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/.

Participants of the Port Operations during a workshop

The Escola Europea completes the first semester of course with the Summer School in Port Operations

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With the arrival of summer, the Escola ended its activities in the first semester of 2019. The past few months have been very busy for the training centre, providing specialised training to both students and professionals in the sector.

During these 6 months, more than 1100 students from Europe, Latin America and North Africa have attended 28 courses to receive training in maritime and rail intermodality, temperature-controlled supply chains and port operations.

During the first two weeks of July, the Escola has welcomed professionals and students of different nationalities to the Summer School in Port Operations. The course consisted of two weeks, each with a specific focus: the first on services to vessels and the second on freight operations in ports.

The training, in addition to including practical workshops to different places in the port of Barcelona, such as visits to the control tower, the border inspection point, the tugboat facilities, as well as terminals for each type of merchandise, has allowed participants to uncover the theories that underpin the dynamics of the port community and its operations from the perspective of terminals, cargo and agents.

The participants became familiar with the services offered to ships, port security protocols, customs procedures, and risk management of dangerous products and emergencies. They have also been introduced to the environmental aspects of port area management so that they can begin to consider the qualities of the port of the future.

The faculty comprised experts from the port community of Barcelona, including members of private companies, such as port terminals, and representatives of public institutions, such as the port authority or customs.

Fore more information you can check out the course page https://escolaeuropea.eu/courses/port-operations/.

The Escola prepares a new edition of the course MOST Italy dedicated to Italian professionals

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MOST Italy is a training course for professionals that the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport offers exclusively to the members of Italian logistics and transport sector.

This year’s edition, the fifth in a row, will last four days and will be held on board of a Grimaldi Lines Ro-Pax vessel, a leading company specialising in short sea shipping services that connect the Italian peninsula to the port of Barcelona.

The course is aimed exclusively at professionals of varying profiles: logistics operators, shipping agencies, port authorities and relevant institutions in the sector. The objective of the training is to introduce the participants to the key elements needed to build efficient supply chains, which can incorporate the motorways of the sea as a sustainable alternative to land transport, and as a crucial element of the intermodal turn. In addition to lectures offering theoretical knowledge, the course offers workshops and visits that allow participants to experience and directly observe intermodal operations.

To complement the study, networking activities will be organised to facilitate the development and exchange of contacts details between professionals and experts in the national sector. It is the relationships that are created during the course that make it a unique experience, as one of the participants of the 2018 edition explained: “The organization of the course is impeccable. I hope to be able to attend more courses in the coming years, to increase my network of knowledge, deepen my studies and find new incentives to improve and continue to grow”.

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 will be composed of representatives of companies and institutions directly involved in the management of short sea shipping in Italy: port authorities, shipping companies and the Mediterranean Motorway Network.

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, Assarmatori and ALIS (Associazione Logistica dell’Intermodalità Sostenibile). One of the main objectives of ALIS, which has united more than 400 companies, is to promote intermodality as a logistical solution perfectly combining the philosophy that moves and inspires the Escola in its training activities.

A list of all the courses for professionals offered by the Escola  with the relevant programmes can be found here:

https://escolaeuropea.eu/training/professional-courses/.

Forma't al Port agreement signing

Port of Barcelona and the Escola continue to bet on local students and the Forma’t al Port programme

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On the 19th of June, Núria Burguera, Director of Institutional Relations and Communication at the Port of Barcelona, and Eduard Rodés, Director of the Escola Europea, renewed their collaboration agreement wherein the Port of Barcelona reaffirmed its position as a strategic sponsor of the Forma’t al Port programme.

The programme, promoted by the Port of Barcelona itself and sponsored by the Diputació de Barcelona, the Ajuntament de Barcelona, the Escola Europea, and sector associations and companies, continues to be a reference point for local training for students in the transport and logistics and international trade training cycles and, more recently, for students of university degrees in logistics and maritime business, nautical and maritime transport, marine technologies and systems engineering and naval technologies.

Forma’t al Port, through which the port community is opened to students, has already witnessed record participation figures in 2019: 520 students have been able to get to know the Port of Barcelona and its business community through the courses.

The programme will continue in the months of October and November with three Management courses, with Genoa as their destination.

Forma’t al Port encourages the incorporation of students through dual training schemes in companies from the sector, with the ultimate goal of helping to prepare a future logistics community capable of overcoming the strategic challenges of the Catalan region.

For more information, you can visit the programmes dedicated website www.escolaeuropea.eu/format or by writing to: info@escolaeuropea.eu.

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The Escola at the 2019 SIL Exhibition

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This year the Escola Europea Intermodal Transport will once again participate in the International Logistics Exhibition (SIL Barcelona), the annual logistics fair held in Barcelona. This year the fair will take place from the 26th to the 28th of June in the Montjuïc Exhibition Centre of the Barcelona’s Exhibition Centre in Plaza España.

This year, the Escola will participate quite actively, by not only attending  the Exhibition itself, but also by contributing to the ALACAT Congress and to the MedaLogistics Summit.

Within the general framework of the fair, Marta Miquel, Chief Business Officer of the Escola, will present the institution’s new educational offer in the SIL Agora, by providing a brief explanation of the topics that the Escola currently covers in its courses, on the 26th of June at 13:30h.

That same day, members of the Escola will organise a dynamic and interactive game of FunTraders in the stand of the Port of Barcelona; a game of international trade will make it possible for the participants to discover the dynamis of the sector from a fun point of view. The game will take place on the 26th of July at 16:00h.

On the second day of the Fair, Eduard Rodés, the Director of the Escola, will serve as a moderator during the round-table discussion on “People First: Qualified Human Capital, Towards a Competitive & Resource Efficient Transport System”, with the aim of reinforcing the idea that human capital is necessary for an efficient and effective development of the logistics and port sectors. The round table will take place on the 27th of June at 12:00h.

During this same event, Raquel Nunes, responsible for training and promotion at the Escola, will present the SailNet programme dedicated to young shipping agents, to promote the exchange of knowledge and experience among members of the sector. This presentation will take place in the framework of EBSOMED, on the 27th of June at 16:00h.

Meanwhile, Marta Miquel will moderate a round-table discussion at the ALACAT Congress, which will bring together several international actors. The table called “Training in logistics in a 4.0 world” will be held on the 27th of June at 12:30h.

To finish the three days of the fair, Eduard Rodés will participate as a speaker in the delivery of training diplomas to students who have completed the advanced degree in Logistics and Transport in Catalonia this year.

Throughout the three days of the fair, the Escola will be present at the stand of the Port of Barcelona, located at D406. Come and visit us!

SURCO workshop - Group photo

The Escola Europea trains professionals in port-railway operations

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After the successes obtained in the past editions of the SURCO series, the Escola has once again held the SURCO Operations I course for Spanish professionals, which offers introductory training in matters of rail-port and intermodal railway logistics.

The course took place from the 10th to the 12th of June in Barcelona. Designed for professionals from freight transport companies, freight forwarders and import and export companies, the course offers an analysis of the different elements necessary to carry out efficient intermodal transport solutions (rail and sea). This month companies such as Inditex, Repsol, Inovyn, the ports of Huelva and Bilbao, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, Marcotran and Ocidenave sent participants to partake in the training.

During the three days, the course participants had the opportunity to see the infrastructures and equipment used in the rail-port connections and to have contact with operators that currently manage these types of operations. The theoretical classes covered maritime-rail transport and logistics, railway services necessary for the transport of goods and railway terminals in ports. The training also offered a detailed analysis of the current situation of Spanish ports in terms of infrastructures, characteristics of the railway networks and service areas.

To complement the theoretical classes, the course offered practical visits to the Port of Barcelona (Hutchison BEST semi-automatic container terminal, AUTOTERMINAL vehicle terminal and ICL solid bulk terminal); a visit to the CAN TUNIS complex, and in particular to the sorting terminal and logistic operator LOGISTAINER; and a visit to ADIF’s integrated traffic control centre.

SURCO Operations I was carried out with the collaboration of the Port of Barcelona, Puertos del Estado, Adif, Autoterminal, FGC Ferrocarrils, ICL, the Hutchison BEST terminal, Transportes Portuarios, Go Transport and Transportes Tomàs.