of the three partners, the communication of environmental policies and practices in a practical way and educate the population (schools, residents from wider border area) to sound environmental practices.

The project objectives are summarized as follows:

1) to enable joint approaches to common issues and challenges the ports need to tackle;
2) to facilitate the adoption of common environmental practices through developing, implementing and financing joint environmental actions;
3) to strengthen and promote cross-border collaboration, transfer of knowledge and exchange of experience not only among the consortium members (via the development and implementation of joint environmental actions aimed at the sustainable development of the area), but also among citizens of the area and beyond, stakeholders and tourists.

The strategies to be developed aim at ensuring the protection and restoration of European marine ecosystems in border areas of Greece and Albania, by reaching a consensus with respect to an environmental perception, and by establishing and implementing joint procedures, practices, policies and actions in compliance with National, European and International Laws (MARPOL 73/78 etc). These strategies will ultimately ensure the ecological sustainability of activities associated with the marine environment. The specific aims of the project partners are to:

§ set common environmental objectives and targets;
§ define  activities, systems and procedures for efficient and sustainable environmental management;
§ inform the public and other stakeholders about the environmental performance of both ports and the region of interest.
§ raise public awareness of locals and visitors, contributing to the sustainable development of the border area

It is evident that each port needs to tackle different problems, issues and challenges or opportunities for development due to differences in size, location in the border region of Greece and Albania. Environmental impacts from port activities are also in strict relation with location, size, infrastructure needs and management loads. During the project preparation phase, extensive discussions among the partners, revealed the variety of environmental issues and problems, and also the significant impact each port has on the local community and the wider region.

More specifically, the environmental problems/threats that very often arise as a result of maritime activities at the ports of Corfu, Igoumenitsa & Saranda are: noise generated by the operation of machinery and vehicles; dust produced primarily in the areas of handling bulk; gaseous pollutants (from vehicles, machinery, ships);degradation of water quality and marine ecosystems around the port due to reduced renewal of water between the piers; pollution from loading and unloading of bulk cargo; leaching of the platforms with the rain;leakages of oil spills from ships; pollution of soil and underlying groundwater caused by the infiltration of hazardous substances; management of hazardous cargos; hygiene and safety of staff and visitors; overconsumption of energy and natural resources (eg water, oil and others), etc. On the other hand, the increase in tourism and commercial or maritime activity in all ports of the area presents new opportunities and challenges as regards economic development, promotion of local communities and populations. One such example is the rapid increase in cruises planned to double the number of ships and passenger arrivals in the related ports in the next few years. However, the increase in tourism  as well as maritime and commercial activity in each port creates not onlyopportunities but also obligations for the ports. It’s worth mentioning that cruise passengers arriving at Corfu amount to 600.000 per year,visitors from/to Corfu arriving at/from Igoumenitsa amount to 800.000 per year, and visitors to/from Corfu arriving at/from Sarande amount to 50.000 per year.

The number of passengers departing from or arriving at any of the three ports (Corfu,Igoumenitsa,Saranda) to/from other destinations is equally large.This growth, has led to the design and implementation of large-scale projects (completed or still in progress) aimed to improve the infrastructure:extension of the wharf and dredging the bottom at the port of Saranda,and of the renovation of infrastructure facilities and construction of a new port at Igoumenitsa,etc.The cooperation of the three ports highlights the important and unique opportunity to transfer knowledge, experiences and practices in environmental management and thereby improve the living quality in the cross-border area.