The Hamburg School of Business Administration has managed an EC-funded initiative that aims to promote green logistics alternatives. »X-Posse« is a common learning action project that offers coures to young employees of shipping firms
Evidently the quest of sustainability passes through technical and business innovation. Existing business models are either obsolete or need a[ds_preview] substantial overhauling and upgrade in order to deal with challenges set by the environment, the society, international trade pattern and regulation. Therefore, research and development is required for the development of new operational frameworks, corporate governance structures and the creation of a new web of relationships among stakeholders. In a central role in this evolutionary process is and should be the human element, i.e. employees, managers, consumers, businessmen, active citizens. Thus, European policies are centered and focused on the well-being of Europeans and the promotion of the interests of the wider public is consequently imperative.
Transportation issues attract the interest of the public, of policy makers and of the business, as they impact directly the life of many citizens and effect the competitiveness of the whole economy. For that reason, there is a steady effort to improve the operability of transportation systems and allocate costs among stakeholders in a more efficient and sustainable way. Apart from the obvious technical and technological advancements, training and familiarization with the new techniques and regulations is mandatory, as the industry is still labor-intensive, the decisions are still taken by humans and the success of any system or concept depends on its acceptance from the humans as operators and decision makers.
Overcoming cultural borders
By the same token, in many nodal points such as ports, bottlenecks are not attributed to infrastructure problems but to cultural barriers, i. e. business and occupational issues related to operations and modal interests. Usually, cultural and mental and occupational barriers prohibit lean cooperation among modes, especially when the involved transport providers and freight forwarders are small and medium enterprises (SME).
Education and training are still very focused on the individual modes, thus interoperability is not passed into the training context. Although market forces understand the positive environmental impact of such solutions, there is a clear marketing gap, i. e. it is difficult to translate the benefits into an attractive service package. »X-Posse« (www.x-posse.eu) is a common learning action (CLA) project, partially financed by the Marco Polo II Programme of the European Commission (EC), that aims to promote green logistics alternatives through focused training actions on sea/river and sea/rail services as well as the marketing of these services.
The project concluded in March and was managed by the Hamburg School of Business Administration (www.hsba.de). Apart from innovative training material in the fields of sea-rail and sea-river operations as well as in »green maritime logistics«, the project team offered circa 5,600 trainee hours in several countries, namely Spain, Italy, Greece, Germany, and Cyprus.
Furthermore, a web mechanism for update of the material as well as for referencing was developed that could also support e-learning demand. The overall budget of »X-Posse« amounted to ca. 1 mill. € with a 50 % funding from the Marco Polo II Programme. The HSBA team has offered courses to young employees of major shipping firms in Hamburg early this year and welcomes training requests from interested companies and organizations.
Prof. Dr. Orestis Schinas
