Room To Grow: Join Port Saint John For A Discussion On Port City Community Collaboration
Over the last 10 years, Port Saint John has invested significantly in building relationships with the Saint John community and providing value beyond the typical economic boost associated with a port.
That has meant initiatives like tackling issues arising from intergenerational poverty with other business partners in the city, developing educational outreach, providing leadership support to Saint John Seafarers’ Mission, and working with countless community organizers for festivals and events that take place on the waterfront.
But the Port’s Paula Copeland says the Port team plans to continue to evolve community collaboration and engagement even more over the next few years.
”We’re really going to the next level. We’re thinking about how we can be more integrated with what’s happening on the waterfront and how we can continue to evolve as a leading community collaborator in Saint John,” she says.
This year, Port Saint John is using its annual Port Days celebration to showcase exactly what that means.
Port Days is an all-virtual event this year, and with that digital shift, the Port is opening the full slate of Port Days events to everyone—and making every event completely free.
Copeland says this change of format is the perfect opportunity for the Port to take Port Days “to a new place.”
One way the Port is doing that is by hosting several panels exploring some of the most exciting developments and pressing questions facing the Port and the city of Saint John.
One of those panels, Port in the Community, will feature a lively discussion about the role that ports play in their local communities and how this role has changed over the last 5-10 years.
Port cities around the world are becoming increasingly more integrated as commercial, residential, and recreational centres that recognize the unique advantages of working together. Trade and commerce on the waterfront are finding a path toward co-existence with citizens and their residential and recreational needs.
Panelists will review some of the most innovative ways ports around the world are engaging with their cities and citizens in order to stimulate thoughts about how we can continue to innovate here in Saint John.
Copeland says she’s bringing in guests from as far away as Hamburg and Dublin to take a “blue sky” look at what’s possible at a modern and forward-thinking port.
Copeland says Port Saint John is learning from the most progressive port cities in the world and seeking to apply these learnings here at home.
“We’re really thinking differently, thinking bigger, and more collaboratively and people will be interested to see how that may impact what the Port of the Future looks like,” she says.
For more information on Port in the Community panel or any other 2021 Port Days events, visit the Saint John Port Days website. Free Registration is available until Noon on Monday, June 7.
This story is part of a series sponsored by Port Saint John.
- Join Port Saint John To Learn How Digitalization Of The Port Will Evolve Over The Coming Months
- Join Port Saint John Discussion On Growth And Workforce At Virtual Port Days
- Join Port Days Discussion To Learn About The Cruise Industry’s Return To Saint John