The project “duisport Community: development and expansion of innovative stakeholder management” was successfully completed after a period of 12 months. As the largest inland port in the world and an important European hinterland hub in the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, the aim of the project was to establish long-term, stable and trusting network relationships. These networks included not only customers and partners, but also politicians, authorities, adjacent neighborhoods and social initiatives.

The successful implementation of the project objectives enabled a professional, responsive and digitally supported stakeholder management system to be integrated into duisport's corporate practice. An expanded and strong collaboration network makes it possible to tackle major social challenges such as climate change, digitalization and increasing international instability together and to respond to social needs. In addition, concepts, methods and tools were developed that both strengthen duisport's position as a company and promote high-quality academic contributions.

The stakeholder and environment analysis carried out as part of the project identified the key stakeholder groups and relevant discourses in the port's environment. On this basis, a structured stakeholder management system was developed, which was successfully integrated into the operational and strategic areas of duisport.

A benchmarking study, which compared various approaches to stakeholder management in other European ports, made it possible to derive best practices and introduce them into duisport's management system.

By implementing the project, duisport was able to establish a robust, future-oriented stakeholder management system that not only meets current requirements, but also promotes long-term innovation and opens up new opportunities for action in the area of corporate sustainability. This includes improving the sensor technology for public debates, the participatory planning of infrastructure strategies and the effective use of digital port management systems.  

The research project was carried out in close cooperation with scientific partners such as the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE), Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) and Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (HSRW). These partners contributed their expertise in stakeholder analysis, organizational development, digital corporate strategies and transformation research, which contributed significantly to the success of the project. Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences (HSRW) is also involved in an interdisciplinary teaching-research project and the founding process of the European Center for Sustainability Transformation (euzent).  

With the completion of the project, duisport has taken an important step towards sustainable corporate development. The company has positioned itself as a pioneer in the area of stakeholder management and can thus secure both economic and social benefits in the long term. As a result, the Port of Duisburg has created the conditions to develop from a pure service provider to a platform provider and to contribute to the company's ability to innovate in the long term.  

Further information and contact persons for the project can be found on the official duisport homepage.