Conference “Transport & Logistics”

Organized by the Polytechnic of Rijeka and the Croatian Scientific Society for Transport (HZDP), under the auspices of the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure of the Republic of Croatia, the international conference “Transport & Logistics” was held on April 16 and 17, 2026, in Rijeka and Opatija. The conference brought together 100 authors from 12 countries, with 42 scientific and professional papers presented in the fields of transport, logistics, and modern transport system management.

In his opening address, the President of the Governing Board of the Port of Rijeka Authority, also President of the Croatian Scientific Society for Transport and Vice Dean of the Polytechnic of Rijeka, Prof. Bojan Hlača Ph.D,, emphasized the increasingly important role of transport and logistics in the modern economy.

Nina Perko, Ph.D, Director of the Maritime Affairs Directorate at the Ministry of the Sea, Transport and Infrastructure and envoy of Minister Oleg Butković, announced the continuation of systematic investments in the development of railway infrastructure in Croatia. In this context, the construction of the lowland railway line Karlovac–Rijeka represents a key prerequisite for strengthening the competitiveness of the port system and the overall Rijeka transport corridor.

In the professional segment of the conference, at the panel titled “Port of Rijeka in the New Global Logistics,” Denis Vukorepa,  Executive Director of the Port of Rijeka Authority, also participated. He presented the transformation of the Rijeka port system into an increasingly important European logistics hub. He particularly անդրlined developments over the past twenty years, from the introduction of the first feeder container service to the arrival of major international operators APM Terminals and ICTSI.

The conference program covered a wide range of current topics in the fields of sustainable transport and logistics, smart transport systems and digitalization (including artificial intelligence, IoT, and autonomous vehicles), transport safety and regulation, as well as urban mobility planning and multimodal systems. Special emphasis was placed on the optimization of logistics processes and supply chain management, the development and modernization of transport infrastructure (roads, railways, ports, and air transport), and the challenges of human resource management in transport and logistics.