The jury, which is chaired by John B Richardson, former Head of the European Commission’s Maritime Task Force, intensively discussed the seventeen project applications that were submitted this year. The theme of this year’s competition was ‘Creative Strategies to Communicate the Port to the Wider Public’.
‘The quality of the applications was again outstanding this year’, said John Richardson, ‘Several ports however put forward only one particular communication element such as events or celebrations, whereas we were looking for more long-term strategic approaches. The applications that did not make it to the shortlist will nevertheless be inspiring to other ports and some may well qualify for future themes of the ESPO Award.’
The jury came to the conclusion that the submissions of the ports of Koper, Stockholm and Thessaloniki met best with the criteria of the theme and were therefore selected for the shortlist.
The winner of the ESPO Award will be announced on 9 November during an evening ceremony at the Brussels’ Town Hall. The Award itself is designed by the Belgian artist François Schuiten.
Next to John Richardson, jury members are Bart Derison (Partner, Connect), Michael Grey (Former Editor-in-Chief, Lloyd’s List), Denis Davoult (International Association Cities and Ports), Marta Moretti (International Centre Cities on Water), Maria Nygren (Deputy Managing Director, TransportGruppen Sweden), Nigel Rowe (Chairman, Sail Training International) and Eric Van Hooydonk (Chairman, Flanders Water Heritage).
The full list of submissions for the Award can be downloaded from the ESPO website.