On the very last session of the final day after the IAPH technical committees finished their work in Vancouver, twenty diehard registrants from the conference put themselves forward as volunteers to play three demonstration rounds of the IAPH World Ports Sustainability Program game Port Endeavor. A great time was had by all with ports from around the world represented as well as players from UNCTAD and The World Bank. The game was co-hosted by IAPH technical director Antonis Michael and chief of human resources development for UNCTAD’s TrainForTrade Mark Assaf. TrainForTrade is the main global partner of IAPH for the game, together with IAPH associate member APEC Port Training. Port Endeavor is designed to increase awareness of port colleagues and the wider port communities on how ports integrate the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their business, using real examples of projects from the IAPH World Ports Sustainability Program. Every player has the chance to choose a specific sustainable activity for a certain price, which then rewards teams with specific SDGs, which count as one point each. The same SDGs are also used to counter major events that teams can get hit with in subsequent rounds if they happen to be unlucky when rolling a dice. In Vancouver some teams suffered an oil spill while others were hit by a pandemic. The team players were positive overall in the feedback afterwards, and the idea came up of a Port Endeavor Cup competition which should figure in the future, with different teams playing out a tournament in person, possibly at future World Ports Conferences. If you are interested in learning more about the game, get in touch with Antonis Michail. For a short excerpt of the fun, have a look at the video below.
