Following a successful edition of the Smart & Sustainable Marina Rendezvous, Yacht Club de Monaco President Bernard d’Alessandri has spoken of the need to “encourage initiatives to build a more eco-responsible yachting industry”.
The Smart & Sustainable Marina Rendezvous, held at the Yacht Club de Monaco (YCM) on 24th and 25th September, was a huge success, attracting professionals and businesses from around the world, who travelled to the Principality to present their pioneering ideas and sustainability solutions to key financiers and decision-makers.
LATEST IN MARINA DEVELOPMENT
The event, which “enables financiers, policymakers and innovators to get together at the Yacht Club de Monaco and be put in contact with the whole marina ecosystem against a backdrop of sustainable tourism”, is intended to showcase the latest developments in the maritime sector, with a particular focus on the creation of “smart marinas”.
“Our idea of sustainable nautical tourism and, therefore in a broader way, a protected marine ecosystem is to make the sustainable marinas a part of the city and not apart from the city,” said Linos Voskarides, a “Blue Growth” Policy Officer at the European Commission, during the event. “Sustainable nautical tourism and sustainable development of marinas are the key to having a protected marine ecosystem and a well-preserved coastline in the future.”
AWARDS FOR SMART MARINAS AND SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
The event, in addition to presenting new ideas, also included the International Smart & Sustainable Marina Awards, which were presented on 25th September for three categories: Start-Ups and Scale-Ups, Marinas and Architects. French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte chaired the jury that made the final calls.
“We want to encourage initiatives to build a more eco-responsible yachting industry. Infrastructures such as marinas must reflect yachting today, a more restrained yachting in line with the environmental challenges we face today,” said Bernard d’Alessandri, President of Cluster Yachting Monaco and Yacht Club de Monaco General Secretary.
The winners in the individual business category were EHP2 Marine for their solutions and technologies that encourage building more virtuous marinas and Nereid Water for “cutting-edge tech” aimed at environmental preservation. Omniflow, a “scale-up” that helps protect the environment through managing and creating smart marinas, also picked up an award.
The Marina awards went to Limassol Marina and Karpaz Gate Marina for their vision that marinas are like “micro-citiesW and can be leaders in sustainable development for the cities they reside in.
Finally, the Architecture award went to Fresh Architecture, with a student prize given to S3-Group Guangzhou Academy for their new ideas in creating functional, attractive waterfronts.
PRINCE ALBERT II
Prince Albert II attended the event, meeting with participants as well as high-level dignitaries such as: Prince Saud Bin Turki Al Saud, the General Manager of the Saudi Red Sea Authority; Ana Elena Pinto Lozano, Ambassador of Costa Rica to France and Permanent Delegate of Costa Rica to UNESCO; Rear Admiral Reda Ahmen Ismail, the head of the maritime transport sector in Egypt; and Elisabeth Anna Rebecca Chouraki, International Technical Expert PAMEx (Action Plan for a Model Mediterranean).
The event, which was supported by the Prince Albert II Foundation and Extended Monaco, was organised by Monaco Marina Management (M3).
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Photo credit: Yacht Club de Monaco