PORT VIRTUAL LAB_Simulators_training_Escola Europea

Virtualization and simulation at the Escola Europea’s Portvirtuallab.com

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The development of advanced computer systems is enabling new ways of interacting and learning via simulators: a trendy learning environment that enhances learners’ experiences.

Some logistics organizations are betting heavily on technology, either to improve their competitiveness in an increasingly digital world, for mimicry with other similar companies in the sector or for fear of being left behind in the new relationship models between operators.

The adoption of simulators and virtual reality for initial and continuing education allows trainees to gain hands-on work experience in a remote, risk-free environment; it enables them to solve problems more effectively, ultimately improving customer experiences. These immersive programs have much broader use, as they can enable participants to develop skills for career advancement.

PORT VIRTUAL LAB_Simulators_training_Escola Europea

Simulators open the door to new possibilities and innovative ways to leverage digital learning solutions, within a larger ecosystem. The virtual simulator creates a digital world in which users can interact, collaborate, practice and solve problems. It is ideal for corporate and collaborative learning, providing learners with the tools they need to succeed while allowing them to manage their own learning experience.

Digital disruption and simulators

Learning moves into what would be neuro-linguistic programming, as the learner experiences the experience as a reality. The learner is in the space and work environment in which we can transfer the knowledge and procedures to successfully perform the operations. It is the closest thing to the realization of an internship in a company. If this is complemented by a teacher who accompanies him/her in the realization of the activities, not directly but by giving support, when necessary, it allows an enriching experience.

The learner’s activity in their virtual work environment and how they access information will help them identify opportunities where their experience can be improved.

From there, it is about enabling the learner to find what they need and when they need it. Rather than prescribing an end-to-end learning journey, as in traditional courses, embrace the chaos. Today’s learners know how and where to find the knowledge they are looking for.

Virtual training opens the door to new possibilities for training at a time when the winds are blowing in favour of innovation. With advances in technology progressing along with a culture that is increasingly accepting of remote learning and other digital initiatives, now is the perfect time to begin formulating a virtual simulator strategy for organizations.

A success story: training for students of the Master’s in International Trade at the University of Barcelona.

 

In the month of May 2022, a course was held for students from the University of Barcelona. A “Practicum” for those who chose to do their master’s final project using the training platform Port Virtual Lab (PVL) developed by the Escola Europea together with the company Click&Cargo. The course achieved spectacular results. Thirty students from 10 different countries in Europe, Africa, America and Asia wanted to take part in this immersive experience of international trade.

 

University of Barcelona_PVL Port Virtual Lab_

 

The goals for the course were:

  • Develop economic analysis skills to better understand international trade as an important and formative element.
  • Promote the presentation of simulated scenarios to participants to develop and refine their knowledge of international logistics and transport operations.
  • Stimulate the responsible and autonomous development of the student so that he/she can acquire fluency in problem-solving and decision-making in the face of unforeseen circumstances, incidents and conflicts produced by the dynamics of the company and its interactions with clients and suppliers.
  • Encourage teamwork and working with remote teams in the conduct of international trade operations.

The course developed theoretical sessions on the following topics:

  • Carrier and logistics operator
  • ERP for carriers
  • Market research
  • Commercial, transport, customs.
  • Contracts and Incoterms
  • Freight list
  • Tariff classification
  • Intermodal transport
  • Dangerous goods
  • Single Administrative Document (SAD)
  • Supply chains.

For the training of these students, the immersive technology facilitated by PVL  was used and allowed to turn around and change the paradigm of hands-on training by implementing a comprehensive training suite using the simulation platform to move the training sessions to a fully virtual environment. The hands-on experience and the instructor remained the same, but by adding a virtual reality layer it was possible to hold the session in a completely digital and risk-free environment. In addition, trainees could participate from anywhere, although this time the training was held at the Escola Europea facilities in Barcelona.

In addition to learning new procedures, participants were able to practice their techniques with simulated companies. Since the software automatically tracks useful metrics so that trainees know exactly what operations they have pending.

 

The final result was comprehensive: hands-on training without having to leave the digital world. The trainees went through the commercial, operations, financial administration and quality modules. They had to interact with teams operating in other countries (in this case simulated) and complete operations from start to finish.

And in the end, they had to submit a report justifying all the operations carried out.

 

Results were satisfactory, and students rated the course with a score of 4.75 out of 5, which is an excellent outcome.

Conclusion: At the intersection of simulated, virtual and reality

 

The reason why learning and training with simulators are so effective is that it offers all the advantages of digital learning (ease, “computerization” and remote collaboration) without any of the previous drawbacks that distinguish virtual from reality.

 

As these two fields begin to blend, it is to be expected that greater training opportunities will emerge, and the Escola Europea wants to be a protagonist in this progress that will allow for the development of more prepared and sustainable logistic-port communities.

 

Eduard Rodés

Director

Escola Europea

 

Green hydrogen ‘comes back to the future’

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Green hydrogen as a source of fuel can be essential for decarbonizing the transport sector, especially for covering the limitations of electric solutions and other clean energies, since it is found easily and thanks to the increase of research projects worldwide, green H is getting cheaper.

Anthony-Rampersad_Unsplash_Green Hydrogen

What is ‘Green Hydrogen’?

Green Hydrogen is a source of energy that has no colour, no odour or taste, is abundant and it does not emit any carbon dioxide emissions when used to power fuel cells.

There are different types of hydrogen and every type has its characteristics; they’re essentially colour codes, used within the energy industry to mark each type of hydrogen.It can be grey, blue, green, brown and even yellow and pink, depending on the type of products used, different colours are assigned to the hydrogen.

As the iconic movie trilogy of the mid-’80s “Back to the future” predicted, we can say that hydrogen “comes back to the future”.

Many factors make this raw material so appealing as a great alternative in comparison to electric and carbon fuels. And especially, now is the time to incentivise green fuels as the need for decarbonising the planet is one of the goals that countries around the world have set for 2050, especially the European Union.

How does Green Hydrogen work?

As explained before, hydrogen has no colour, but the name of the colour is given by the type of waste in the production process. Grey and blue come from fossil fuels that generate CO2, and the resulting emissions are captured, stored and not released into the atmosphere. Pink hydrogen comes through electrolysis powered by nuclear energy, yellow is a relatively new phrase for hydrogen made through electrolysis using solar power. Brown hydrogen is made using black coal or lignite (brown coal), these black and brown hydrogen are the opposite of green hydrogen in the hydrogen spectrum and the most environmentally damaging – whereas green hydrogen does not generate any emission neither in the production process nor the combustion.

Green Hydrogen is produced with no harmful greenhouse gas emissions and is generated by using clean electricity from surplus renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power, to electrolyse water. Electrolysers use an electrochemical reaction to split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, emitting zero-carbon dioxide in the process, according to National Grid information.

How can the transport sector make use of green hydrogen?

Since the transport sector represents the source of one-third of total CO2 emissions in Europe, it could benefit from the renewed attention on hydrogen to replace fossil fuels and meet the European Union decarbonisation goals. This way it could be a lead actor in the transport sector where batteries are an impracticable solution to substitute fossil fuels powering ferries, coasting trade or inland waterways and in rail applications.

Currently, the production of green hydrogen represents a small percentage of the overall, this is due to the elevated costs of production. Green hydrogen will come down in price as it becomes more common, providing an answer to one of the great challenges facing the energy sector. Developing systems to store surplus energy from renewables on a large scale, reduce Europe’s energy dependence, and cover gap areas since electric energy cannot be used in all transport systems as in maritime transport.

What are the obstacles to using green hydrogen?

So, can green hydrogen be implemented right away in the transportation sector? One of the biggest barriers to the adoption of this fuel for the transport sector comes from the low supply, since FC vehicles are expensive, although mass-production could reduce costs, as well as the difficulties of mass market diffusion in hydrogen storage. If applied in the current scenario of mass production vehicles for transport and fuels, hydrogen could reach areas where batteries and electric energy sources cannot cover.

Application in maritime transport

One of the major consumers of oil products and heavy fuels is the maritime sector, harming the quality of air, especially around ports. If applied to the engines of the maritime transport sector, green hydrogen could reduce not only emissions during sea navigation, but also those deriving from port operations.

In the last year, there have been some steps towards creating the world’s first hydrogen-powered cargo ship. Implementing this technology on ships, ferries and other coastal crafts could strongly reduce CO2 emissions.

Application in rail transport

Currently, it is difficult to electrify certain sections of railway lines on which fossil fuel-powered trains are used. Hydrogen trains are considered competitive for those railway sections that don’t depend on electric energy, with a low frequency of service and operate on long distances. These conditions are frequent in rail transport, making hydrogen rail mobility interesting from an economic point of view and an excellent opportunity to further decarbonise public transport, according to Enea, (Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile).

 

Certainly, we will see green hydrogen powering sectors that strongly depend on carbon fuels as companies and countries meet the goals for reducing carbon dioxide emissions, especially in the maritime and rail transport sectors. This is without a doubt a comeback to clean and essential sources of energy and as the famous DeLorean from the film, engines will be using clean hydrogen to keep up the pace.

 

Sources:

The hydrogen colour spectrum | National Grid Group

 Hydrogen and “green transport” – EAI (enea.it)

Green Hydrogen: an essential element for decarbonization (cepsa.com)

Alternative Fuels Data Center: Hydrogen Benefits and Considerations (energy.gov)

 

Marta Miquel Chief Business Officer of the Escola Europea, Joaquim Cabané former CEO of the Coma y Ribas group and Eduard Rodés director of the Escola Europea at the meeting of Port of Barcelona's Steering Council

The Escola Europea leading the Training and Employment Working Group of Port of Barcelona’s Steering Council

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At the second Steering Council for the Promotion of the Port Community of Barcelona, the Escola Europea has assumed the presidency and coordination of the Training and Employment Working Group.

 

Marta Miquel Chief Business Officer of the Escola Europea, Joaquim Cabané former CEO of the Coma y Ribas group and Eduard Rodés director of the Escola Europea at the meeting of Port of Barcelona's Steering Council

Last Thursday, July 14, the second annual meeting of the Steering Council for the Promotion of the Port Community of Barcelona was held. Within the framework of this meeting, the Training and Employment Working Group presented the activities carried out during the first half of the year, such as the first Getting Talent – Aprenem Junts action, the constitution of new project groups, as well as a review of the courses developed within the framework of the YEP MED and Forma’t al Port projects. 

The Training and Employment Working Group has been led since its creation in 2014 by its president, Joaquim Cabané, former CEO of the Coma y Ribas group, a reference in the port industry of Barcelona, and its coordination has been since then in the hands of the director of the Escola Europea, Eduard Rodés. 

After 8 years of management, Joaquim Cabané has stepped aside and handed over his presidency to the then coordinator of the group, Eduard Rodés. The coordination of the course has now been handed over to Marta Miquel, Chief Business Officer of the Escola Europea, who over the years has also actively collaborated with the group. 

 

The Steering Committee demonstrates the solid advances of the YEP MED project

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The YEP MED project is moving towards the expected results at a great pace: more than 25 training courses developed and more than 1300 participants

The YEP MED Project (Youth Employment in the Ports of the MEDiterranean) has brought together the members of the Steering Committee on 7th, 8th and 9th of June in a hybrid way, physically at the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport, in Barcelona, and online.

Throughout the presentations of the different activities to be developed within the framework of the project, which aims to motivate employment in the logistics-port sector through specialised training focused on young people and women, they confirmed that the project is progressing in accordance with the objectives set and has become a key element of cooperation in the field of training and collaboration between logistics-port communities in the Mediterranean.

The Project officers, Dua’a Qurie and Alessandro Zedda, together with Vincent Ernoux, member of the ENI Branch office in Valencia, participated actively in the meetings on behalf of the ENI CBC MED programme, as well as the members of the different logistic-port communities and their institutions: Aqaba Development Corporation (Jordan), Autorità di Sistema Portuale del Mar Tirreno Centro-Settentrionale (Italy), Office de la Marine Marchande et des Ports and Institut Miéditerraneen de Formation Aux Métiers Maritimes (Tunis), Fundación ValenciaPort (Spain), Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport and Port de Barcelona (Spain), Chamber of Commerce of Beirut Mount-Lebanon (Lebanon), Damietta Port Authority and Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (Egypt).

 

The steering commitee approved the extension of the project from 30 to 36 months, bringing the project to an end in September 2023. To date, it has been agreed that there will be two more meetings between the project partners: the next steering committee meeting to be held in Civitavecchia at the end of this year and the final project event to be held in Damietta in June 2023.

So far, the partners of the project have developed more than 25 training courses with the participation of more than 1300 participants in all the countries involved in the project. As a whole and analysing the results obtained at this stage of the project, YEP MED has proved to be of great added value for the different port communities, aligning the needs of the sector with training, providing an innovative methodology for training future workers and inviting cooperation between people, communities and countries in the Mediterranean.

The YEP MED project has a budget of €2.9m, with a 10% contribution from the European Union, and a duration of 30 months since it began in September 2020. For more information you can contact Concha Palacios from the project office at concha.palacios@portdebarcelona.cat or head to the website.

The Escola Europea is committed to sustainability and digitisation

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The Executive and Steering Committees of the Escola Europea met in Barcelona on 26th May for its annual meeting to talk about sustainability.

On 26th May, the Executive and Steering Committees of the Escola Europea met in Barcelona under the presidency of Damià Calvet. After two years of online meetings, this year 2022 the meeting was held in hybrid format on the premises of the Port Authority of Barcelona.

The meeting was attended by Silvio Ferrando representing the ports of Genoa; Luca Lupi on behalf the ports of Rome; Mario Massarotti as a representative of Grimaldi Group; Matteo Catani and Antonio Pedevila in the name of GNV; Catalina Grimalt for the Port of Barcelona and Eduard Rodés and Concha Palacios for the Escola Europea.

In the balance of activities for the financial year 2021, the recovery of face-to-face activities and the favorable evolution of the year 2022 stood out, in which the number of students and courses has grown more than in 2019. The activities related to international projects have also grown and the presence of the Escola Europea in the Mediterranean countries has been consolidated.

 

It is worth highlighting the commitment to the portvirtuallab.com platform, which has meant a technological leap in the development of training models for the digital transition, based on virtual simulators. This places the Escola as a benchmark for innovation in the field of digitalisation in the logistics-port sector.

A second innovative element has been the creation of a sustainability office specialized in the port logistics sector.  Managed by specialists in sustainability management, its objective is to provide support to companies that need to draw up their sustainability reports.

Training, digitalisation and sustainability make up the basic axes of development of the Escola Europea, which this year reaches its 15th anniversary. With a huge activity in Spain and Italy the schools presence has increased in importance across the Western and Eastern Mediterranean.

 

The Port of Barcelona, the Escola Europea and CaixaBank Dualiza bring together companies and teachers to promote talent acquisition

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Visit to Aqaba - Escola Europea

The Escola Europea and Port of Aqaba strengthen their ties

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Between the 10th and the 11th of April, the director of the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport travelled to Aqaba (Jordan) to work together on driving the YEP MED project forward.

As leader of the YEP MED project, co-financed by the ENI CBC Med Programme, the Escola Europea has taken upon itself to visit the southern Mediterranean partners to monitor the progress of the project – something that was planned to take place in 2020-2021 but was hindered by the global health pandemic caused by the Covid-19 virus. Following visits to Lebanon, Tunisia and Egypt, this month Eduard Rodés, director of the Escola Europea, travelled to Aqaba to meet with the local partners there.

During the visit, Mr Rodés met with HE Hussein A-Safadi, the CEO of the Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC), who confirmed the significance of the YEP MED project and the corporation’s commitment and support for it and its work.

Subsequently, meetings with logistic operators from the local port community and meetings with local training centres (including Balqa University, JAMS and the National Employment and Training Centre) were conducted. All of the meetings were attended by Mr. Mohammad Al-Sakram and Ms. Hanifa Hamouri, who are responsible for the YEP MED project at the ADC.

“The joint work of the training centres with companies in the sector is a fantastic result of the YEP MED project, which is contributing to the development of more efficient Logistics-Port Communities. This in turn improves the country’s external competitiveness. Witnessing the incredible hospitality of the hosts and having the opportunity to exchange our knowledge is invaluable. It is only through such deep connections that we can ensure that we build a strong, sustainable and innovated network in our region,” stated Mr. Rodés during the visit.

After having toured the Aqaba Port and the Balqaa University, Mr Rodés met with local YEP MED partners to go over the project requirements and offer any other guidance or assistance in the coming months, while initiating collaborative work to ensure the continuity of the initiatives put in place after the end of the project.

The YEP MED project has a budget of €2.9m, with a 10% contribution from the European Union, and a duration of 30 months since it began in September 2020. For more information you can contact Concha Palacios from the project office at concha.palacios@portdebarcelona.cat or head to the website.

Sustainability

The Escola and the Port of Barcelona get closer to sustainability

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The second decade of the 21st century has brought sustainability into the limelight in many ports of our globalised world. The port of Barcelona has already been involved in numerous activities related to sustainability over the years, and in March 2022 it has selected the Escola Europea to officially serve as the Technical Office of Port Sustainability – with a strengthened effort to reach the goals set by the Spanish and European authorities that aim to curb transport emissions by 2030.

The passing of the Law on State Ports in 1992 by the Spanish government marked the beginning of the creation of the Port Authorities, the establishment of a new model for the organisation and operation of the port systems and eliminating the figures of the Autonomous Ports and the Port Boards. One year later, the constitution of the Port of Barcelona as a single Port Community was established. Since then, every 5 years the port has developed a Strategic Plan with the goal of revising the port’s primary goals and strengthening the port community every half a decade. In the latest Strategic Plan, the Port of Barcelona has emphasized the increasing need to bring sustainable transport solutions to the forefront of the port’s activities, and therewith put Barcelona in the frontlines of modern ports.

The III Strategic Plan, which covered the period from 2015 to 2020, characterised at the Port of Barcelona (APB) by the approval of two framework documents for the Port Community’s action and governance of the Port Community: the APB’s 3rd Strategic Plan 2015-2020, which, together with growth and competitiveness, placed sustainability as one of the three central axes for framing all aspects of the business. On the other hand, the approval in 2016 of the Sector Sustainability Plan in 2016, which introduced a new way of approaching sustainability, engaging with it and of relating to the organisations of the Port Community by collecting and processing of non-financial information based on the development of benchmark indicators. In addition, the Port of Barcelona has been a pioneer in incorporating the sectoral view directly into its reporting and by linking it to the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

As such, the Port Authority opened a tender for the creation of a Technical Office of Port Sustainability of the Port of Barcelona, which it awarded to the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport in March of 2022. The contract itself has a duration of 1 year, with the potential for further extensions thereafter.

The Escola’s services will be strengthened and configured in line with sector trends and the Port of Barcelona’s strategic plan, including the promotion of the intermodal transport and energy transition courses as part of the environmental sustainability actions of the port authority; the creation of a Training and Employment Working Group that will promote social sustainability among the different actors of the port community; and finally expanding the new Port Virtual Lab interface to showcase digitalisation efforts in the area.

The Escola to promote the YEP MED project during MedCat days 2022

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The Chief Business Officer of the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport will promote the YEP MED project during this year’s MedCat days in Barcelona.

Marta Miquel, the Chief Business Officer of the Escola Europea will attend the event on behalf of the lead partner of the EU-funded project. As part of the session on “A more social and inclusive Mediterranean,” which will be moderated by Albert Sorrosal from TESIM, and with an introduction from Anna Dorangricchia – the project manager from the Social and Civil Affairs of UpM, she will introduce YEP MED (Youth Employment in the Ports of the MEDiterranean) to the attendees and explain the best practices that have been developed during the first half of the project’s lifetime.

MedCat Days, part of the Catalonia Mediterranean Hub, is organised by the Generalitat de Catalunya, the European Institute for the Mediterranean (IEMed), and with the collaboration of MedCoopAlliance.

The mission of the MedCat days is to promote the new EU Agenda for the Mediterranean. With the knowledge that with the objectives of the cohesion policy 2021-2027 of the government of Catalonia, it is necessary to bet on greener and more innovative policies in the Mediterranean. During the three days of the event, delegates will have the chance to analyze the difficult topics surrounding Mediterranean transport, meet new actors, discuss projects and host institutional meetings. The first half of the Days will take place on 23, 24 and 25 March, with a second session planned for the second half of November 2022. In March, the focus will be on:

  • Contributing to the deployment of the EU’s new Agenda for the Mediterranean and the promotion of Green and Digital Transitions
  • Promoting new initiatives and projects in the Mediterranean in the framework of the new generation of Euromed programmes.
  • Promoting agreements and exchanges with Catalan and southern Mediterranean actors.
  • Promoting an integrated, macro-regional and multi-level vision within the framework of European policies in the Mediterranean.

The Escola and the Baku Port cement their collaboration

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On the 10th of March, the director of the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport Eduard Rodés signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Head of the Baku Port Training Center Orkhan Adigozalov.  

The agreement aims to share the Escola’s unique and proven model of experiential training in logistics and intermodal transport with the Training Centre at the Port of Baku.

Located on the shores of the Caspian Sea, the port of Baku is the main maritime gateway to Azerbaijan. With the Escola’s continued efforts to extend its network of educational centres across the Mediterranean Sea, an expansion further into neighbouring sea ports seemed logical. Over the next few years, the Escola and the Baku Port training centre will work together to develop an institutional development strategy, which will help the port turn into a regional training and logistics centre, helping the Escola spread its vision of practical and experiential training that fully prepares the professionals of tomorrow.

Prior to the signing of the agreement, on the 9th of March, representatives from the Port of Baku took part in a course that focused on sustainability and “Green Ports”, which was designed and taught by the Escola and specialists from the sector: Eduard Rodés – the director of the Escola, Xavier Sabaté – the head of environmental projects at the Port of Barcelona, and Oriol Vilaseca – an environmental consultant. The goal of this course was to present the strategies of the Port of Barcelona and its Logistics Community related to sustainability and the environment; to analyse new visions concerning the management of ports from the perspective of sustainability and any steps that ports could take tp transform strategies into action; and to analyse the position of the Port of Baku to lead the transport corridors of the Caspian region by making them competitive and sustainable.

In October of 2021 a delegation from the Port of Baku travelled to Barcelona to discover the port’s strategy. It is during this visit that the participants familiarised themselves with the work of the Escola, which gave rise to this blossoming collaboration.

For more information, you can contact the Escola.