• The activities of this Chair will promote the competitiveness of the business fabric that depends economically on Valencian port activities.
• The energy transition, resilience to climate change, digitalisation and innovation in the logistics chain, maritime-rail intermodality and the automation of port terminals will be the main objects of development
• The president of the Port Authority of València, Joan Calabuig, and the rector of the Polytechnic University, José Esteban Capilla, have signed this morning the constitution of the Chair
• For Calabuig, “initiatives such as this are fundamental as a tool for collaboration with other ports, organisations or national and foreign companies which, in addition, promote the leading position of the Valencian docks”

With the aim of promoting innovation and fostering new lines of research and training in the field of port management, Valenciaport and the Polytechnic University of València (UPV) have joined forces to create the Valenciaport Chair of Logistics-Port Innovation.

The aim of this Chair is to capitalise on Valenciaport’s leading position by generating knowledge that will be used to improve the competitiveness of the business fabric that depends economically on Valencian port activities. In this sense, energy transition, resilience to climate change, digitisation and innovation in the logistics chain, maritime-rail intermodality and automation of port terminals will be the areas on which its activities will focus, all of them priorities for the development of Valenciaport’s strategic environmental plan and focused on meeting the 2030 zero emissions target.

The signing of the Chair’s constitution took place this morning at the UPV’s Rectorate building. It was attended on behalf of the Polytechnic University: José Esteban Capilla, Rector of the UPV; Dolores Salvador, Vice Rector for Employment and Training; Esther Gómez, Vice Rector for Students and Entrepreneurship; Eugenio Pellicer, Director of ETS de Ingeniería de Caminos, Canales y Puertos; and Ángel Ortiz, Director of ETS de Ingeniería Industrial. And on behalf of the Port Authority of Valencia (PAV): Joan Calabuig, president of Valenciaport; Francesc Sánchez, general director; and Juan Manuel Díez, director of Strategic Planning and Innovation.

At the event, Calabuig stressed the importance of promoting studies in the port field in order to maintain and promote the leading position of Valencia’s docks and create synergies with other sites. “This Chair will study subjects related to port activity and environmental protection and will be a tool for collaboration with other ports, organisations or companies, whether national or foreign,” Calabuig emphasised. For Capilla, “the setting up of this Chair helps to connect the port environment with society, with industry, innovation and transformation”.

The development of all the activities linked to the Chair will be carried out through the School of Civil Engineering. Likewise, depending on the specific projects carried out by the Chair, other Centres, Departments and Institutes may collaborate in these projects.

Providing knowledge

The thematic lines that will be the focus of the Chair are linked to the following activities related to transport, logistics and ports:

• Continuous dissemination and communication, towards society in general and the port and university communities in particular, of the studies carried out in the Chair, both strictly academic and of an informative nature, in the Chair’s own fields.
• Organisation of seminars, webinars, workshops and public conferences, for the presentation to social and economic agents interested and/or specialised in the field of the studies carried out at the Chair.
• Collaboration in the development of seminars, conferences and meetings organised by national and international institutions of relevance in the fields related to the Chair. Support for the elaboration of studies and analyses carried out by such institutions.
• Presentation of the results of doctoral theses supported by the Chair in its fields of interest at scientific congresses and/or other venues of interest.
• Collaboration in postgraduate programmes, such as the Master’s Degree in Port Management and Intermodal Transport, the Master’s Degree in Logistics and Port Management or the Course on Innovation and Digitalisation of the Logistics-Port Sector, among others.
• Seminars to disseminate the APV’s activity and professional development opportunities in the ports, in forums such as Activa tu Futuro, Employment Forum, etc.
• Co-financing of pre-doctoral scholarships in subjects related to port-logistic activity.
• Publication of articles and monographs derived from doctoral theses and joint R+D+i projects.

Promotion of training

The Port Authority of València promotes training as one of its main strategic axes. Together with care for the environment and the promotion of innovation, they form part of its long-term development and growth plan. “Training in sustainability and intermodality are fundamental for the future of this sector, which is why, thanks to the training agreements with the UPV – such as this Chair or the Master’s Degree in Port Management – we are improving the competitiveness of the workers and therefore of the companies in the sector”, said the president of the PAV.

In this sense, in terms of training, Valenciaport also has the Chair of Port Economics that it develops together with the University of Valencia (UV) with which it promotes the development of knowledge and valuable activities for the port community, the companies that operate in the national and international territory and society in general. It promotes research related to the analysis and periodic monitoring of the international economic situation, trade and its maritime-port implications. In addition, for more than three decades it has been running, together with the Valenciaport Foundation and the support of the UPV, the Master’s Degree in Port Management and Intermodal Transport (MGPT). The MGPT has established itself as the most internationally prestigious training programme in Spanish, specialising in ports and transport, and has found a wide echo among professionals and postgraduates in Spain, Europe and Latin America.