Social Sustainability
Social sustainability at the Port of Venice includes a range of different policies, related to the great number of port workers and the vastity of the area influenced by port activities. Its aim is to protect, support and valorize all the components of the port and local communities, and to increase their welfare.
Its complexity is due to the coexistence of different components, divided into three main areas of interest: safety & security, relations with local stakeholders, high quality education.
The actions aimed at ensuring SAFETY & SECURITY are carried out in two separate sectors:
- worker's safety, for which the Port Authority have been investing for years on awareness campaigns, continuing education and other initiatives in cooperation with competent authorities and port operators;
- security of port sensitive areas, canals and accesses, protected by up-to-date security systems and a control Plan on unlawful actions.
RELATIONS WITH THE LOCAL COMMUNITY have a very important role for social sustainability, representing a wide area of intervention to be kept active and alive, in order to ensure a constructive relationship with the surrounding territory and to foster awareness of its maritime origins.
Also here, the Port Authority carried out actions on multiple fronts:
- equality and social inclusion: various initiatives are aimed at making the port areas more accessible and usable by the majority of people, providing tools to overcome mobility barriers, organizing events to promote the culture of inclusion, carrying out solidarity projects in favour of local communities;
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relations with local communities: for more than 20 years the Port Authority has been carrying various activities, diversified depending on the publics (students, citizens, general visitors…) and on the scope (educational, informative, recreational). For some of these activities the Authority decided to open the port areas of the ancient waterfront, where spaces and buildings have been redeveloped to be lived by citizens, in harmony with minor port activities.
QUALITY EDUCATION is an area that has been constantly growing over the years, thanks to the spreading of knowledge on logistics and related work opportunities. The Port of Venice offers specific educational and training paths, through a proper training company specialised on logistics. The Port Authority is also one of the founding members of the post-diploma technical institute “ITS Marco Polo”.
The school programs are dedicated both to former students and to unemployed adults, also thanks to the strong cooperation with the main local educational institutes and with port and logistic operators.
Besides that, the port community has been providing many training opportunities since 2016, and the Port Authority established an agreement with Ca’ Foscari university, in order to provide an educational path focused on Logistics and Maritime topics.
The SEAFARERS’ WELFARE is a continuous and demanding challenge for all ports, concerning the guarantee of safe and healthy working conditions for those who work on ships of any kind. In order to provide these conditions and to comply with the general international guidelines, the Port Authority constantly cooperates with local Authorities and port operators.
