This year's edition winner will be announced on November 9. The award ceremony will be held in a ceremony in the city of Brussels (Photo Harbour Authority of Cartagena).

On this occasion, the ESPO distinction will reward the port authority to demonstrate a better performance in safeguarding and a progress in the conservation of the natural marine or terrestrial ecosystems of its port area. It also seeks to distinguish those ports that are able to open these areas to the general public, respecting the restrictions imposed by the International Code for the Protection of Ships and Port Facilities (ISPS), in force since July 2004. Eleven port authorities meet at this call: Antwerp, Dunkirk, Guadalupe, Le Havre, Bremen, Riga, Rotterdam, the Association of British Ports, and the Spaniards Cartagena, Huelva and Melilla.

In 2009, ESPO decided to establish the ESPO Awards for the Integration of Ports into the Society on an annual basis, with the aim of making known the efforts made by the European port authorities to improve relations between ports and their cities.

After the first two editions, it was decided in 2011 to focus each new call on a specific aspect of the integration of these infrastructures into the rest of society. To date, the themes developed have been: Creative strategies for communication between ports and the public (2011), Youth (2012), Heritage Transmission (2013), Innovative Environmental Projects (2014), and Relation with schools and universities (2015).

Since the beginning of this award, more than 140 port projects have been presented to competition. Each year, the winner is elected by an international jury of independent experts. The awards in the previous calls were: Gijón (Spain), 2009; Helsinki (Finland), 2010; Stockholm (Sweden), 2011; Genoa (Italy), 2012; Antwerp (Belgium), 2013; Koper (Slovenia), 2014; and Dublin (Ireland), 2015.

Source: Naucher