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From 14 to 16 October 2025, experts from around the world gathered at the Eucentre Foundation in Pavia (Italy) for a meeting of the PIANC Maritime Commission Working Group 225. The group operates under the World Association for Waterborne Transport Infrastructure (PIANC), the leading international organisation dedicated to sustainable port and waterway infrastructure.
The Working Group 225 is updating the 2001 PIANC guidelines on the seismic design of port structures. The new edition introduces a performance-based design approach, which focuses on how structures actually behave during earthquakes rather than relying solely on traditional force calculations.
This method provides more flexibility, better risk management, and ensures that international standards reflect the latest research and field experience.
Under the leadership of Dr. Atsushi Nozu (Japan), SECO Belgium joined international experts from academia, industry, and public authorities to help shape these new guidelines. By sharing its structural and geotechnical expertise, SECO supports the development of practical and science-based tools that engineers worldwide can use to design safer infrastructure.
During the meeting, participants also discovered the EUCENTRE’s advanced testing laboratories and learned about the global activities of the GEM Foundation (Global Earthquake Model), both of which play key roles in seismic research and risk reduction.