News

InCom WG 242 – Permanent Floating Houses along the Inland Waterway Banks and Infrastructure

MarCom WG 243 – Design, Maintenance and Sustainability of Container Terminal Pavements – update WG 165

For each WG we are looking for:

• A full member and
• A young professional member (under 40)

For InCom WG 242 *Besides applying for membership of this Working Group (InCom WG 242), interested candidates can also put forward their candidacy to chair the WG.

The attached Chair’s letter and documents from PIANC International provide more information on these positions.  Applicants should be an Individual or an employee of a Corporate PIANC member or otherwise be willing to join as a member. 

If you or one of your colleagues would like to be considered for one (or both) of these positions, please provide a CV that clearly highlights relevant experience, to the PIANC UK Secretariat pianc@ice.org.uk, no later than 9am on Wednesday 23^rd March 2022.

With the UNFCCC’s COP26 Climate Change meetings being hosted in Glasgow, Scotland in late 2021, PIANC UK was delighted to have the opportunity to showcase the recent PIANC Working Group 178 guidance on Climate Change Adaptation Planning for Ports and Inland Waterways in two separate events.  Jan Brooke, the UK representative on EnviCom and the Chair of PIANC’s Permanent Task Group on Climate Change, was invited to present this guidance at:

• Practical Climate Change Adaptation Solutions for Ports, 2^nd and 3^rd November in the International Maritime Hub. This conference featured presentations from port, harbour master and pilot representatives from UK, USA, Argentina, Canada, South Africa, Spain, The Netherlands, Dubai, Malaysia and Australia. The programme, PPTs and event recordings are all available at https://www.maritimeuk.org/imh-2021/imh-events/practical-climate-change-adaptation-challenges-and-good-practice-solutions-ports/. PIANC EnviCom’s Marika Calfas and Gerardo Bessone were also among the speakers at this event
• Future-proofing transport: design codes and standards – why do they matter and how can they evolve? 10^th November in the Blue Zone Resilience Hub.  This event included presentations from across the transport sector (road, rail, waterborne) on the development and application of standards, guidance documents, codes, etc.  Recording available at https://cop-resilience-hub.org/cop26-event-videos/ (scroll down to 10^th November events)

And moving to PIANC’s WG 176 report on Working with Nature, Nature-Based Solutions were also high on the agenda at COP26, with numerous events on the topic – including Pioneering Nature Based Solutions for Resilient Infrastructure (another Blue Zone Resilience Hub event, on 5^th November). This session marked the release of the white paper on ‘Governance of Infrastructure for Resilience’ from Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and Resilience Shift – see https://www.resilienceshift.org/publication/governance-of-infrastructure-for-resilience/.

Jan Brooke, PTGCC Chair

Navigating a Changing Climate update

The UNFCCC Global Climate Action Initiative Navigating a Changing Climate was also active at COP26, with both PIANC’s outgoing Focal Point (Jan Brooke, 2015-2021) and Mark Button, The Resilience Shift’s incoming Focal Point, present. 

Navigating a Changing Climate is a global, multi-stakeholder partnership of associations with interests in waterborne transport infrastructure that work together to support the sector as it responds to climate change. More than 50 supporter organisations are also committed to the partnership’s aims.

To date, Navigating a Changing Climate’s work has included the creation of a website providing a one-stop shop climate change resource for the sector https://navclimate.pianc.org/; the organisation of an international conference and many other sector-specific climate change mitigation and adaptation events; the publication of several technical good practice guidance documents; and much more.

As PIANC hands over the lead of the initiative to The Resilience Shift, a new multi-year Action Plan will be developed and implemented to progress the urgent parallel agendas of climate change mitigation and adaptation.  This new Action Plan will bring together the climate-related activities being undertaken by each of the partner associations as well as shaping new collaborative initiatives to ensure a joined-up approach to delivering the transformational action required of the sector.

PIANC will continue to contribute to the Navigating a Changing Climate objectives via its technical guidance documents and events organised by members of the Permanent Task Group on Climate Change (PTGCC).

• COP26 sediment management pledge

One of the specific contributions made to the COP26 process by Navigating a Changing Climate was the development, with SedNet, of the COP26 Sediment Management Pledge (see https://sednet.org/climate-change-and-sediment-management-pledge/). 

Sediments are an integral part of aquatic systems, the building block for natural habitats and an inherent component of many ecosystem services.  Sediments and their associated aquatic habitats – blue carbon stocks – also play a vital role in sequestering and storing carbon. Sediment managers – including port authorities and dredging and construction companies (i.e. many PIANC members) – can therefore make a significant contribution to addressing the climate change challenge. 

The COP26 Sediment Management Pledge sets out a series of actions that sediment managers can take to identify and deliver solutions that benefit not only climate and nature, but also society and economy. SedNet and the NavClimate partners ask organisations that recognise the importance of these issues to endorse the pledge. Details about how your organisation can do this can be found via the above link.

Jan Brooke, Outgoing PIANC Focal Point for Navigating a Changing Climate

Please be advised that the deadline for sending in abstracts for the PIANC De Paepe-Willems Award (PIANC DPWA) 2022 is 31 August 2021.
 
Full papers are expected at the latest by 30 September 2021.
 
Please note that no exception to the deadlines will be allowed.
 
The Award consists of 3 prizes:

Number 1: € 4,000

• Free membership of PIANC for a 3-year period.
• Free hotel accommodation for 3 nights will be provided, as well as a payment of travel expenses in economy class to the AGA.

The winner will be invited to present his/her paper at the Annual General Assembly (AGA) of PIANC (on the condition, of course, that there will be no more travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 virus). 
 
Number 2: 

• € 2,000
• Free membership of PIANC for a 1-year period.

Number 3:

• € 1,000
• Free membership of PIANC for a 1-year period 

The Award will be granted to those candidates who submit the most outstanding paper selected by the jury in the calendar year preceding the General Assembly at which the Award is granted.

In case of co-authorship, the Award will be granted to the principal author of the paper.
 
We would like to ask you to distribute this message among your Young Professionals. All abstracts/papers should be sent to PIANC HQ (sabine.vandevelde@pianc.org). 
 
The PIANC-DPWA Rules & Criteria can be found at https://www.pianc.org/awards/pianc-de-paepe-willems-award. 

Climate change adaptation and resilience: common themes and key messages from London Climate Week.

Read More “PIANC at London Climate Week”

PIANC recognises the importance of the climate change challenge and will actively pursue the sustainable future of the waterborne transport industry by supporting its members in addressing this challenge.

Read More “PIANC Declaration on Climate Change”