ESPO award for Dublin

Guadeloupe’s port also got a special mention from the ESPO jury for its Discovering My Port project.

Eamonn O’Reily, chief executive of Dublin Port Company: said: “The ESPO Award is a prestigious recognition by our peers in the port industry across Europe of our efforts in Dublin to achieve a greater unity between the port, the city and local communities through the medium of education.”

He added: “It is a great motivator for us to continue to work more generally to achieve the objectives of ESPO’s Code of Practice on Societal Integration of Ports.”

The award was presented at a ceremony in Brussels on 10 November. This year’s theme of engagement with local schools and universities saw 22 ports from all over Europe compete for the prize, Dublin beat shortlisted projects from Antwerp, Bremen and Valencia.

Dublin launched a port community educational support programme which helped to increase employment options within disadvantaged communities.

“Today we are living in a quickly evolving world. Business and society changes dramatically. This means that workforce skills and requirements have to adapt accordingly,” said Santiago Garcia-Mila, ESPO’s chairman.

He concluded: “By explaining the wide variety of skills they need, port authorities can help the local youth to prepare for life after school and to succeed in this rapidly evolving world. They can also help schools and universities to tailor their programmes to the needs on the job market and to deliver more value to their students.”