Autumn courses bring a hint of normalcy back to the Escola’s MOST courses
It has been a difficult 2020-2021 for most of us – with many having to completely reshape and rethink their operations in a newly virtual environment. The Escola has spent a big part of last year and the first half of 2021 offering our signature courses through the Google Classroom lens – hoping to try to bring the Escola’s signature experiential approach to the net. The longing for the traditional approach has not disappeared, however, and both the Escola and the centres have waited for the health crisis to diminish and for on-board courses to be deemed safe again. This moment has arrived in the second semester of 2021.
Having completed one on-board MOST course in the summer, the Escola started the autumn courses with a hybrid MOST courses for students of the Master in Supply Chain Management from the EAE Business School which took place between the 10th and the 16th of September. The course offered online lectures in intermodal logistics and transport operations, as well as had in-person visits to terminals around the Port of Barcelona and a stationed Ro-Pax vessel to visualise the operations first-hand. In total, 13 students could attend the training both online and in person.
“Very well organised and dynamic course. It was very interesting to be able to focus on new proposals for the future and new trends. – Juliene Maksene de EMSUR – EAE course”
This course was then followed by an on-board traditional MOST course that took place between the 18th and the 21st of September. 29 students from the Polytechnic University of Catalunya and Nautical Faculty of Barcelona took part in the training that took place on board of a Ro-Pax shipping vessel between the ports of Barcelona (Spain) and Civitavecchia (Italy). Following the Escola’s signature approach, the students got the opportunity to witness an intermodal transport journey first hand, whilst also learning about the concepts of intermodal transport, transport costs, sustainability, and new technologies. The teachers of the Escola Europea on this occasion were Marta Miquel, the Chief Operating Officer, Antonio Vargas, representing Grimaldi Lines and Eduard Rodés, as course director.
The next month will see the Escola, together with the council of the Prat de Llobregat and Barcelona Activa, organise 3 courses in intermodal transport and port administrations. These courses, which will be carried out online – with an inclusion of some in-person visits to the local port terminals – will provide an all-encompassing overview of the port logistics community and the administrative processes that surround transport operations within a port environment – and will be offered for free for young people and women wishing to find employment in the local port sector. They form part of the training offered under the YEP MED project, which is co-funded by the ENI CBC Med instrument of the European Union.
