Posts and videos published under the YEP MED project.

Escola Europea visits Beirut to promote the European YEP MED project

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During the visit, meetings were held with local stakeholders during which the outputs of YEP MED were discussed, and plans were laid out for the future.

Eduard Rodés and Marco Muci from the team of the Escola Europea travelled to Beirut on the 16th of November 2021 to meet with representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Beirut and Mount Lebanon – one of the partners of the YEP MED project. They have been welcomed by Mr. Sabra, who also greeted other attendees of the meeting who represented the stakeholders of the port of Beirut.

The meeting progressed with a presentation from Mrs. Hana Haidar from the Beirut Chamber, who described the objectives achieved in the preparation of the courses for students of International Trade in Beirut, both in the training of trainers and in the realisation of the courses for students, who have completed the visits to the port.

Mr. Eduard Rodés explained the development of the YEP MED Project, its objectives and the changes the project underwent as a result of the global health crisis. The electronic platform portvirtuallab.com and the ERP programme of Click&Cargo – born out of the new online reality that emerged in the past year – were then demonstrated.

The new training model proposed by the YEP MED Project was also discussed, in which the roles of the teacher and the students are redefined through the active participation of the students in the development of the training content and in which the teacher takes on the role of a tutor.

To finish the day, a debate was held among the participants, with a representative of the local freight forwarders group highlighting the need for the sector to be able to rely on trained personnel to face the digital transitions taking place across the industry.

Meeting participants:

  • Eduard Rodés – Director – Escola Europea
  • Marco Muci – Italy manager – Escola Europea
  • Elie Zakhour – President of the international Chamber of Shipping – Beirut
  • Marcel Hinain – Vice Chairman for External relations – American University of Technology
  • Swansan Wazzan – Board Member – Chamber of Beirut and Mount Lebanon
  • Ziad Kenaan – Chairman – Director General of Beirut Container Terminal
  • Walid Lattouf – President Lebanese Forwarders Syndicate
  • Antoine Gharios – CMA CGM 

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.

Port of Damietta

Damietta Port: Youth in the Heart of the Maritime Industry

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Damietta Port is one of the leading Egyptian Ports in the Mediterranean. It acts both as a gate for local imports and exports and as a hub for the transshipment trade in the East Mediterranean. It is a place also for many petrochemical industries; including LNG, methanol and propane. The port handles an average of 40 million tonnes of containerized goods and general cargo per year. Damietta Port is well connected to its hinterland through a multimodal network that includes roads, rail, river and pipes, and this is why the port is able to serve almost the whole Egyptian market of more than 100 million people. To meet the expected increase in demand, the Damietta Port Authority is implementing an expansion plan by establishing the 2nd container terminal and a new multipurpose terminal with a total capacity of about 5.3 km of quays.

Damietta Port has a large community of partners from public and private sectors, all working closely together to provide the best services for our clients. In fact, Damietta is the lead between Egyptian ports in the fields of Information Technology, safety & security, environmental protection and social responsibility. The Port Authority is committed to play an effective role in community development and social participation. Human resources development is an essential part of our sustainable development plan. The port sees the youth as the pulsating heart of the maritime industry and its vision is to create a base from young men and woman qualified to work in port-related activities in the future.  To achieve that, the port authority implements a yearly plan for youth training with the aim of building their capacities and giving them opportunities to acquire new skills and competencies in fields related to maritime transport and port operations.

To that end, Damietta Port Authority provides training courses to an average number of 1000 trainees of young males and females every year. Training is offered from both theoretical and practical sides for academic students and fresh graduates from the Damietta governorate and other neighboring governorates. Our training courses cover many fields like basic business skills, English language, port management and operations, occupational safety and health, IT, marine services, environment protection, engineering…etc. It harnesses its assets from trainers, classrooms, marine units, and workshops to provide students with a fruitful learning experience. In addition to that, we have built a long-term partnership with professional training providers like the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport. Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, we continued our training plan for youth through online channels.

In a culmination of our efforts in that field to date, the Damietta Port Authority (DPA) and the Port Training Institute (PTI) have participated in the YEP MED project “Youth Employment in the Ports of the Mediterranean“ which is co-financed by the European Neighborhood Instrument (ENI) of the European Union. The project aims to build the capacities and develop the skills of young people from participating port communities, which includes the Damietta governorate, helping them be qualified for work in logistics and port-related activities with training courses in 3 main areas: foreign trade, sustainable development and port logistics. On the 28 March 2021, DPA and PTI have started successfully the training activities with the 1st vocational training course. The port is currently preparing to launch the 1st occupational training course by November 2021.

On Monday, July 12, 2021, Damietta Port Authority and Port Training Institute have signed an institutional agreement with Damietta Port Community for cooperation under the YEP MED project. The MoU has been signed by Rear Admiral/ Waleed Mostafa Awad – DPA Chairman with a number of 12 partners, representing all port sectors; terminal operation, stevedoring & warehousing, inland transportation, shipping agency, customs clearance in addition to academic education and dual training. The project’s local partners will help  provide the practical side of training and internships to students in order to increase their opportunities for getting jobs in the field of logistics and port operations in both public and private sectors.

Damietta works with the Escola and all other YEP MED partners from other countries to share experiences and best practices together in order to maximise the project’s end results as professional and efficient as planned.

Finally, as  youth is the backbone and future of maritime industry, the port will continue working with our partners to build its and their best possible future.

The EU-funded projects YEP MED and INTERNISA support and upskill young Lebanese women in time of crisis

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In today’s difficult economic climate in Lebanon where young Lebanese women have very little hopes in attaining successful professional careers, the EU-funded YEP MED project came at a crucial time to support the Lebanese youth and provide it with strength and hope to believe in a better tomorrow, as well as ease their entries into the labour market through the offered training programmes in the field of port logistics. The first bunch of 33 YEP MED graduates obtained the “YEP MED Port Logistics Training certification” signed by Chamber of Commerce of Beirut and the Escola Europea -Intermodal Transport from Barcelona last July. Among these graduates, a few of the young women showed interest in enrolling in the training programmes offered by another EU-funded project – namely INTERNISA – which promises to enhance the digitalisation of the skills of young women skills.

Josiana Beaino (18 years) – 2nd year in USEK majoring in Transport and Logistics

“The YEP MED training given in April 2021 was honestly my favourite programme since I became a transport student and I care about encouraging young women and men in the port logistic sector. YEP MED was an amazing experience for me and I am willing to participate in other trainings as well related to transport and logistics.  I encourage every Lebanese woman to join and learn new skills through two training programs offered by the EU funded projects, namely YEP MED and INTERNISA.  These programmes help a lot empowering women and boosting up our skills in many arenas. I personally enrolled in the YEP MED training programme and got certified in port logistics sector where I acquired further knowledge in the blue economy alongside the simulation exercises of import and export in sea transportation. These newly acquired skills will make a huge difference in my future and will positively impact my career expectations. On another hand over the past five days I learned a lot and developed new skills in digital transformation and communication skills. But what I liked the most is the self-awareness journey that inspired me to evaluate my skills, identify myself and ask myself so many questions in order to self-explore because there is no better time for it than the present. I really enjoyed both training programmes – YEP MED and INTERNISA – and I am looking forward to join similar trainings programmes.”

The two projects – YEP MED and INTERNISA – fall under the same thematic priority of the ENI CBC Med Programme – to enhance social inclusion and fight against poverty. The ultimate objective of the Chamber of Commerce of Beirut is to create a synergy between diverse development actions initiated by EU funded projects in order to upscale the Lebanese youth talents’ pool – namely women – by optimising their access to jobs or internships opportunities and enhancing their faith in future career paths in Lebanon.

The YEP MED project is financed by the European Union and involves partnerships with key ports and maritime training institutes from 7 Mediterranean countries namely, Spain, Italy, France, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon which is represented by the Chamber of Commerce of Beirut and Mount-Lebanon. The project aims to strengthen the networks between the different port communities’ and build up the youth employment in blue sector across the Mediterranean basin.

Sarah Abi-Younes (22 years) – Bachelor in Transportation management

“I believe that the YEP MED training programme represents a good step that gave me -and gave us- a lot of prospects and opportunities. I also gained valuable experience from professional instructors and I hope I can join every training prepared by this programme in the near future. It was a pleasure for me to be part of the two extremely interesting courses  of the YEP MED and INTERNISA projects that I attended within the same year 2021. I learned a lot during these trainings which were so interactive and practical based on case studies and simulations. The instructors were very knowledgeable: they explained very well and always engaged us to participate and share our ideas and insights. As we know the economic situation is very bad in our country therefore we admit that we may start by low scale positions and then grow gradually through capacity building programmes and trainings. We are a generation that lived very tough situation however through more beautiful days we will rise again.”

 

INTERNISA training programme – a glance of hope for Lebanese young women

Following the identification of a digital skills gap of Lebanese young women across key economic sectors, and based on the related developed training curricula, the Chamber of Commerce of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, a key partner of the EU funded project INTERNISA, organized a multi modular training programme over two weeks dedicated to young Lebanese women from diverse cultural and geographical areas. 55 young Lebanese women took part in this online training programme, which took place between the 4th and the 19th of  October 2021. In spite of the unprecedented economic collapse and ascending youth unemployment rates  in Lebanon, this initiative, which aims to enhance social inclusion and fight poverty,  represents a genuine opportunity for the Lebanese youth to improve their skills and competences, make them more marketable to the labour market and keep them believing in a better tomorrow.

Farah Damaj (25 years), Bachelor Degree in Civil engineering

“Enrolling in the YEP MED’s training programme which encourages young women to participate in port maritime sector allowed me to enhance my knowledge in all fields related to port logistics especially in networking with experts. As a Lebanese young woman, I enjoyed participating in YEP MED training programme as well as INTERNISA’s, which helped me to facilitate my access to the labour market especially in the current circumstances of high rates of unemployment and lack of job opportunities. So, it was a great chance to get trained in these two different programmes funded by the EU in which the focus was to equip women with required skills and competences to allow them join the labour market. So I benefited from the technical knowledge in a promising sector which is the port logistics while I boosted up my digital innovation skills which will help me in my job later on.”

INTERNISA aims to develop a network to enhance/contribute to the digitalisation of the skills of young women. Its objective is to increase the number of digitally trained women in the European Neighborhood territories through the matching of demand and supply in the labour market. This project is led by the Macedonia Region in Greece, in partnership with 8 organisations from municipalities, training institutions and youth agencies at the Mediterranean Sea from Spain, Italy, Greece, Palestine, Jordan, Tunisia and Lebanon.  The Chamber of Commerce of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, a key partner in this project, is the leader of the capacity building programme, which aims to develop training curricula, tools and digital programmes in the agro-food, textiles, finance, and tourism sectors.

Nour Riman (28 years) – Studying Business management in AUCE University

“I have studied accounting over the past 3 years. I then worked for Touch tele-communication company in data entry and documentation and also as a supervisor in Spinneys. However, the economic situation suspended my job experience in view of devaluation of salaries and the financial crisis. That’s how I have become unemployed 7 months ago. Therefore, I would like to thank YEP MED and INTERNISA projects for the informative and inspiring workshops that I have had the chance to enroll in recently. The sessions were fruitful and enjoyable. A big thank also for the trainers who gave all efforts to involve us in interactive activities which made us partners during the sessions. Both training programmes provided us with handouts and training materials that I just needed to boost my knowledge in many areas, namely the simulation applications and digitalisation tools that are much requested nowadays to excel in the job market. I finished the sessions with many takeaways that I can put into practice in the port logistics field as well as in digitalisation transformation and I look forward to attending future innovative trainings organised by EU projects.”

New Technologies, New Technical Skills

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We are currently witnessing a new industrial revolutions – with the exponential evolution of technological advances, jobs are disappearing and new jobs are emerging across all sectors. All of this was further accelerated with the development of the Covid-19 pandemic, which drove many professions into the digital sphere. This did not leave the transport sector untouched. The conventional maritime careers of the the late twentieth century are evolving, and therefore it is important for the educational sector to keep pace with these changes to make sure that the future workforce is well prepared. This is why the work that is being done by the European YEP MED project is vital – the partners have been working together with the local professional and educational sectors in the participating countries to create custom-made training curricula that enable the students to experience realistic transport operations in a safe and controlled virtual environment.

The need for new technical skills brought by the new emerging technologies was highlighted by Capt. Anwar Buftain,  the Team Leader Fleet Personal of the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company, which is reproduced below.

Post-Pandemic Virtual World

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented changes in the way we are doing business, leaving hundreds of thousands of employees working from their homes and thus redefining the concept of “distance”. Seafarers faced unprecedented worldwide lockdown and severe travel restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This crisis has taught us that things can go horribly and unexpectedly wrong at times, Keep learning something new, keep enhancing your skills. You never know what might help in times of crisis.

Written by Anwar Buftain, Team Leader Fleet Personal Kuwait Oil Tanker Company

In the Digital Era, where our life relies on digital products much more than in previous decades, digital activities have been helping us in many fields, ranging from daily life to scientific research and from automated production to school learning. The technology development accelerates, emerges, and touches everyone, us as individuals, consumers, ship owners, and operators, regulators, policymakers, and the public as all. We have witnessed this transmission and sensed the short period of time required for transiting new developments into mature technologies. Lloyd’s Register, reported in Global Marine Trends 2030 (GMT 2030) the extensive technology revolution, how it will play out differently in commercial shipping, naval, and ocean space sectors.

After examining more than 56 critical technologies that might be developed and implemented in 2030 and selected 18 technologies for further studies. In this new reality, the interrelationship between technologies and sectors became crucial. Commercial Shipping in 2030 will have a significant impact on vessel system design and vessel operations. The competition will encourage technology sophistication and operational efficiency to gain commercial advantages by including propulsion and powering, shipbuilding, and smart ship. Maturing technology is ripe for transfer to vessel system design and operation to enhance safety as well as financial and commercial performance, by the development of sensors, robotics, big data analytics, advanced materials, and communications. Where these eight technologies are connected to each other.

The question here, Is our seafarers ready to face these expectations, new challenges, and technologies! We believe that our seafarers should develop more skills than non-technical soft skills like communication skills, leadership, team management, critical thinking, and emotional intelligence.

A basic understanding of computers became a must, demonstrate understandings of hardware and software, and intermediate to advanced computer skills are commonly desired. Significant skills are required due to job roles changes by 2030, with a systematic assessment, Seafarers should have new significant technical skills, for instance, interacting with robotics like fire fighting robotics. Demonstrate technical skills to cope with developed wireless communications like electromagnetic waves, the congestion of shared spectra, and the use of the allocated spectral band, high order modulation, and pulse shaping. Technical skills related to wireless sensor technology and the new generation of micro- and nano mechanical sensors for monitoring data. And understanding of smart ships new technologies and operating procedures.

 

* This article first appeared in the Arab Mariner Specialized Maritime Newsletter – Issue No. 7, Winter 2021

YEP MED meeting - October - Civitavecchia

YEP MED to launch second round of occupational training courses for the Italian youth

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“Occupational training”. A new course of the EU-funded project YEP MED for future professionals in the transport and logistics sector has been launched in Civitavecchia

 

On the 26th of October, representatives of the Italian partners of the European YEP MED project met in Civitavecchia to finalise the planning and scheduling of new courses for the training of future professionals in the field of port management and logistics. The project is funded under the ENI CBC Med Programme of the European Union.

This meeting, previously announced in the summer months, brought together the local partners of the Civitavecchia port community and representatives from the Escola Europea – Intermodal Transport – the project leader. The partners discussed the new calendar of “occupational training” courses.

This will be the second cycle of highly specialised vocational training courses, which gives the students the opportunity to develop skills in the logistics and intermodal sectors in the participating countries to facilitate the development and promotion of new Motorways of the Sea that connect the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean. The courses will start mid-November. The coordination committee, which met at the headquarters of the Port System Authority of the Central-Northern Tyrrhenian Sea (AdSP), is proceeding with the evaluation of the teachers and the development of the selection procedures for participants. In the next few weeks the publication of the call for applications will take place, which will be advertised on the AdSP website and on the social media channels of the port authority.

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.

Port Logistics Community Training

October and November will see the return of the Escola’s YEP MED courses

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With the colder months of autumn on their way, the Escola has opened up registrations for the new series of occupational training courses – as part of the European YEP MED project – in port logistics and administrative processes.

The Escola Europea Intermodal Transport, lead partner of the EU-Funded YEP MED (Youth Employment in the Ports of the MEDiterranean) project, jointly with the Council of the Prat de Llobregat (Ajuntament del Prat del Llobregat) and Barcelona Activa, has opened up the registrations for the second semester of courses in the Barcelona region.

The 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. Thanks to the funding from the European Union – these courses will be free for the students.

The first course – Introduction to International Trade Operations – will take place online between the 6th and the 15th of October 2021. During the training, the students will receive a general introduction to the administrative processes related to international trade operations in Barcelona, as well as become familiarised with the key aspects related to import and export operations. Registrations are now open for young students and women who have an administration background and are currently looking for employment opportunities. For more information, you can consult the event on our website.

The second course – Port Logistics Community Training – will take place both in Barcelona and online between the 18th and the 22nd of October 2021. This course will give the participants a more in depth view of the Port of Barcelona, its infrastructures, logistics equipment and operations, and it will give the local companies offering the workshops the opportunity to showcase their operations and present the professional profiles that they are currently searching for. Like before, this course will be open to young students and women who have an administration background. The completion of the previous course will be a pre-requirement before enrolling in this edition. For more information, you can consult the event on our website.

The final course of this series – Administrative Processes in International Trade- will take place at the end of October over a period of 10 half-days. This course will be taught online and it will incorporate the new innovative approach developed for the YEP MED project which involves the Simulated Practice Enterprises Methodology. The students will have the opportunity to practice all that they have learned in a digital twin of a port community – the Port Virtual Lab – that imitates all transport operations that take place in the real world. This course will ensure that the students finish the 3 course training programme with a complete knowledge and practical experience that will prepare them for the work force. For more information, you can consult the event on our website.

For more information about the YEP MED project you can contact Concha Palacios from the project office at concha.palacios@portdebarcelona.cat or head to the website.

The Ports of Rome and Lazio, the Italian “Community” boosting the training of logistics operators of the future

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Guiliana Satta

Written by: Giuliana Satta, Port Authority of Civitavecchia

At a difficult and uncertain time such as the one linked to the pandemic crisis due to Covid-19, projects such as “Youth Employment in the Ports of the Mediterranean” are of fundamental importance, especially in view of the messages, at the European level, that are becoming the basis for the future and that are at the heart of the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan. Today, more than ever, it is necessary to reverse development models and in every sector. And this is what is being done through the YEP MED project, co-financed by the European Union’s ENI and led by the Escola Europea, and in which the Port System Authority of the Central-Northern Tyrrhenian Sea is the only Italian partner present. With the contribution of the entire local port logistics community, which was formed last March following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, the project aims to increase and improve employment opportunities through the creation of real dual learning programmes with job placements, therewith strengthening the role of Small and Medium Enterprises operating in port ecosystems for future jobs creation.

The port of Civitiavecchia

In today’s historical moment, the Italian Port Authority is focusing on specific training of human capital to increase the skills of each individual port operator. To ensure that this can happen, it is essential to strengthen cooperation between actors who, on a voluntary basis, as happened with the creation of the Port Logistics Community (‘Community’), a. re willing to build a common strategy to contribute to the competitiveness of the entire port system in Lazio through the development of professionalism. Together with the “Community”, the Ports of Rome and Lazio will be able to build a global strategy in relation to the development and training of human resources that will have to be in line with the new demands of the labour market. To achieve these objectives, they are working closely with specialised training institutions to develop appropriate training programmes and establishing national and transnational partnerships with members of other port communities to exchange knowledge and best and most suitable practices.

The “Community”, made up of operators, associations and institutions, will hold regular meetings which will be coordinated by the representatives of the Port Authority. This will be done on the basis of a programme that will incorporate an annual calendar and a list of training activities. The sectors in which the Port Authority will focus on will concern Ro/Ro cargo traffic and the reception of large container ships in particular, with the YEP MED project aiming to play a major role in this new phase of maritime transport and logistics.

Container traffic at the Port of Civitavecchia has been consistently growing

Another important element in this initiative of the Ports of Rome and Lazio is a view to create new and foster existing commercial links with the countries of North Africa, with the ultimate aim of better improving the cooperation between the ports of the North and South of the Mediterranean. The entire port community believes in this interesting project, which incorporates 11 partners representing 7 countries from around the Mediterranean – an area in which the port of Civitavecchia is aiming to foster growth in the coming years. Today, in order to assess the growth and strength of a port, human capital is a fundamental element: it is the actions, energy, skills, strength and enthusiasm of the people that make the difference in successful port operations. Hence the importance of the YEP MED project. Vocational and educational training are essential for the training of the workforce, particularly the technical and highly specialised workforce that should live and gravitate in and around ports. For this reason, it is necessary to develop increasingly articulated professionalism in relation to the transformations imposed on shipping and logistics by the computerisation and digitalisation of processes, which will bring about more radical changes in the next five years than those that have taken place in the last 50 years. Therefore, having a high level of professionalism today and training young people will allow us to have a growing human capital for the next 30/35 years, with prepared professionals who will be protagonists of the positive change.

Talent is our organisation’s main asset

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The world of employment has always seemed daunting to young people. Having completed either higher education or specialised training programmes, young people frequently lacked the technical know-how that was expected of them from the get-go. Traditional educational models haven’t focused on practical experiences to prepare the youth for the challenges of the future. Nevertheless they have always represented talent – a sea full of potential for companies to seek new talent from. In recent years, and in particular following the technological advancements of the 21st century and the shifting employment environment after the Covid-19 pandemic hit, employers now began to focus on seeking true potential from new employees – and have begun to value life experiences and other soft skills over technical experiences that mattered so much more in the past – changing the aspects of their employability. As the Escola has been focusing on improving the employability of youth in recent years, in particular in light of the YEP MED project, we wanted to understand the approaches used by companies to source their talents.

In the following article, José del Moral from the Barcelona Talent Logistics company, talks about the evolving approaches of companies seeking new employees.

José del Moral

Written by José del Moral, CEO, Barcelona Talent Logistics

“Talent is our organisation’s main asset”. Apart from an absolute truth, this is one of the most recurring statements in the speeches of CEOs and business leaders when addressing employees in the frame of meetings and events’ celebrations.

However, how does the activity look like when it comes to Talent Acquisition and Management in the Logistics industry? Thorough studies on this subject, platforms like Glassdoor and several public/private institutions in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region seem to agree on certain trends and scenarios:

  • The average time from the moment a white collar vacancy opens up until new talent is in place is around 90 days.
  • Staff turnover in the first 3 months from start date is nearly 22%.
  • Regarding the level of satisfaction with their role, survey metrics show a range between 60-70% of detractors/neutrals out of all employees in the sample, 3 months after joining.

The above, along with massive other data and indicators, reflects an immense cost in terms of productivity, work environment, staff turnover/burnout and employee’s lack of trust, while the financial impact for the organisation is ultimately enormous.

“Talent is our organisation’s main asset” should not be just a declaration of will, but serve as the kick-off for a well-developed plan to acquire and nurture talent to the highest level according to the business needs. No excuses, no appeals. Logistics enterprises need to further develop their vision towards this subject and make a commitment to upgrade their levels of professionalism so as to improve competitiveness in the market.

Making logistics enterprises increases their competitiveness, by upgrading their acquisition and management of talent. This is the exact goal companies like Barcelona Talent Logistics focus on, while delivering excellence in 5 key stages along the way:

  1. Talent Needs Analysis: This is where one of the main problems usually lies. The lack of in-depth understanding regarding the exact need that the business requires makes the purpose of acquiring the right talent unfeasible. A clear insight into the role, its requirements, work environment, organisational culture, reporting lines, department’s structure or company’s concept must be the base line for each single process to acquire talent.
  2. Talent Mapping and Segmentation: This activity should always be conducted before the need to do so comes up. A proper identification of all potential candidates for a particular role is a work to be done upfront, not to delay the process for the acquisition of talent later on. A thorough knowledge of the logistics talent community and powerful software for talent segmentation and lead nurturing is crucial for the success of the strategy in Talent Acquisition.
  3. Candidate Assessment: Behavioural patterns are far better predictors of future performance than any other indicators in most of the roles in logistics. However, are we assessing behaviours properly, along with traits, qualities, hard skills, cognitive capabilities, expectations, motivations, financial needs,…? Once again, a great part of this activity must be performed before the need for new talent, to avoid losing efficiency afterwards throughout the process. Additionally, technology and artificial intelligence need to be applied within this stage, as we will need massive amounts of data to be exchanged with leads and candidates, all the while avoiding setting time-consuming tasks for them.
  4. Decision-Making Process: hiring managers and business leaders are the ones to decide what exact talent will be hired for a particular role. However, decisions made in this stage may lead to losses/profits in dozens of thousands of euros. Therefore, this is actually the stage where Talent Acquisition experts must provide valuable and structured information to the business more clearly, so as to maximize the chances of making the right choice.
  5. Appraisal and Performance Management: certainly, acquiring the right talent, at the right moment, in the right place is a great advantage to make the business succeed. However, employees life-cycle is influenced by a wide range of factors, which need to be assessed on a regular basis by experts in talent management. Thus, managers will have access to up-to-date data and thorough analyses concerning the talent under their scope, for them to lead their teams appropriately and create, consequently, a positive impact on the financial performance of the business.

 Logistics is one of the most added value activities across companies, thus it must be left to logistics experts. Talent, on the other hand, is the most valuable asset in any company, and thus its sourcing must be brought to talent acquisition experts.

José del Moral

Chief Executive Officer

Barcelona Talent Logistics

The YEP MED training was carried out largely online using the Google Meet platform

148 students join the first YEP MED fully digital international training in Barcelona, Tunis, Civitavecchia and Beirut

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The YEP MED training programme based on simulated enterprises allowed students to practice international trade operations using a real-life Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform

The first fully digital international training of the YEP MED (Youth Employment in the Ports of the MEDiterranean) project kicked-off last week in four different port communities: Barcelona, Tunis, Civitavecchia and Beirut. The training course finished on the 31st of May 2021. Each port community was responsible for bringing to life a simulated freight forwarding operator and execute international trade operations between the participating countries.

Thanks to the digital tools, a total of 148 students from the four port communities took part in this unique course. The global coordination and organisation of the project was overseen by the Escola Europea, lead partner of the project, whilst local project partners gave national level support. At the international level, participants could interact with students from other Mediterranean countries and support each other in the export operations they need to design, plan and manage as part of the training. Alongside having a widely international character, the student group also featured a high proportion of women in its midst – who formed around 41% of all participants. Making it easier for women to access employment in the Mediterranean transport sector is one of the key bastions of the YEP MED initiative.

This course was the first of the series of the 2nd stage of the YEP MED training. The first stage comprised vocational training (VT) courses that offered an introduction to port logistics and operations. This second stage gives the students an opportunity to gain practical experience and to gain a global understanding of the port-logistic operations first-hand through the use of a newly designed virtual platform that replicates a real port community in the virtual sphere. The students need to work together to design and prepare transport operations that freight forwarders regularly carry out by accessing the Port Virtual Lab. This virtual reality created by the Escola Europea allows students to interact with different companies that are involved in the process of an import / export operation: shippers of several industries as real-life substitute customers (Play Fine Fruits, Play Fine Clothing, Play Fine Cars, Play Fine Pharma, Play Machine Tools, and Play Chemicals), transport operators such as a shipping line, a rail operator or a haulier company (SDG Lines, Port Railway, Play Haulier), customs related entities such as customs brokers and customs administrations (Play Customs Agent and Play Smart Customs) and a Port Community System (MedTrade). You can find out more about these theoretical companies by going to the Port Virtual Lab site.

The Simulated Practice Enterprise is a methodological didactic strategy of “Learning by Doing” – through a digital lens. With the ERP system provided by Click & Cargo, the Escola Europea and its partners have worked to develop a digital environment that promotes simultaneous and integrated development of functional competencies of organisational management (social, human and business) based on a methodological-didactic simulation system that allows for contextualized and experiential knowledge. At the same time, the Click & Cargo system contributes to the vocational guidance of students and the employability of graduates through the creation of role-playing assessments and specific tasks representative of the world of work.

“From the point of view of knowledge to be transferred to the students, the training succeeded in achieving the objectives for which it was developed. The content of the sessions is very satisfactory insofar as it offers very varied technical knowledge to be able to use the Click and Cargo. Technical knowledge well founded by theoretical knowledge in international maritime trade techniques. On the educational level, the succession of sessions has been well studied ensuring the progression of the knowledge produced.” – Mr Anis Romdhani, lecturer from Tunis

An additional benefit of the YEP MED training courses is the unique benefit gleamed from the international community of teachers. Thanks to the collaboration of more than 30 teachers from Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) centres and professionals of the sector, the students were presented with a distinctively multicultural and very experienced teaching staff – which further added to the authenticity of the heterogenous Mediterranean training.

“In these two weeks, I had the opportunity to meet students from Beirut, Ortona, Barcelona and Tunis. We have learned how import and export shipping works through the Click&Cargo ERP platform. We have learned and increased our knowledge in the logistics sector with the collaboration of professionals who explained the different procedures and aspects. I found it very useful and interesting for the students who want to continue their career in the sector”. – Flavia di Capua, student from ITS Caboto (Italy)

These YEP MED VT2 and VT3 digital international training courses will take place over the early summer months, concluding before the autumn months and paving the way for the next stage of the training model – the integration of the successful participants in local companies through apprenticeships that will complete the dual training model.

For more information about the YEP MED project you can contact Concha Palacios from the project office at concha.palacios@portdebarcelona.cat or head to the website.

Final Zoom of the Training for Trainers Course

YEP MED brings its future trainers closer to its digital port community using the Port Virtual Lab as its platform

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32 lecturers, 19 men and 13 women, from TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) centres from 7 countries in the Mediterranean tested the new training platform developed by the YEP MED project

The Escola Europea Intermodal Transport, lead partner of the EU-Funded YEP MED (Youth Employment in the Ports of the MEDiterranean) project, organised the first training of trainers’ course in the framework of the project between the 19th and 27th of April 2021. The course was carried out online, which has allowed for the active participation of teachers from TVET training centres from all of the partner countries involved in the project – a feat that would have been difficult to achieve if presential attendance was required. As part of the training, the participants were divided into 8 teams of 4.  Each team represented one of the logistics-port communities participating in the YEP MED project, so that import and export operations between all the northern and southern countries were simulated. A representative from Morocco also participated as an observer.

The training of trainers’ course has served as a pilot course based on the virtually simulated enterprises of the project. Simulated practice enterprises are recreated in a digital environment that simulates real-time conditions to allow for nearly real-life situations without actually having to involve real companies (and therewith lowering the possibility of costly errors). As part of the YEP MED project, an effort was made to create an ideal replica of a port community in which the “players” could take control and manage companies and/or administrations, and thus gain valuable experience and practice in their training.

“Covid-19 has some advantages that shed light on innovation , and opportunities.the Escola Europea through the YEP MED programme made us travel all along Mediteranean coast without moving from our place and costing us nothing. The programme will prepare the students to dive in port community industry mastering both technical aspects as far as freight forwarding is concerned and digitalisation  that eases and secures interactions between all stakeholders . The YEP MED programme will prevent students from getting left behind. Thanks Escola for existing!”
Kaoutar Guessous
AFFM Vice president/ Casablanca Morocco

The future lecturers of YEP MED’s VT2 (Vocational Training 2) and VT3 (Vocational Training 3) courses tested the capabilities of the simulated Freight Forwarding enterprise (www.playforwarding.com) created in the Port Virtual Lab, a digital twin of a Port-Logistics Community. They also received lectures and workshops on how to use the simulation platform and were taught the key elements of the Freight Forwarding business.

In the Port Virtual Lab created by the Escola Europea, students will be able to interact with different companies that are involved in the process of an import / export operation: shippers of several industries as customers (Play Fine Fruits, Play Fine Clothing, Play Fine Cars, Play Fine Pharma, Play Machine Tools, and Play Chemicals), transport operators such as a shipping line, a rail operator or a haulier company (SDG Lines, Port Railway, Play Haulier), custom related entities such as custom brokers and customs administrations (Play Customs Agent and Play Smart Customs) and a Port Community System (MedTrade). All of these companies are currently under digital development and will be used as real-life substitutes during the second and third part of the YEP MED courses for both the vocational students and young professionals. You can find out more about these theoretical companies by going to the Port Virtual Lab site.

The Training for Trainers finished with a great success – with the teachers impressed by the virtual reality created by Click & Cargo, and by the accuracy of the operations simulated by the system.

“The ToT course has been an amazing opportunity to put into practice all the skills and the professional experiences of professors, managers and professionals of more than 6 countries, working mixed together in international  and multicultural teams, having to replicate into an e-learning ERP platform the real-life experience of a freight forwarder preparing a commercial offer and managing the subsequent shipment at the very last detail, from the ITU booking to the Master and House B/L paperwork, for two separate operations, an export and an import shipment across the Mediterranean Sea,” said Marco Grifone, one of the course participants, from ITS MOST (Italy). “Having each team representing one agent in a partner country, it was possible to feel the difficulties that are experienced in real life by freight forwarders trading across the Mediterranean, and that is also a clear picture of why it is essential to promote projects like YEP MED, in order to improve and make easier the import/export processes for countries that are getting more and more connected every day, in a perspective of peaceful cooperation and trade development which can provide wealth and well-being to the whole Mediterranean community.”

Once the trainers have been trained, courses for the students will start taking place in the late spring and summer of 2021, with first round of the VT2 and VT3 courses expected to take place in the final weeks of May and the first weeks of June of 2021in the participating communities.

For more information about the YEP MED project you can contact Concha Palacios from the project office at concha.palacios@portdebarcelona.cat or head to the website.