Medports Training Programme

The Escola Europea takes one step closer towards sustainable transport

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From 13 to 15 October, the Escola organised the first edition of the course “LNG in ports: port systems, its rates and operational management” – a specialised training course in sustainable transport on the role of natural gas in Spanish ports. The training, specifically designed for personnel from the Enagás company, welcomed members of the company’s logistics and commercial departments, as well as staff from plants in Barcelona, Huelva and Cartagena.

The training covered the organisation of the Spanish port system, with a particular focus on the system of port charges, the establishment of the new customs regulations and, in great detail, their application in the use of natural gas, the typology of natural gas-fuelled vessels and the bunkering processes from application to supply.

A second edition of the training is planned for November.

Continuing in providing training in sustainable transport, on the 19th of October the Escola will start a new training course on Energy Transition, designed within the framework of the MedPorts Association, which brings together the ports from all around the Mediterranean. This training will cover topics related to legal regulations and the decarbonisation of the port system, energy transition tools in terminals and port areas, energy transition tools in transport, and the role of port authorities in this transition.

The speakers in this course will include experts from the port and energy sectors from companies and administrations such as DG Move, the Port of Barcelona, ESPO, IREC (Institut de Recerca de l’Energia de Catalunya), the Energy Efficiency Cluster of Catalonia, Cenit, Cefiner, Schlaich DAUSS SLP, HolaLuz, Solve Consulting, the Port of Antwerp, as well as other members of the association such as the Valenciaport Foundation, the Arab Academy and the Port of Marseille.

This training will be the first of a series of trainings developed for this partnership.

Group Photo - Participants of the September MOST course

Autumn courses bring a hint of normalcy back to the Escola’s MOST courses

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It has been a difficult 2020-2021 for most of us – with many having to completely reshape and rethink their operations in a newly virtual environment. The Escola has spent a big part of last year and the first half of 2021 offering our signature courses through the Google Classroom lens – hoping to try to bring the Escola’s signature experiential approach to the net. The longing for the traditional approach has not disappeared, however, and both the Escola and the centres have waited for the health crisis to diminish and for on-board courses to be deemed safe again. This moment has arrived in the second semester of 2021.

Having completed one on-board MOST course in the summer, the Escola started the autumn courses with a hybrid MOST courses for students of the Master in Supply Chain Management from the EAE Business School which took place between the 10th and the 16th of September. The course offered online lectures in intermodal logistics and transport operations, as well as had in-person visits to terminals around the Port of Barcelona and a stationed Ro-Pax vessel to visualise the operations first-hand. In total, 13 students could attend the training both online and in person.

“Very well organised and dynamic course. It was very interesting to be able to focus on new proposals for the future and new trends. – Juliene Maksene de EMSUR – EAE course”

This course was then followed by an on-board traditional MOST course that took place between the 18th and the 21st of September. 29 students from the Polytechnic University of Catalunya and Nautical Faculty of Barcelona took part in the training that took place on board of a Ro-Pax shipping vessel between the ports of Barcelona (Spain) and Civitavecchia (Italy). Following the Escola’s signature approach, the students got the opportunity to witness an intermodal transport journey first hand, whilst also learning about the concepts of intermodal transport, transport costs, sustainability, and new technologies. The teachers of the Escola Europea on this occasion were Marta Miquel, the Chief Operating Officer, Antonio Vargas, representing Grimaldi Lines and Eduard Rodés, as course director.

The next month will see the Escola, together with the council of the Prat de Llobregat and Barcelona Activa, organise 3 courses in intermodal transport and port administrations. These courses, which will be carried out online – with an inclusion of some in-person visits to the local port terminals – will provide an all-encompassing overview of the port logistics community and the administrative processes that surround transport operations within a port environment – and will be offered for free for young people and women wishing to find employment in the local port sector. They form part of the training offered under the YEP MED project, which is co-funded by the ENI CBC Med instrument of the European Union.

Diploma ceremony held on the 3rd of July 2021

Escola’s restarts its MOST courses

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Last Saturday, on the 3rd of July, the intermodal transport course “Motorways of the Sea training – MOST” started in Barcelona. In total, thirty five students from 11 different nationalities studying Master’s programmes in Logistics and International Trade, Internationalisation of SMEs and Customs Law and Management at the University of Barcelona participated in the 4-day long training.

The day began with a solemn ceremony to present diplomas to some 100 graduates which, exceptionally and due to health safety measures, was held outdoors in front of the Escola Europea’s headquarters, at Placeta de l’Areté, Terminal Drassanes on the Moll de Barcelona.  On behalf of the Port of Barcelona and the Escola, its director, Eduard Rodés, welcomed the participants.  On behalf of the University of Barcelona, Dr. Oscar Mascarilla, director of the Master’s programmes, spoke. The Honourable Ramon Tremosa, Minister of Business and Knowledge of the Generalitat de Catalunya until a few weeks ago, supported the event and addressed the students, encouraging them to put their knowledge at the service of the competitiveness of their respective countries. Afterwards, the participants and their accompanying family members made a maritime visit to the Port of Barcelona.

The MOST course started early in the afternoon on the same day, and the group departed for Civitavecchia – the port of Rome – on board of the Grimaldi RO-PAX vessel “Cruise Barcelona”. The teachers of the Escola Europea on this occasion were Marta Miquel, the Chief Operating Officer, Antonio Vargas, representing Grimaldi Lines and Eduard Rodés, as course director.

Simultaneously, the first two weeks of July saw the start of the Escola’s annual Summer School in Port Operations for Vessels and for Goods. The course is held in classroom in-person format with the participation of 16 students from Egypt, Yemen and Somalia.

The MOST course is the first on-board course that the Escola was able to hold since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. It is a promising sign showing the ability of the Escola to begin to bring its unique experiential courses back into play.

The panel at the press conference

The Escola Europea and Click&Cargo develop a virtual port to be used in simulation exercises

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In the framework of the European YEP MED project, the agreement between the Escola Europea and the software development company Click&Cargo has been presented to the public on the 26th of May 2021.

Logos of the entities involved in the project

Participating in the event from the Escola Europea were its director Eduard Rodés and its Chief Business Officer Marta Miquel. The Project Manager from Click & Cargo, Valentina Salinas and the head of development Alex Rodriguez, alongside Marisa Clavero – a teacher from the Institut Lluïsa Cura, and Guillem Sardañés, CEO of the freight forwarding company eGlobe, also joined the press conference to explain the details of the agreement.

Eduard Rodés presented the YEP MED project and the PortVirtualLab.com platform, which will be used for the development of the training applications foreseen in the European project. YEP MED, funded by the ENI CBC Med programme, has a budget of 2.97 million euros and a planned duration of 30 months.

One of the main characteristics of the development of the project has been the close and fruitful collaboration of different organisations in the Barcelona Port Logistics Community, including: the Barcelona Port Authority, ATEIA, Institut Les Salines, Institut Lluïsa Cura, Click&Cargo and various private companies in the sector such as eGlobe.

Marta Miquel of the Escola Europea has highlighted that the agreement has already enabled training in the use of the platform for trainers from institutes and training centres in the 7 participating countries from the project: Spain, France, Italy, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. A total of 38 teachers specialised in International Trade from 12 training centres have been prepared to deliver the practice sessions in their respective centres and countries in the coming months.

Since last week, some of these trainers have already begun putting into practice what they have learned in a course that is being conducted online. 148 trainees from Spain, Italy, Tunisia and Lebanon are currently simulating project operations in the first course of this kind for students.

Valentina Salinas emphasised that the use of Click&Cargo as an ERP platform for the freight forwarding sector was the result of a public tender in which it obtained the best score for its technical features and ease of use. The proposed platform is fully accessible online and in English, which eliminates the barriers of distance and language in a sector where English is the lingua franca. The platform aims to integrate digitalisation processes, facilitating and automating the usual tasks of freight forwarding companies.

The co-founder and director of eGlobe, Guillem Sardañés, highlighted the speed and efficiency of the training that students receive in a relatively short time – achieving the same results in just a few weeks -something that normally require months of training. Sardañés highlighted the rapid process of digitalisation of freight forwarding companies and the need to have personnel prepared to face the challenges and changes that these processes entail. He also affirmed that the similarity of real-life operations to the simulated ones is amazing and proposed that the tool could also serve professionals active in the sector as an aid in digital transitions.

On behalf of the training institutes Marisa Clavero emphasised that the YEP MED programme and the PortVirtualLab.com platform have made it possible to go to the most minute levels of details in operations for the first time, which in practice means a simulation of the activities carried out in all levels of a company. She further emphasised the value of the students’ relations with the teams from the other countries, who act as corresponding agents in their respective countries during the exercises. The management of these relations, with the added complexity of dealing with different cultures, different languages and different visions, is a very valuable experience for the profile of a worker in a freight forwarding company, who is also a citizen of the world by the nature of his or her work.

Eduard Rodés pointed out that contact with other software companies in the sector has already begun, with the goal to extend training to other groups from the Port Logistics Community in the coming years and that the Escola Europea will work to facilitate the digitisation processes of all the actors involved in operations.

For more information on the YEP MED project you can contact Concha Palacios from the project office at concha.palacios@portdebarcelona.cat.

Port of Civitavecchia : a new classroom named after Raffaele Meloro

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Eduard Rodés, director of the Escola Europea, celebrates the inauguration of the Port of Civitavecchia’s first classroom named after Raffaele Meloro

In spite of the difficulties caused by the pandemic, six months after the start of the advanced technical course “Management of integrated logistics and the shipping processes” – a training jointly organised by the G. Caboto Foundation and the Escola Europea – the 28 students discovered that they could for the first time attend classes in in person in the new classroom set up in Civitavecchia at the offices of the Port Authority of the North-Central Tyrrhenian Sea (AdSP).

To date, all of the training activities of this course have been carried out remotely using the e-learning platform of the ITS Giovanni Caboto Foundation, which has enabled the students to follow the lessons virtually, as well as made access to the necessary teaching materials possible.

The official inauguration of the classroom on the 11th of May was attended by the President of ITS G. Caboto, Cesare D’Amico, the President of the AdSP, Pino Musolino, the Maritime Director of Lazio, Francesco Tomas and the daughter of the former President, Professor Maria Domenica Meloro. Eduard Rodés, the director of the Escola Europea, was present through a virtual connection. Together they unveiled the plaque of the organisation’s new classroom named after Raffaele Meloro, the president of the Autonomous Consortium for the Port of Civitavecchia between the years 1973 and 1994 – a particularly important figure for the port and the city of Civitavecchia.

“It is no coincidence that today we have dedicated this hall of the AdSP to training, naming it after a character as important for the port and the city of Civitavecchia as President Meloro” said Pino Musolino, the current president of the AdSP. “And it is also by following his example of continuous involvement and collaboration with all port realities that we will be able, thanks to highly professionalised courses such as this one on logistics, YEP MED and Formati al Porto, to train the new port managers who will be able to face and overcome the challenges of the real world.”

The event was further celebrated by Eduard Rodés, who said:

“To be able to be here today and see so many students finally in attendance is a source of pride for all of us. The partnership we established last year, at a particular moment in history, has proved to be a strategic choice for the future. This is all part of the celebration of Escola Europea’s fifteenth year of activities, and having this new classroom, fully dedicated to training, is a great gift.”

The participants of the course listened to the panelists during the inauguration

The advanced technical course, promoted by ITS  G. Caboto and financed by the Ministry of Education and the Lazio Region, aims to prepare students to manage logistics activities in the market segments of port-centric supply chains. Following the summer break, the trainees will start participating in project work together with representatives from local logistics partner companies. These companies will also provide 5-month long internship positions for the students, an essential part of the overall training. Thanks to the collaboration between ITS Fondazione G. Caboto, AdSP and the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport, the students will have the opportunity to participate in courses under the umbrella of the European project YEP MED, co-financed by the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) of the European Union with about 2.9 million euros and led by Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport.

Students - Cold Chain course

The Escola responds to growing demand and trains professionals in the cold chain

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22 professionals from the Spanish logistics-port sector have registered to the online course on the cold chain

Following the first edition of the course on “Temperature-Controlled Supply Chains” before the pandemic began, the Escola Europea has successfully held the second edition during the last week of April and the first week of May, training professionals in the Cold Chain.

The course, which focused on the development of temperature-controlled logistics chains, allowed participants to discover and understand the best practices in the planning and execution of each stage of cold chain operations, with a particular focus on those employing intermodal transport.  The course contents focused on how temperature-controlled products should be distributed (stored, handled and transported) through the distribution network (manufacturer, service providers and customers) according to the specified temperature conditions. Successful cases related to the subject were also presented, which included: Mercabarna (Barcelona wholesale markets), BEST (a container terminal), CMR Fruits (storage facilities of an importer/distributor), TmZ and Canal Frío (refrigerated rail service).

The Training in Temperature-Controlled Supply Chains aims to provide training in intermodal transport chains for temperature-controlled goods; to offer deep insights into temperature-controlled  logistics, its actors, roles, market segmentation and trends; to understand what are the best practices for planning and execution at every stage of the temperature-controlled supply chain, and specifically those using intermodal transport solutions; and to raise awareness on how temperature controlled products should be distributed (stored, handled and transported) throughout the distribution network (manufacturers, service providers and customers) as per specified temperature conditions.

More than twenty transport and logistics professionals from companies such as Hapag Lloyd, Docks, Cosco Shipping, Casintra, Evergreen, Clasquin, Pamole, Fundación Cares, PMS International, Hutchison Ports and Datisa participated in the training.

Enric Rodríguez from the freight forwarder Clasquin Intercargo commented: “These have been very productive days and I have personally acquired a great deal of know-how that I intend to apply in my day-to-day work”.

Over the coming months, the Escola Europea will continue to offer technical courses, including Port Operations for goods and for vessels, Groupage and Consolidation Centres and the SURCO rail transport courses. You can view all of our upcoming courses in our online calendar.

Members of the Steering Committee of the Escola Europea

The Escola Europea-Intermodal Transport goes digital to enrich its training model

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The Steering Committee of the training center, which met on Wednesday April 21st in Barcelona, has assessed the actions carried out last year and has defined the new strategy for 2021.

The Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport has set itself a clear goal for this year: to intensify digitalisation in order to enrich its training model with the advantages provided by new technologies. This priority objective was approved by the Steering Committee of the Escola in a meeting held this week in in Barcelona.

During 2020, to adapt to the new scenario created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Escola has adapted its structure to the new realities mandated by the health authorities and prepared a different approach for its activities. This path will continue in 2021, with the goal to enrich the courses and to take advantage of the flexibility provided by the new digitised training models.

During the meeting the President of the Escola Europea Mercè Conesa highlighted the enormous difficulties posed by the pandemic, the actions taken to adapt to the new situation and the uncertainties that still remain. Face-to-face training activities suffered a strong setback in 2020, forcing a reevaluation of all training actions.

Among the activities carried out by the Escola Europea during 2020 the start of the European project YEP MED doubtlessly stands out, in which the Port of Barcelona and the Port Authority of Civitavecchia also participate as partners, and which the Escola heads as Lead Partner. Also noteworthy was the inauguration of the Italian headquarters of the Escola Europea and the subsequent start of a new vocational training course in Civitavecchia – with the title of Integrated Logistics Technician – promoted by the Caboto Foundation, the Port Authority of Civitavecchia and the Escola itself, with a programme of 2,050 hours of training carried out over two academic years.

Looking at the Escola’s other activities, it was stressed that the Forma’t al Port courses in Barcelona, and their Italian counterpart the Formati al Porto courses in Civitavecchia, were carried out in a hybrid format, with the collaboration of schools and with very positive results.

Finally, it was pointed out that in 2020 a new project was approved which comprised the development of the PortVirtualLab.com platform, which will support training and simulation activities in logistics-port communities.

The Steering Committee was chaired by Mercè Conesa, President of the Port of Barcelona. Participating in the meeting were Pino Mussolino, new chairman of the Port System Authority of the Central Northern Tyrrhenian Sea; Emilio Signorini, president of the Port Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea; Matteo Catani, CEO of Grandi Navi Velocci, and Eduard Rodés, director of the Escola Europea. The meeting was also attended by the members of the Executive Committee: Catalina Grimalt, from the Port of Barcelona; Luca Lupi, from the Port of Civitavecchia; Silvio Ferrando, from the Port of Genoa; Antonio Pedevila and Andrea Balabani, of GNV, and Mario Massarotti, of the Grimaldi Group.

Formati al Porto online - ITS Logistica Integrata

Benvenuti alla Escola in Italia

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Marco Muci

Co-written by: Marco Muci, Escola Europea Intermodal Transport

Martina Trincia

Co-written by: Martina Trincia, Operations Assistant – Escola Europea Italia

Against all odds, 2020 has turned out to be very successful for the Escola in the Italian environment. Having officially created a physical office in the country (in the spring – we have had a physical presence since 2019), with the incorporation of our Country Manager Marco Muci to the Civitavecchia office, the Escola vamped up its efforts to promote its training initiatives among the local institutions. In addition, a new member – Martina Trincia – has joined the Escola team to help with all activities in Italy.

Today, one of the main activities of the Escola Europea is taking care of the new ITS training course called “GLIPS” (Gestione della Logistica Integrata e dei Processi di Spedizione). This highly specialised course, with the collaboration of the Fondazione “G. Caboto” and the Port Authority of Centre-North Tyrrhenian Sea, is the first of its type in Civitavecchia. It is also the only one in the entire Lazio region to develop a management and logistics programme. The two year long path will allow successful students to obtain a certificate of an integrated logistics technician .

Since January 2021 the activities of our classes have become more connected to the economic realities in Italy. After the Christmas holidays, students resumed their activities remotely. The first part of the course included subjects in the fields of logistics and sustainable shipping, with a particular focus on the post-COVID-19 era, as well as fundamentals of logistics and freight transport and sector innovations.

Alongside the subjects described above, the students are doing an effort to actively practice English and IT – skills that will doubtlessly be fundamental for both their personal and professional development. These skills will also be compulsory for participants of the new European project YEP MED – led by Escola and of which the Port Authority of Centre-North Tyrrhenian Sea is a partner.

More than 15 professors, coming from both the academic and business worlds have joined the GLIPS course. Moreover, with the recent new addition of six students, the first group now totals 30 – a respectable number for such an important pilot course. At the time of writing (mid-March) we have completed about 200 hours of lessons since the beginning of the ITS.  We are truly grateful that so many young people believe in our way of teaching and trust us to prepare them for the future.

The Escola and the Fondazione “G. Caboto” are working hard despite the difficult economic and social climate to guarantee a high quality of training.

To further complement the training, the students took part in the “Formati al Porto” course last December. The course, which is regularly organised by Escola, allows students to get to know the main actors of the port logistics community. It took place in hybrid format due to the pandemic, and it is anticipated to be completed with visits to numerous terminals in the port of Civitavecchia as soon as the health conditions permit.

New website

In 2021 we have launched a new website for the Italian headquarters: https://italia.escolaeuropea.eu. The website contains all of the information of our projects, courses and events, as well as additional information about our Italian offices. Check it out!

New Offices

The renovations of a new classroom at the premises of the Port Authority were completed this month, and we hope that the students will soon be able to attend lessons in person. It will be an important step to come back to the classroom in April, as this will ensure that the lessons are more engaging, and some team-building activities can be incorporated into the lesson plans which had to be excluded in the virtual environment.

Partnerships

We have some good news about our Formati al Porto courses and new partnership agreements.

On the24-25 March a new online edition of our course with the “Università degli Studi della Tuscia” will take place. It is the second consecutive year that will welcome participants from the University, and an important milestone for the Escola signalling for the return to our regular operations.

Following the training course, the Escola Europea and the Port Authority of Centre-North Tyrrhenian Sea will sign a new agreement to continue and strengthen their collaboration in the Formati al Porto project in the coming years.

This week we also celebrate the addition of a new training centre to the project – namely the ITS Logistica Sostenibile from Piacenza and Bologna (Emilia-Romagna region). These two instutitutions will send groups to attend a week-long training course in Barcelona next year. This is a great achievement and recognition of the Escola’s passion and work in Italy.

Online Training Courses

Thanks to the new partnership, we are developing a new online training module (in English) where the students of two classes from ITS Sustainable Logistics (Piacenza and Bologna) will virtually visit the Port of Barcelona and attend specialised lessons on sustainability and digitalization together with industry experts.

Furthermore, together with the Port Authority we are developing the first VT1 YEP MED in April. Just like Formati al Porto, the YEP MED courses will be held online and will see the participation of centres and companies from the port logistic community of Civitavecchia. A new training centre from Ortona (Abruzzo region) will attend our first edition of this prestigious project. We hope that the ITS from Abruzzo will join our Formati al Porto soon, and get the chance to visit us in Civitavecchia.

More challenges and new projects are coming – stay tuned!

Firma - Acuerdo Barcelona

Public and private sectors commit to the YEP MED project – and work to bring more women to the port sector through dual training

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This past Tuesday, representatives of the public and private sector of the Barcelona port community met in the headquarters of the Port of Barcelona – the World Trade Centre- to sign the Strategic Agreement for the promotion of training under the sector of the port economy, maritime, logistics, transport and international trade.

The event, presided by the Catalunya Minister of Employment Hon. Mr Chakir El Homrani Lesfar, brought together both public and private entities from the Barcelona port community to sign the agreement, and therewith allow for better collaboration and operations between the parties implicated in training and employment in the area, with a particular focus on new and innovative training approaches offered by the courses currently developed under the EU-funded YEP MED project.

The Minister for Employment for Catalunya Hon. Mr. Chakir El Homrani Safar stressed that at this time, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, it is very important to generate optimism that will help us come out of the health crisis better than we came in.

“When we talk about better conditions in the world of work, it is essential to talk about vocational training and to build it together. We have been talking about all the agents, we cannot talk about good VET if we do not have all the actors and companies and the experiences of the sector aligned”, he stressed.

Modernised Dual Training opportunities

Training is an integral part of the productive process of companies and the professional development of people entering or working within the sector. Furthermore, the rise of technology has ushered in a new industrial revolution, in which the continuing demand for new knowledge means that many old paradigms about training and learning need to be broken, and new ones that fit the current climate developed. In an increasingly hyperconnected world, knowledge of digitised processes, digital twins, smart technologies and AI will be vital, and it is only through innovative and modern training methodologies that this can be achieved. YEP MED courses will offer just that, by not only bringing students closer to the operations and infrastructures within the port community, but by also recreating a digital copy of the said community through an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning).

El Homrani Safar argued that all of this is related to the desire to build a more modern vocational training system that is more closely linked to the specific needs of the sector. This line of work aims to ensure two things: to provide opportunities for active workers and people who want to join the labour market and need professional qualifications, and at the same time want to accompany the activity of the productive fabric.

“We have been working for two years but now, with a framework with all agents and administrations, it will allow us to ensure that all the programming we do from the consortium, the SOC and the Nautical Institute, that everything is aligned to the needs of the sector and the companies that are part of it,” he added, speaking about the local environment of Catalunya.

Industry consensus

Firma - Acuerdo Barcelona

The event on the second of March was well-represented by principal actors of the Catalonian public and private sectors. The agreement was signed by Mrs Mercà Conesa i Pagès from the Port Authority of Barcelona, Eduard Rodés i Gubern from the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport, Mr. Jordi Trius from the Ship Agents Association of Barcelona (Associació Agents Consignataris de Barcelona), Mrs. Esther Villaseca on behalf of the Association of Stevedoring Companies in the Port of Barcelona, Mr Sr. Emilio Sanz from ATEIA – OLTRA –  Association of International Freight Forwarders of Barcelona, Mr. Agustí Martí from the Nautical Faculty of the Politechnic Uniersity of Catalunya, Mr. Epifanio Mejido from ATEC -the Association of Container Business Carriers, Mr. Lluis Mijoler from the City Council of the Prat de Llobregat, Mr. Antonio Llobet from the Barcelona Association of Customs Agents, Fabian Mohedano from the Public Agency for Vocational Training and Qualifications (Generalitat de Catalunya), Mrs. Núria Marín from the Barcelona Provincial Council, Mr.  Jaume Collboni from Barcelona Activa SAU SPM (Barcelona City Council),  Mrs Neus Pons from the BCN Vocational Training Foundation, Mr. David Saldoni de Tena from the Free Trade Zone Consortium General Directorate of Transport and Mobility, Mr. Andor Serra Merckens from the Barcelona Nautical Cluster Free Zone Consortium, Mr. Pere Navarro from the Free Trade Consortium, Hon Mr. Chakir El Homrani Lesfar from the Public Employment Office of Catalonia – Consortium for Continuing Education of Generalitat de Catalunya Catalonia – Generalitat de Catalunya, Mr.  Feliu López from the Nautical Institute of Barcelona, Mr. José García-Aubert from Marina Barcelona 92, Mr. Carlos Boy Rodriguez from the General Workers Union of Catalunya and Mr. José Pérez Domínguez from the Workers’ Commission of Catalunya (CCOO) – representatives from the majority unions of the sector – and Mr.  Josep Gonàlez-Cambray Education Consortium of Barcelona.

About YEP MED

The YEP MED project, led by the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport, aims to develop port-logistics training and vocational (TVET) resources adapted to sector needs to strengthen youth employability; increase and upgrade local employment opportunities through the creation of real dual-learning programmes with job placements, strengthening the role of SME’s operating in the port ecosystems for future employment creation; and set up collaborative national and transnational partnerships between port-logistics associations, operators, SMEs, training centres and VET providers, whilst introducing a PPP co-management process.

The project counts on the participation of partners from Spain, Italy, France, Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan. Throughout 30 months, the partners and associates of the project will implement tools to achieve the main objectives of this initiatives, in the short, medium and long terms. For a full list of partners of the YEP MED project, you can go to the project’s website. As associated entities, MEDPorts association and Consell Valencià de la Joventut will also join the project. The project will receive 2.9 M€ (90% EU Contribution) in funding over its lifetime

For more information on the project you can contact Concha Palacios from the project office at concha.palacios@portdebarcelona.cat.

YEP MED VT01 - Maritime Visit

Barcelona: EU-funded YEP MED trains future professionals in the port management and logistics sector

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The training, carried out by the Escola Europea saw the participation of more than 50 students from Institut les Salines in el Prat de Llobregat

This week the first course of the YEP MED project’s vocational training series, funded by the EU’s ENI CBC Med Programme, came to a close in Barcelona. The week-long course, initially scheduled to take place virtually, took a hybrid format when it became possible to host some lectures in the Escola’s classroom in person – the Aula dels Estels – and to physically visit the Port of Barcelona. The objective of the course was to provide first-year students of vocational training in International Trade and those studying Transport and Logistics at the Institut Les Salines in Barcelona with first-hand knowledge of the Port of Barcelona, its infrastructures, logistics equipment and operations, as well as its environmental management and its digital sphere. The course also gave the companies represented by the sector associations in the training the opportunity to showcase the characteristics of their activities and the professional profiles they need to develop appropriately, whilst at the same time encouraging an open dialogue between the centres and the companies and promoting the creation of dual-training opportunities.

The theoretical contents of the course focused on Port Management characteristics, introduced Port-Logistics Community Actors (Maritime Customs, Customs Brokers, Freight Forwarders, Ship Agents, Stevedores, Border Inspection Post) and touched on environmental policies and characteristics, as well as the emergence of Smart Ports. To complement the theoretical training, workshops were planned which included an in-person maritime visit to the Port of Barcelona, , a workshop on customs procedures, a workshop on freight forwarders operations, as well as a FunTraders session, an international trade simulation game. The training was completed with a Kahoot test designed to test the knowledge gained by the course participants during the week. The classes were given by professionals from the Port of Barcelona, the Maritime Customs Administration in the Port of Barcelona, the Association of Customs Agents in Barcelona, the Association of International Freight Forwarders, the Shipping Agens Association in Barcelona and the Escola Europea.

“After one exciting week, I feel very lucky that I took part in the YEP MED program in his first edition, held by the Escola Europea Intermodal Transport”, attested Aymen Kadri, a student from the Institut Les Salines, upon completing the training. “Despite the newness of this project, we as students were well-surprised by the high level of organisation and efficient coordination set by the Escola Europea team and the professionals of the logistics field in Barcelona. As for myself it was a real breakthrough in widening my knowledge.

From day one, it was noticeable how:

  • Enthusiastic these executives were about their domain
  • Passionate about transmitting the data to us without leaving any doubt or confusion
  • Impressive they were in combining theory with practice.

For the practical side, we had a great chance to find out the various operations from the departments of the Barcelona Port, and through Marta Miquel we received attentive guidance. Innovation signs were obvious, encouraging for new development perspectives.”

Foto Aula dels Estels - YEP MED course

The Vocational Training 1 course is the first part of a 3-training course methodology developed under the project, designed to prepare the students and young adults for transport and logistic professions in the Mediterranean region. As part of the later training, the participants will be able to simulate certain real-life operations in a digital twin of a port community created for the project. This kind of digital and practical experience will help prepare the students for any challenges that they may face in real working environments.

About YEP MED

The YEP MED project, led by the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport, aims to develop port-logistics training and vocational (TVET) resources adapted to sector needs to strengthen youth employability; increase and upgrade local employment opportunities through the creation of real dual-learning programmes with job placements, strengthening the role of SME’s operating in the port ecosystems for future employment creation; and set up collaborative national and transnational partnerships between port-logistics associations, operators, SMEs, training centres and VET providers, whilst introducing a PPP co-management process.

The project counts on the participation of partners from Spain, Italy, France, Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan. Throughout 30 months, the partners and associates of the project will implement tools to achieve the main objectives of this initiatives, in the short, medium and long terms. For a full list of partners of the YEP MED project, you can go to the project’s website. As associated entities, MEDPorts association and Consell Valencià de la Joventut will also join the project. The project will receive 2.9 M€ (90% EU Contribution) in funding over its lifetime

For more information on the project you can contact Concha Palacios from the project office at concha.palacios@portdebarcelona.cat.