Small port every 30 miles apart: development of services for lively water tourism in the Eastern Gulf of Finland

The 30MILES project aims at improving the overall service level and safety in small ports and waterfront. At the moment, the small ports are acting alone, and developing a competitive network of small ports is seen as a precondition for lively and sustainable water tourism in the Eastern Gulf of Finland and in increasing the overall attractiveness of the region. Joint development of sustainable port services and efficient communication and marketing activities are applied in order to support the local economies and attract new businesses and visitors.

Small ports play a vital economic role regionally. However, port activities also form a major source of pollution in the often sensitive coastal habitats and ecosystems: the environmental impacts of small ports including i.e. air and water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and garbage/ port waste. In turn, water tourism is highly dependent on recreational ecosystem services. Therefore, sustainable development of port activities is considered important. Research on sustainable small ports has remained limited and new ways to adopt proactive approach to port sustainability need to be designed.

As a result of the project, the service level and safety of 11 small ports will be improved. The network of small ports every 30 miles apart in the Eastern Gulf of Finland will support sustainable regional development. Stakeholder views and thinking on the sustainable development in the small port context will be mapped. A new tool based on will be developed for assessing the environmental sustainability of the ports and contribute to holistic sustainability of environment, safety, mobility, tourism, and businesses in the small ports and their respective regions.

30MILES is coordinated by the Kotka Maritime Research Centre. In addition to University of Helsinki, the other Finnish partners are Kymenlaakso University of Applied Science, Cursor Ltd and Posintra Ltd. The partners in Estonia are Ida-Viru Enterprise Centre, Reconstruction and Operation of Eisma Port, Viimsi municipality, Estonian Maritime Museum, Narva Department for City Development and Economy and Narva-Jõesuu municipality. Associate partners are Lääne-Viru County Goverment from Estonian and Finnish Sailing and Boating Federation from Finland.

30MILES is funded by the Interreg Central Baltic 2014-2020 Programme and Regional Council of Southwest Finland. The project is also funded partially by the participating organizations in Finland and Estonia.