Medports Training Programme

The Escola Europea takes one step closer towards sustainable transport

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.

The Environment

Transport and the Environment

With Coronavirus, it may seem that sustainable transport took a back seat to the more immediate consequences of the health crisis. In reality, however, this is not the case. Ports, shipping companies, freight forwarders, rail operators, and logistic operators all continue to look for solutions to the difficulties caused by the national lockdowns whilst tackling emissions and greenifying transport solutions.

This month we have caught up with one of our own professors – José Francisco Vidal. With the Escola since its founding, José Francisco was the head of the Shortsea Promotion Centre Spain before retiring and continuing to contribute to the field through consulting services. Below you can read his thoughts on the current situation of transport through an environmental lens.

José Francisco Vidal

Written by: José Francisco Vidal

Logistics and transport have proven to be essential services during the current pandemic. By proving their resilience to the supply of basic goods for members society that have been moved to their homes, and characterised by their effectiveness, transport and logistics operators have demonstrated their efficiency and reliability.

But transport must not only be efficient and reliable, it must be sustainable and, to do so, it must take its efforts a step further to care for the environment.

According to EU data, transport in Europe is the second emitter of greenhouse gases, with 24.6% of the total emissions recorded. It is also the second CO2 emitter, with nearly a thrid (29.7%) of the total emissions in the region.

The EU targets for this year, prior to Covid-19, were 20/20/20 – 20% greenhouse gas reduction, 20% increase in renewable energy use (in the case of transport by 10%) and 20% improvement in energy efficiency.

While overall emission reduction targets appear to have been met, individuals in the transport sector are further behind. The situation is even grimmer when looking at air transport.

The targets for the next decade are even more ambitious, reducing greenhouse emissions by 40%, increasing the share of renewable energy by 32%, and improving energy efficiency by 32.5%.

The contribution to these objectives of all segments of transport must undoubtedly be accelerated, not only in order to comply with the EU rules in force, but also for their own competitiveness.

Energy Efficiency

In terms of energy efficiency, new, more aerodynamic and hydrodynamic designs can be expected. These will vary across the means and modes. We can expect to see more efficient engines and more efficient maintenance systems. Using new technologies, especially intelligent transport systems (ITSs), transport operators will be able to improve the energy efficiency of their infrastructures and their vehicles.

In the field of maritime transport, energy efficiency goes through more hydrodynamic hulls, more efficient propellers, fairings and more effective paints.

Clean(er) Air

In terms of reducing emissions, strategies in land transport focus on the use of alternative fuels and the use of hybrid and electric motors. While in urban transport the use of LNG is spreading successfully, in the transport of goods it still faces resistance, caused in part by the lack of adequate supply infrastructures. Instead, urban transport has successfully began using mixtures of synthetic products or new catalysts. Current research also has progressed in the field of the use of hydrogen as an alternative fuel, both liquefied and gas-shaped, although sadly its price and high volatility do not appear to place it on the nearby horizon. Closer is the use of biofuels.

The use of hybrid and electric motors has seen advances only in the field of private vehicles. What public policies around freight transport have tried to do instead is to attempt to reduce road transport routes using intermodal systems, which lower environmental impact in combinations of road-rail, road-sea and rail-maritime.

We must not forget to mention here the maintenance of road infrastructures, which plays an important role in energy consumption and therefore contributes to higher or lower emissions.

As far as emission reduction is concerned, the main bet in ports is on the electrification of the docks to supply the energy needed to the ships’ when moored in ports. In navigation the maintenance of fossil fuels requires the use of lighter ones, such as Diesel oil, and for heavier fuels the use of low Sulphur, including the use of filters for exhausting gases, i.e. either fresh water or seawater scrubbers. Hybrid motorizations are also being used.

The use of alternative fuels is already advancing at a safe pace. Re-motorizations such as those undertaken in Spain by Balearia for the use of LNG seem to work well. Other fuels under study and testing are Ethanol, Propane and Biodiesel. Looking ahead, the sights are set on the use of hydrogen, although there are still many doubts to dissolve and a long way to go to make it less dangerous and more competitive.

I finish with the use of new technologies to improve transport performance. Operators have already began using route optimization, improved operating and maintenance systems, etc. and began, using Big Data, Blockchain and IoT to address operability, transparency and sustainability issues. The road ahead for 2020s is tough, but with concentrated efforts from transport professionals, researchers and policy makers, it will be possible to slow climate change. We must all act now! Let us embark on this difficult task together.

ITS Inauguration - October 2020

G. Caboto Foundation’s Technical Course in Integrated Logistics Management and Shipping Processes to take place

In early October, the ITS G. Caboto’s Foundation has opened the registrations for the Diploma in the Management of Integrated Logistics and Shipping Processes. Following two weeks of an open application period, in the end 29 students were accepted. The majority came from the Lazio region, but with some students traveling from the Liguria and Puglia regions, and some from Sicily.

The applicants will attend a 24-month long course and discover the logistics processes and maritime operations that take place in the Port of Civitavecchia. The course has as an objective to train students in the management of logistical activities in the port-centric supply chain market segment. The graduates will learn to manage shipment processes and any other related logistic activities (warehouse, fittings, intermodal transport, order cycles, etc.) which circle around the management of goods that are imported or exported through a port. They will also analyse the relationship between the port and the unloading or loading area. Moreover, this year particular attention and relevance will be given to digital skills in the application field – as digitisation and the internet of things become more and more important in the transport sector. The training will thus provide the students with the skills for the use of popular application software, aids, equipment and digital tools, and will familiarise them with any technological advances to make them prepared for employment. Each student will also carry out an internship period of 800 hours, in addition to study visits (if they are deemed safe in light of the current global health crisis) and project work at partner companies. Participation in supplementary projects promoted by the project partners will be encouraged as well.

The diploma kicked off with the official inauguration ceremony on the 30th of October 2020. Alongside the candidates and teachers, the ceremony was attended by Francesco Maria di Majo and Luca Lupi from the Port Authority of Civitavecchia; Eduard Rodés and Marco Muci from the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport; and Clemente Borrelli from the G. Caboto Foundation.

The Escola’s Formati al Porto and MOST Italy courses will form part of the 24 month training. For more information about Formati al Porto, you can visit the Escola’s website.

Sustainable Development Goals wheel

The Escola Europea reaffirms its commitment to training and the Motorways of the Sea

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

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

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

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

For more information, visit the Escola’s website at www.escolaeuropea.eu or write to info@escolaeuropea.eu.

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

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/.

Barcelona to host the 1st World Edition of Startup Weekend focused on the logistics and maritime world

Barcelona will host the 1st World Edition of Startup Weekend focused on the logistics and maritime world, with the support of Google for Entrepreneurs and Techstars bringing together entrepreneurs to solve the major challenges of the sector.

This event will be held during the next weekend of May 17, 18 and 19 at the new facilities of OneCowork. This edition will have the collaboration of different companies and institutions of the logistics sector.

Encouraging entrepreneurship, disrupting the logistics sector and solving major challenges are the goals that this edition of Startup Weekend Barcelona aims to achieve with its new Maritime & Blue Logistics edition in May 2019.

It is expected to bring together the 100 entrepreneurs of different profiles. Businesses, developers, designers and technicians of the logistics sector with business ideas that revolutionise the logistics sector as we know it today, networking and sharing experiences.

On Friday, May 17th, participant will present their business ideas and then the most promising ones will be selected. The objective during the weekend is to work in the business model with countless partners and specialist mentors from the sector to learn, inspire and discover new solutions.

About Techstars Startup Weekend

Startup Weekend ™ is a 54-hour event, in which groups made up of different professional profiles such as developers, business, entrepreneurship enthusiasts, designers and, in this edition, specialists in the logistics sector will be challenged to move from an idea to a product  or business. The teams will work throughout the weekend collaborating to achieve a viable minimum product to submit to the verdict of the jury, composed of executives and specialists in the logistics sector.

Startup Weekend was born in 2007 and by 2016 it has grown to have a global presence. In December 2016, Startup Weekend reached a presence in 140 countries, and more than 1100 cities, involving more than 234,000 enterprising participants. Startup Weekend is a program of Techstars Startup Programs, along with Startup Week and Startup Digest.

Founded in July 2007 in Boulder, Colorado by Andrew Hyde, Startup Weekend brought together 70 entrepreneurs to try to start a startup in just 54 hours. The model quickly expanded to other cities around the world. In 2010, Marc Nager and Clint Nelsen took full ownership and registered the non-profit organisation, moving to Seattle. After the acquisition, Startup Weekend would organize 80 events in the United States, Canada, England and Germany. In December 2010, the organisation had 8 full-time employees, more than 15 facilitators and more than 100 local organizers. In 2016, Startup Weekend is in more than 1000 cities around the world. Startup Weekend is an initiative created by Techstars and has the support of Google for Entrepreneurs .

Important startups have come out of this initiative, which today are consolidated companies such as: Zapier , Foodspotting , Hydrate or Haiku Deck

Maritime & Blue Logistics

We premiered with an event where we expect 100 participants and a team of mentors that will turn this edition into a unique opportunity to update, undertake, network and have fun. The event will be in English and it is expected to obtain an important attendance of both international and local entrepreneurs. For this edition, we have great sponsors, partners and companies that are betting on this initiative such as the logistics company Grupo Romeu , the company accelerator Founder Institute, Marinel-lo Abogados , design agency Jaimitos , ATEIA , Portic , Kantox and the Port of Barcelona .

For more information you can go to : www.startupweekendbarcelona.com

The Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport is collaborating in this event, and as such it can offer a discount of 25% to our students and visitors to our website. To take advantage of this discount, click HERE

European Commission proposes budget of €30.6 billion for transport sector

Proposed budgets have been made by the European Commission, demonstrating the distribution of funding for different sectors.

The European Commission’s 2021-2027 budget proposals, presented to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, have suggested €30.6 billion be allocated for investments into transport.

The proposals need to be finalised within the coming months and Jean-Claude Juncker, Commission President, wants to reach an agreement before the European Parliament elections in spring 2019.

Spending funds for transport is distributed through the Connecting Europe Facility, who has a budget of €42.2 billion to fund cross-border infrastructure investment in all transport, energy and digital sectors.

The segment allocated for transport totals €30.6 billion and incorporates a ‘general envelope’ of €12.8 billion and €11.3 billion from the cohesion fund. To enhance strategic transport infrastructure for improved military mobility, another €6.5 billion will be provided.

During the 2018 TEN-T Days in Ljubljana, more than 40 associations and stakeholders together revealed a declaration calling for ‘more investment in clean and modern transport’. The participants included transport operators, local authorities, logistics service providers and users across rail, maritime, inland waterways, aviation and intermodal sectors.

The Ljubljana Declaration asked European policymakers to provide further grants for transport projects and to increase the CEF budget for 2021-27 ‘to facilitate the completion of the TEN-T core network’, which would require an estimated €500 billion between 2021 and 2030.

CER Executive Director, Libor Lochman, explained: “The Connecting Europe Facility offers the best guarantee to deliver high EU added-value in the transport sector and provides an opportunity to finance the actual deployment of sustainable transport projects.”

The Commission’s seven-year budget plan, for a variety of sectors, totals €1,135 billion, which is loosely equivalent to the spending in 2014-2020.

Source: Intelligent Transport.