EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project GRACE addresses the ASIA PRO ECO PROGRAMME (component Policy Reinforcement) and aims to perform the necessary actions that will enable an active and comprehensive awareness building of environmental impact of maritime transport in Asia. By transferring European competences, it aims to ameliorate Asian environmental performance and to develop a common understanding and knowledge base. The latter will be a framework for maritime transport safety and environment policy formulation and training for mitigation strategies, keeping pace with the EC turn towards sustainable transport services.

GRACE comes to answer to the need for considering measures for ship-source environmental impact that recent incidents have highlighted. The subsequent changes in the European and international legislation that really modified the scene can be sooner or later adopted, but a change in awareness and enhanced knowledge, not to add the change to the mentalities of all agents involved, is a precondition for the improvement of environmental performance of maritime transport sector.

Given the global objective of sustainability and the great interest that Asia presents for Europe due to strong trade relations between them, the project aims at contributing to this awareness building and “mental” change as it intends to identify the environmental impact of current practices in the maritime transport sector and highlight the existing knowledge gaps in the Asian context. In line with the Commission’s approach, GRACE intends to put forward the sustainability concept implicating in a fertile exchange, parties from regions with longstanding maritime tradition and presently high maritime activity.

The implementation plan of GRACE involves the development of a Framework for the common understanding of maritime transport environmental impacts in Asia, the formulation of deployment scenarios enabling the implementation of European best practices in Asia and of a dedicated training scheme for Governmental Authorities in Asia. The Policy Reinforcement activities of GRACE include two Workshops, one Training Seminar, the establishment of an Information Dissemination Network and the liaison with other European and Asian Programmes.

The project will focus on the South East Asia and particularly Vietnam and Thailand, through the partners participating in the project from these two countries. The target groups of GRACE are governmental bodies (e.g. Ministries), other entities related to transport policy such as international associations, research centers, universities and other relevant target groups such as maritime planning and policy formulation agencies, management organisations and various actors participating in maritime transport activities.

The project duration is foreseen to be of 24 months.