Information regarding the COVID-19 outbreak and the Escola’s courses

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With the current uncertainty surrounding the global Covid-19 pandemic, transport authorities and both private and public entities have taken several measures to offset the health and economic consequences of the virus. With this in mind, the Escola’s courses and operations have been halted until the 30th of March (with the possibility of extending this date should the authorities deem it necessary). This has resulted in a number of our regularly scheduled courses to be postponed.

Though we know this may adversely affect some of you who have registered to or planned to attend one of the courses, please know that the decisions were made with the regard for everyone’s safety and in accordance with the official regulations set out by the Spanish government to contain the spread of COVID-19. Please contact us if you would like to know more about the new course dates, or stay tuned via our social media channels which are updated daily. The information on our website is always the most up to date, but our staff is still working and will reply to any enquiries arriving by email.

In the meantime, we wish for all of you to stay safe and healthy.

The Port de Barcelona and the Escola Europea reaffirm their commitment to Forma’t al Port

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The Port de Barcelona and the Escola Europea-Intermodal Transport reaffirm the Forma’t al Port programme

During the next three years, the Escola will continue to offer practical course-workshops to promote the use of port services, intermodal transport and the improvement of knowledge in the sector.

The Port de Barcelona and the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport have signed a new collaboration agreement for the Forma’t al Port programme, with the goal of organising and coordinating practical courses adapted to the needs of the students coming from local secondary schools and training centres to promote the use of port services, intermodal transport and the improvement of knowledge of the maritime and intermodal sectors.

The Catalan port authority, with the collaboration of the Escola, will be responsible to prepare the training materials related to the educational lectures which will be given as part of the courses. To help offer the training at a reduced price to the students, the Port of Barcelona will offer a contribution in study grants for the duration of this new three-year period of the project.

As part of the programme, an executive and academic committee will be created to ensure quality education and excellence in the programme management. Both the Port and the Escola Europea-Intermodal Transport will assign a representative to the committees to help coordinate and prepare the courses. The organisation and management of the courses and the committees linked to the programme will be carried out by the Escola.

The Escola Europea is a training centre dedicated to provide quality training and education to students and future professionals of the transport sector, with educational programmes tailored to port activities and intermodal transport – to help better understand the sector.

This collaboration, together with that of other public entities, associations and private companies, will help ensure the continuous training of the Barcelona logistics community in order to face the challenges of the future and strategically place Barcelona and Catalonia in the forefront of logistics activities in Europe and the world.

The Port of Barcelona’s commitment to education

With the signing of this agreement, the Port of Barcelona reaffirms its commitment to being a driving force in the country’s economic activity and a generator of employment. To this end, it works to establish partnerships between companies in the Port Community, training centres and administrations in order to improve training and employment; all key aspects to consolidate as a reference point in innovation and sustainability for the region.

The Escola Europea opens the registrations for the brand new course “Ports and Passengers”

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The course, with an eminently practical approach, will offer a 360º vision of the operations and commercialisation of cruise ships and ferries.

The Escola Europea has launched its new specialised training course on cruise and ferry operations and commercialisation. The need for such a course was born from the concern to seek formulas for professionals in the port and tourism sectors to obtain a practical vision of what happens in the port during passenger operations, and to analyse the trends and growth and thus ensure the best strategies and advice in the cruise sector, from the operational, commercial and, in particular in light of modern-day environmental concerns, environmental perspectives.

During this 3-day long training, the participants will be offered theoretical perspectives through lectures and debates, as well as given a practical viewpoint through practical visits and a case study which will make it possible to analyse different passenger profiles, the characteristics of the different cruise lines and local tourist offers.

The course, initially planned to take place between the 30th of March and the 1st of April, but which has been postponed tentatively following the state of emergency declared in Spain related to the Coronavirus pandemic, will be held in Barcelona in the autumn. Recognised professionals from the sector will share their knowledge during the training, which will be carried out thanks to the collaboration of the Port of Barcelona, Grimaldi Lines, MSC Cruises, Marmedsa Cruise Services, and Barcelona Crew, among others.

The current growth of the cruise line sector

International cruise tourism is the sector that has witnessed the greatest continuous growth in recent decades. Today, the globally positioned sector faces new challenges that need to accommodate the needs of modern-day customers and the environment. It is vital to combine strategies, optimise processes and develop new technologies to complement the gigantism that the sector has experienced in recent years with optimal logistics operations that will result in high passenger satisfaction and interconnected operational logistics to the neighbouring environment and its society.

To work towards such sustainable improvement, the course delves into how the cruise industry is addressing environmental challenges, sustainability actions and social responsibility. In addition, the professors will detail the current context of the cruise industry including: trends, statistics, new destinations and future objectives.

The course will tackle the training practically through visits to port facilities to witness land-based management and port transit operations first-hand, and by presenting a case study (to be worked on in groups) to understand the implementation of cruise marketing and services.

“Ports & Passengers” is one of the technical courses that represent the innovative training missions of the Escola Europea, focused on the continuous education of professionals of the sector.

For more information on the course, you can visit the course page on: https://escolaeuropea.eu/calendar/ports-and-passengers-2020/.

The Escola reaffirms its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals

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Days away from 2020, the Escola Europea reflects on the achievements made during the year. The Sustainable Development Goals have been set to solidify the urgent changes that society would need to make to tackle social inequality, climate change, poverty, and political turmoil, among others.

With this in light, the Escola’s work in 2019 can be summarised as follows:

  • In 2019, the Escola has organised a staggering 42 courses (nearing one course per week), and welcomed participants from Spain, Belgium, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Morocco, Algeria, Peru, Colombia and Mexico. There was an increase in the number of participants coming from the Magred, which could be explained with the success of the TransLogMED project and the growth of the North African trade networks. In total, 1,485 students passed through the Escola’s doors and took advantage of the unique course-workshops.
  • 2019 also saw the creation and fulfilment of new technical courses. Curricula and course programmes were prepared for the Temperature-Controlled Freight transport Course, detailed plan were made for the Port Operations Summer school (which now took the form of a 2 week course, separated by vessels and goods), and the Groupage and Consolidation Course was further extended. Successful courses were also carried out for the former two technical courses, with a Groupage course planned for the spring of 2020.
  • The Escola’s courses are constantly undergoing improvements and modifications. In 2019 the team created a Log Book to give to the students at the start of each course, which contains tasks, puzzles and activities that further enrich the participants’ experiences.
  • Formati al Porto was officially launched in Italy, demonstrating the huge success the programme has attained in Barcelona and its appeal to other termional communities.
  • The Escola has had it’s first paper published in a conference – the annual World of Shipping International Research Conference on Maritime Affairs. The paper, which can be found here, summarised the current state of experiential training methods in Europe, and provided a quantitative analysis of the approach applied to the Escola’s courses. Thank you to all of the Escola’s partners and alumni who have generously submitted their survey responses to help us carry out the study.

2020 shows all signs of being a very intensive one for the Escola Europea, with technical courses for professionals planned for the spring, the summer school, and the usual MOST courses in the autumn. In the past decade, the organisation has increased its influence in Europe and throughout the Mediterranean through the development of new and innovative courses for students and professionals, the signing of new agreements with influential universities and training centres, and the active participation in European projects, and 2019 has shown that it is continuing to do so, whilst applying the Global Development Goals to its activities.

The Municipality of Civitavecchia and Confitarma collaborate with the Escola Europea in “Formati al Porto”

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Last month the mayor of Civitavecchia, Ernesto Tedesco, together with the vice mayor Massimiliano Grasso, the president of Confitarma, Maurizio Mattioli, the general manager of Confimatra Luca Sisto, and the director of the Escola Europea Eduard Rodès have signed a cooperation agreement, guaranteeing the availability to finance training courses within the port area of Civitavecchia. The new project “Formati al Porto” supported by the AdSP of the Tyrrhenian Sea in the Centre-North and by the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport, aims to bring today’s students and future professionals closer to the knowledge of the professions of the logistics sector, with a particular focus on maritime activity and intermodal transport.

The project was borne out of a context in which the logistical positioning of the port of Civitavecchia, both in terms of territorial and socio-economic aspects, must take infrastructural measures, offer competitive services and, above all, invest in the human factor. For this, a well-prepared logistical community, capable of facing future challenges and strategically placing Civitavecchia at the forefront of the logistical activity of the Mediterranean, is needed.

The main objective of the initiative is to bring the community closer to port activities and to make it possible for the young to discover the characteristics of the professions related to port undertakings directly from the sources themselves. The students will have direct experience of infrastructure, facilities and operations. In addition, the project will lessen the disparity between the qualifications required by the companies and the skills curently offered by the education system.

The Municipality of Civitavecchia, thanks to its privileged position near the main logistic infrastructures of Lazio, including the port, the industrial area and the parks of the logistic activities, brings together many professionals and operators who work mainly in the port of Civitavecchia and who share the passion to spread the training in this professional specialty among the students of the educational centers that focus on port activity, tourism, transport, logistics and international trade.

Confitarma is the primary association within the Italian shipping industry, representing almost the entire merchant fleet of the country and bringing together shipping companies and shipping groups operating in freight and passenger transport, cruises and ancillary services traffic. In particular, it provides its members with information and offers assistance on development, the environment and energy, infrastructure and logistics, tourism, business culture, the labour market and training.

Following the great success of the first Formati al Porto course held last week at the AdSP of the Tyrrhenian Centre-North Sea, these new agreements will give many more students the opportunity to participate in the training courses organized by the Escola Europea.

The training is given by experts and professionals from the Italian and Spanish sectors, ensuring that the participants receive high quality educational content. The teaching team, yet to be confirmed, will be composed of representatives of companies and institutions directly involved in the management of short sea shipping in Italy.

You can find out more infromation about the Escola’s courses, both in Italy and in Spain, on the following website:

https://escolaeuropea.eu/training/

Innovative perspectives for training of the new generation in the Blue Economy

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In 2019 the Escola’s team has decided to take it upon themselves to carry out a research study on the current state of experiential training offers in the areas in which the Escola is active. This study was borne out of the recognised need to understand the exponential changes that are happening in the world of transport in light of the fourth industrial revolution. This is particularly true when dealing with professions in the Blue Economy, which hosts the majority of the global international trade. The Escola’s team hoped to conclude that there is a rapidly growing need to adapt training programmes of professionals hoping to enter the maritime world, to help counter this reality and thus better prepare the individuals for the industries.

The resulting study showed that when synergies are created in a network of training centres and companies in the sector within a country or between different countries, the result is rapid learning and the creation of innovative training programmes, which better prepare the professionals for the jobs of the future. Using data data collected from training centres and companies that frequently collaborate in the Escola’s courses, the team concluded that the courses offered by the Escola have a format that is both innovative and experiential in nature, and thus by internationalising and mixing the groups, the training is more successful and current to the needs of the market. It is important to develop tools and course models for training centres and companies to follow, and to ensure that more students have access to them. The final paper can be downloaded from the Escola’s website.

At the end of November, the Escola’s team then travelled to Portugal to present the findings at the first annual World of Shipping International Conference on Maritime Affairs, which took place in Carcavelos between the 21st and the 22nd of November. During the conference topics such as improved waterborne transport concepts, energy efficiency and emission control in waterborne transport concepts, optimisation of transport infrastructure including terminal, the port of the future, the autonomous and unmanned vessels, complex and value – added specialised vessels, and digitalisation were covered in other studies presented by scientists, researchers and industry professionals from around the world. The conference, which had its pilot event this year, aims to establish itself as a meeting point of reference bringing together the industry, leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of maritime transport to promote a better future for the industry.

Check out the Escola’s paper here: https://escolaeuropea.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/WofS_061_Full_Paper_FINAL.pdf.

Interested to know more? You can contact the article authors to enquire about the study itself or any future research planned.

The College of Customs Agents of Barcelona and the Escola Europea pay tribute to Josep Maria Costa

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On the 31st of October, Josep María Costa was recognised by the College of Customs Agents, Customs Representatives of Barcelona and the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport for his work as a teacher in the Forma’t al Port programme and for his lifetime work on the occasion of his retirement.

Costa’s work was recognised in the form of a sculpture that was representative of the programme, one made of a paper boat made of bronze.

The event brought together the President of the College of Customs Agents, Antonio Llobet; José Miguel Masiques, as a new member of the faculty of the programme; Pedro Arellano, the deputy director of the Port of Barcelona; Joaquim Cabané, the president of the training and occupation work group of the Governing Council for the promotion of the Port Community of Barcelona; Eduard Rodés, director of the Escola Europea and Marta Miquel, from the Escola Europea responsible for the Forma’t al Port programme.

Josep Maria Costa has participated as a teacher representing the College of Customs Agents since 2014.  In these years he has presented and analysed the agent profession to about 1240 students from 18 different schools that have participated in the programme during its 5 years. Both entities appreciate and are grateful for his work, which has helped to improve the development of the port community of Barcelona.

For more information, you can contact us at info@escolaeuropea.eu.

The Escola Europea celebrates another year of the MOST Iberia course for professionals

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The Escola Europea has welcomed about twenty Spanish and Portuguese speaking professionals for the third edition of the MOST Iberia course.

On this occasion, the group comprising professionals from the Spanish and Portuguese logistics-port sectors met in Barcelona to embark on a 4-day course on intermodal logistics and motorways of the sea, and expand their professional and human networks. During a crossing of Grimaldi Lines’ Ro-Pax ferry that connects Barcelona with Civitavecchia, the professionals shared between themselves knowledge, idiosyncrasies and previous experiences from each one of their countries.

Companies and administrations such as Bytemaster, the Santander Port Authority, Casintra, OIA Global, CETEG, the BEST terminal and Grimaldi Lines itself have sent their representatives to take advantage of the training. As for the Portuguese delegation, members of public entities such as the Instituto da Mobilidade e dos Transportes, the Aveiro Port Authority and the Escola Náutica Infante Don Henrique participated.

The group was accompanied by a panel of expert professors that included Francisco Javier Valencia, the Maritime Captain of the Port of Barcelona, Antonio Vargas, an advisor of Grimaldi Logística España, Eduardo Bandeira, the director of Intermodal Portugal, Eduard Rodés, the director of the Escola and Vanessa Bexiga, Operations Manager of the Escola.

At the end of the course, the participants tackled a case study that presented a real-life scenario of short sea shipping viability, applying direct and external cost calculations to evaluate the alternatives from not only an economic point of view but taking account of environmental and social characteristics as well. “It has been a pleasant experience in which it was possible to know the points of view of the different actors in the logistics chain. The teachers are very well prepared, it is a pleasure to listen to things told with a passion for what they do”, commented a participant from Bytemaster.

The Escola Europea and the AdSP promote Fomarti al Porto

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Civitavecchia, 27 September 2019 – The President of the North Central Tyrrhenian Sea Port Authority (AdSP according to its Italian initials), Francesco Maria di Majo, and the Director of the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport, Eduard Rodés, presented the project “Formati al Porto”, whose aim is to offer training in the maritime and logistics sectors to students of secondary schools and universities.

The main objective of the initiative, already piloted with great success in the Port of Barcelona, is to address and bridge the gap between the specific skill needs of companies offered by the territory in the professional spheres.

“The Escola Europea, together with the AdSP, has worked very hard over the last two years to bring this wonderful project to the fore, which today becomes a reality”, declared Eduard Rodés. “One of the objectives of the course is to create a space for experimentation and discovery that can attract more and more people to this sector and, at the same time, guarantee professional development”, he continued. “The port and its operators, the port community, put their knowledge, infrastructure and equipment at the service of training and, therefore, of the city itself. Training and the promotion of employment must therefore constitute the spirit that moves “Formati al Porto”, with the complicity and help of all.”

“There is no doubt that maritime transport today is one of the main axes on which global trade moves,” explained the president of the North Central Tyrrhenian Sea Port Authority, Francesco Maria di Majo. “The increasing use of the so-called “Motorways of the Sea”, much desired by the European Union, has brought important benefits in terms of decongestion of land networks, facilitation of the flow of logistics chains and reduction of environmental impact,” continued di Majo. “Today the port of Civitavecchia feels even more than yesterday the need to offer competitive services and, above all, to invest in the human factor by forming a logistics community capable of facing future challenges and strategically placing the port at the forefront of Mediterranean logistics. Hence the importance of specific training in intermodal transport and the motorways of the sea to design, build and manage door-to-door operations more efficiently and safely, offering the necessary tools to analyse direct costs and environmental impacts. These are all fundamental elements for companies that want to increase their competitiveness in the market”, concluded Molo Vespucci’s number one.

The Escola Europea, which has an excellent international training record in the maritime and logistics sector, will use a team of experts and professionals from the Italian and Spanish sectors, making sure that the participants get high quality educational content.

The course, in collaboration with the most important Italian associations within the maritime sector and numerous local partners such as the Municipality of Civitavecchia, the Customs Agency, the University of Tuscia, ITC Guido Baccelli, Automar, the Mooring Group, Port Mobility SpA and the Port Authority, is also supported by the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport.

And this morning, as a corollary of the synergy between AdSP and the Escola Europea, the Italian branch of the Escola was inaugurated. It will be located in the AdSP headquarters, where the pilot courses of “Formati al porto” will soon begin.

For more information about the course you can contact Marco Muci: italy@escolaeuropea.eu.

 

The Ormeggiatori and Barcaioli Group collaborates with the Escola in “Formati al Porto

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The director of the Ormeggiatori e Barcaioli di Civitavecchia group, Angelo Bonomo, together with the director of the Escola Europea Eduard Rodés have signed a tri-annual collaboration agreement for the Formati al Porto project, guaranteeing the availability of guided maritime tours of the Port of Civitavecchia.

The new project Formati al Porto, strongly supported by the Ports of Rome (dall’AdSP del Mar Tirreno Centro Settentrionale) and the Escola, aims to bring today’s students and future professionals, closer to the knowledge of the professions of the logistics sector, with a particular focus on maritime and intermodal transport.

Today the logistical positioning of the port of Civitavecchia, both in terms of territorial and socio-economic aspects, must take infrastructural measures, offer competitive services and, above all, invest in the human factor: as a well-prepared logistical community, capable of facing future challenges and strategically placing Civitavecchia at the forefront of the logistical activity of the Mediterranean, is paramount.

The main goal of Formati al Porto is to get in touch with the community, discover port activities and to learn about the characteristics of port-related professions directlty from the individuals immersed in the sector. Students will explore the infrastructures, facilities and operations directly. In addition, the project will improve the alignment between the qualifications required by the companies and the skills offered by the local education system.

The Ormeggiatori Group (specialising in mooring activities) has always worked to safeguard the safety of navigation, port facilities, the environment and human lives, ensuring the smooth running of traffic within the port area. The cooperation agreement signed with the Escola cements the Group’s commitment to ensure the smooth conduct of guided maritime tours within the port area of Civitavecchia.

The Escola Europea has previous experience with this type of programme. A pre-cursor – the Forma’t al Port project – was launched in 2014 in Barcelona. The initiative was a success and after the first three years the agreements with sponsors and partners were renewed at the beginning of 2018 for another three years with more educational centers willing to participate.

The courses is taught by experts and professionals from the Italian and Spanish sectors, ensuring that the participants receive high quality educational contents. The teaching team for Formati al Porto is yet to be confirmed, but it will be composed of representatives of companies and institutions directly involved in the management of short sea shipping activiites in Italy.

The course, in addition to being able to count on the support of the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, has the support of important associations in the sector, including: Assoporti, Confitarma, Assassatori.

The pilot Formati al Porto course is scheduled to take place in the autumn 2019.

A full list of the Escola’s courses and their programmes can be found here: https://escolaeuropea.eu/training/.