Ryan Holmes
Glasgow Caledonian University, United Kingdom
On 12th of March 2025, the second in-person Management Committee meeting of COST Action PACT (Port City Territories in Action: A Collaborative Laboratory for Inclusive Energy Transition) took place at the Sorbonne University Campus Pierre et Marie Curie. The initial Management Committee (MC) meeting was held in Brussels in October of last year. A total of 28 PACT participants were in attendance, which included 16 participants that were able to make their way to Paris to attend in person, and a further 12 participants who joined online. The PACT MC was honored to have COST Association Science Officer Dr. Mariola Kapidani attend the first part of the meeting.
Dr. Kapidani, started the morning session by graciously addressing the MC with some notable updates regarding characteristics and developments of PACT since being launched in October 2024: Thus far, PACT has participants representing 24 countries, 28% of which are considered young researchers, and that the COST Action has a gender balance of 50:50. Dr. Kapidani also spoke about the importance of active involvement of COST Action participants and offered guidance for fostering and maintaining dynamic engagement among the membership.
The agenda of the meeting then progressed to a discussion of upcoming plans and activities. A significant highlight of planned initiatives that were discussed was the upcoming participation in the 5th Blue Limassol Forum “Ongoing Limassol Coastal Transformation: How can we establish an inclusive approach?” scheduled for 15th – 16th May 2025 in the historic port city of Limassol, Cyprus.
Deliberations then advanced to presentations highlighting summaries of progress and achievement by each of the 5 PACT Working Groups. Each respective Working Group report demonstrated the extraordinary interdisciplinary character of PACT. This will be a great asset to the team members’ endeavor in addressing the complex challenges of inclusive energy transition in port city territories. While PACT is still very much in the early stages of the initiative, the Working Group presentations showed how the participants are already making great strides in fostering collaboration to achieve the objectives of this COST Action. For example, PACT MC members are forging connections with stakeholders of the case study ports Limassol and Le Havre, are reaching out to existing port hubs and platforms for exchange of information and inspiration, are preparing and refining stakeholder surveys and are planning the next in-person meetings of the entire PACT team in simultaneity to the individual Working Group on-line meetings.
After a quick lunch break at the university’s cafeteria, including a coffee-run to keep the MC members energized, the presentations of the Working Groups were concluded and followed by a discussion of aspects such as the impending publication of the Science Communication Plan, anticipated deliverables, and a summary of MC decisions. The fruitful formal meeting activities were concluded with the in-person participants being treated to a Campus Pierre-et-Marie-Curie architectural tour, given by Frédérique Andry-Cazin (Secrétaire générale at Institut OPUS - Observatoire des Patrimoines de l'Alliance, Sorbonne Université), which culminated with a visit to the Zamansky tower. The 28 story and 90m high tower houses the Sorbonne University’s administration. Built in 1970, Zamansky tower stands at the center of the campus and students fittingly call it “the tower” as it looms over the grounds. Ms. Andry-Cazin led the participants to the top floor of “the tower”, where they were able to take in what are perhaps some of the most spectacular views available of the city of Paris.
To learn more about COST Action PACT and to stay up to date on all the latest developments and exciting upcoming events, be sure to visit the new PACT website at https://www.pact-costaction.eu/ where you can also find links to follow PACT on Bluesky, Flickr, and LinkedIn.
Acknowledgments
This blog post has been written in the context of discussions in the LDE PortCityFutures research community. It reflects the evolving thoughts of the authors and expresses the discussions between researchers on the socio-economic, spatial and cultural questions surrounding port city relationships. This blog was edited by the PortCityFutures editorial team: Eliane Schmid.
About COST Action
www.cost.eu
COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a funding agency for research and innovation networks. Our Actions help connect research initiatives across Europe and enable scientists to grow their ideas by sharing them with their peers. This boosts their research, career and innovation.
This blog is based upon work from COST Action CA23138 – Port City Territories in Action: A Collaborative Laboratory for Inclusive Energy Transition (PACT), supported by COST.
