The 4th National Inland Navigation Day was held in Peschiera del Garda – the itinerant event in the places of Northern Italy involved in navigation – and it focused on the growing strategic, economic, and technical importance of the waterways in these territories. Promoted by the International Propeller Club – Port of Mantua with the contribution of the Propeller Club – Port of Verona, Studio Legale Mordiglia, and Animp, and with the patronage of the Municipality of Peschiera del Garda and the Province of Mantua, the day brought together regional administrators, logistics operators, and port authorities, recording a clear qualitative improvement compared to previous editions.
The debate focused on three central themes: the need to modernize the sector through targeted interventions on the fleet and infrastructure, the integrated use of water resources, and finally, the need for shared governance and coordinated policies between territories.
The first working module demonstrated that the energy transition of vessels is no longer a futuristic hypothesis, but an implemented path. The table dedicated to fleet innovation highlighted, also thanks to the technical and commercial testimonies of companies like Aqua superPower, that lake and port operators are already implementing refitting programs and launching the first demonstrative units with electric and hybrid propulsion. The exhibition of electric propulsion units set up in the central port of Peschiera provided concrete proof that these technologies are already available in the territory.
Regarding the issue of water resources, the conviction emerged that waterways must be considered a multifunctional resource, capable of serving both logistics and hydraulic safety. This requires complex planning that integrates expertise and funding. The issue of integrated water resource management was addressed, which requires constant maintenance of riverbeds and a delicate balance between navigable and agricultural uses. On the logistics front, concrete investment signals arrived from players like A22 to enhance road-rail-water intermodality, in logistics hubs (including the port of Valdaro), to ensure efficient connections with the European Ten-T networks.
Finally, the institutional session, which saw the representatives of the Port Authorities of Venice and Ravenna and the Transport Councilors of three Regions (Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, and Veneto), and the Vice President of Veneto together with the provincial representatives, revealed a unanimous need: to create shared governance and coordinated policies between territories to accelerate the necessary infrastructure projects and maintenance interventions.
Nicola Pascal, president of the Propeller Club – Port of Mantua, commented: “With this itinerant edition, we wanted to root the event in the places that experience inland navigation daily and transform the conference into an open and operational space for shared projects.”
The co-organizer Nicola Nardi (Studio Legale Mordiglia), satisfied with the national level reached by the conference, given the participation of many representatives of the institutions of the involved regions, summarized the outcome of the discussion by reiterating the clear trajectory: “we want to build concrete projects and not just wish lists.”
The event concluded with the announcement that the next edition of the event will again be itinerant, touching other key places of inland navigation, with the aim of consolidating the network of collaborations and translating the ideas that emerged into immediately financeable and actionable projects.
