To promote the efforts made by different European ports to enhance the city port relations through innovative projects, ESPO decided in 2009 to give out an annual ESPO award on Social Integration of Ports. After the two first editions, it was decided to focus each year on one different aspect of social integration.
The themes addressed so far are: Creative Strategies to Communicate the Port to the Wider Public (2011), Youth (2012), Heritage (2013), Innovative Environmental Projects (2014), Relationship with Schools and Universities (2015), Nature in Ports (2016), Art and Cultural involvement of the port (2017), Ports as a good work environment for everyone (2018), Transparency and the role of social media in reaching out to the local community (2019), Enhancing the port-city relationship by encouraging innovators and local start-ups to be part of the port ecosystem (2020), Role of ports in the recovery of the city and the local community (2021), Role of Maritime Passenger Transport in Enhancing the City Connectivity and bringing Added Value to the Local Community (2022) and Nature Restoration Projects in Ports (2023).
The ESPO Award on Social Integration of Ports is entering its 17th edition in 2025, and this year’s theme is “Women in Ports.”
Recognising the importance of gender balance in the maritime and port sector, ESPO aims to highlight and reward ports that have developed innovative policies and/or strategies that successfully attract more women to work in ports.
ESPO is one of the founding members of the European Commission’s “Women in Transport – EU Platform for Change,” an initiative launched in 2017 to promote gender balance in the transport sector, since on average only 22% of people working in the transport sector are women. Since 2018, ESPO has been actively monitoring gender balance within the port sector through the effective attendance of female port professionals to the different meetings of the organisation. The results of this monitoring are published annually on International Women’s Day (8 March). With the 2025 edition of the ESPO Award, ESPO seeks to award port managing bodies that are taking proactive steps to attract more women to work in the port and pursue a comprehensive strategy to a supportive working environment for female professionals and thus enhancing the gender balance.
Project submissions have to reach the ESPO Secretariat by Friday 4 July 2025 at the latest. The application form and the terms of reference are available on the ESPO Website.
The ESPO Award winning port is selected by an independent jury of international experts on the theme of the award. The winner receives a painting out of the series “The Colours of ESPO” created exclusively for ESPO by Dutch port painter Sasja Hagens. The submitted projects are brought together into an illustrated ESPO Award booklet. The award ceremony will take place during a dinner being held in the second week of November in Brussels.
WINNERS OF THE ESPO AWARD
ESPO’S ANNUAL CONFERENCE
We hope you had an incredible time at this year's ESPO Conference in Paris! Get ready for even more excitement, because we're thrilled to invite you to Thessaloniki for the 2025 edition, happening on May 8th and 9th. Don't miss out on the next unforgettable experience!
Click below to dive into the stunning photos and presentations from this year's ESPO conference in Paris and relive the unforgettable moments we shared!
