ANCHOR LIFE will define strategies and best practices for port noise management, focusing on the measurement and mitigation o ... f noise pollution in five ports located near cities – Livorno, Piombino and Portoferraio (Italy), Patras (Greece) and Melilla (a Spanish exclave in North Africa). The main goal is to raise awareness and share information regarding port noise pollution among public, administrations, land management decision-makers, port authorities and private companies involved in port activities. To this end, the project will develop a reward scheme to encourage private sector enterprises in ports to adopt best practices in noise reduction. This scheme will be trialled in the three Italian ports. In Patras, the project will install its newly-designed smart port noise monitoring system, consisting of a network of low-cost microphones, able to monitor the sources of noise. The system will be able to send alerts about disturbances caused by port activities and collect reports from citizens. ANCHOR LIFE will prepare guidelines for the definition of a common approach in port noise monitoring and assessment for Melilla, taking into consideration the results of earlier projects and EU policy. This LIFE project’s actions are in line with the aims of the EU’s Environmental Noise Directive (END), which set to define a common approach to prevent or reduce the harmful effects due to environmental noise. To support the implementation of the END, EU Directive 996/2015/EC established common methods for environmental noise assessment which Member States are required to use from the end of 2018. Expected results: Best practices in port noise management identified; Guidelines for a noise monitoring system in urban ports; Guidelines for a common port noise impact assessment method; Sharing of project results with port authorities and stakeholders to encourage replication. read more