PortEconomics ass. member Patrick Verhoeven delivered the inaugural lecture at the Apulian distinguished lectures series, sharing with the audience his thoughts on the governance of seaports and the economic and societal challenges that today's port authorities are facing.

The Apulian distinguished lectures series are held in Brindisi, Italy, and are a joint initiative by the Region Puglia, the City of Brindisi, the University of Salento and the Port Authority of Brindisi. The project is co-ordinated by the President of the Port of Brindisi Prof. Hercules Haralambides.

Patrick shared with participants views on a subject which is close to his heart, both in my daily activities for the European Sea Ports Organisation, which cares for the common interests of more than 800 port authorities in Europe, and, also in his academic work at the University of Antwerp.

In particular Patrick discussed three issues:
- the evolution of the port concept;
- the changing role of port authorities and the future options they have;
- the governance factors that influence the performance of port authorities.

You can freely download the presentation @ PortEconomics:  Governance of European seaports – Economic and societal challenges.