“Serving the students in the department and encouraging them to participate in activities that will enhance their practical and cultural skills is our primary goal at AASTMT,” said Malak Diwan, head of the student union at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport-College of Language and Communication (AASTMT-CLC) in Alexandria. Since its establishment in the 1970s, AASTMT has been working to organise a wide variety of student activities that blend fun with experience, culture with enlightenment, and develop a deeper understanding of social communities. Building on its long history in maritime transport, and its fundamental mission in maritime education and training, AASTMT's expansion into the fields of business, engineering, management and language studies is designed to show that good education produces good leaders. It is for this reason that the sustainable development of youth activities, organised and established by the different faculties and student unions at AASTMT, have been among the institution's primary goals. “This year AASTMT-CLC developed extracurricular activities with almost every step we took,” Diwan said. “Apart from the broad-spectrum conferences the university holds every year, such as the Arab Youth Forum, we also organised the International Maritime Transport and Logistics Conference, the International Conference on Globalisation, Entrepreneurship and Emerging Economies, the Conference of the Arab Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, and many others. CLC students were able to take part in workshops, competitions, sports days, seminars, festivals and events.” He added, “Our college is relatively new, which is why we are initiating new events such as holding the Miami League, a sports event, and the Spring Festival, a social festival celebrating new graduates.” While the AASTMT was established more than three decades ago, the College of Language and Communication (CLC) began accepting students only four years ago. “It's a kind of carnival of the gypsies where we hold musical concerts and honour the first graduates of our college,” said Alaa Hossam, vice-president of the students union, explaining the event. “Although we are running out of time because this semester is very short, I am proud of the accomplishments that have taken place so far. Participating in AASTMT conferences and organising some of them along with other students from different colleges has given us experience and widened our circle of networks.” Said Hossam, “Student activities make us more sociable and more easygoing with other students, trying to meet their needs, objectives and problems. I guess one of the most enriching visits we did this semester was to the New Suez Canal. It was part of the MENA and Africa-Arab International Women's Maritime Forum and its Young Forum Leaders Initiative.” The latter is a forum for young women leaders that inspires women to create, aspire and challenge the shackles that society might put on them. Under the auspices of Ismael Abdel-Ghaffar, AASTMT president, it was established last March under the umbrella of the MENA and Africa-Arab International Women's Maritime Forum. “The forum's aims were set out by Laila Al-Saeed, the academy's vice-president for women's education. This year's conference was divided into four sessions, discussing 15 papers presented by speakers from 10 different Arab and foreign countries, among them Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Palestine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Austria and the US,” said Omneia Diab, a term-six student who participated in the forum. “The forum empowers women by presenting different figures who work in the maritime industry. They talk about the challenges they face and the dreams they aspire to. It is real advocacy for women's concerns at the national, regional and international levels,” said Al-Saeed. “Since 2016 is the Year of Youth internationally, this year's forum also pays particular attention to youth social and cultural activities as the mainstream of future challenges. That was one of the reasons behind establishing the forum as an initiative that would embrace these young female leaders, giving them insights, empowering them with all the training needed, and helping them to give their utmost on every road they are taking or will take later in life.” The forum is also the ideal platform to meet new ideas and embrace cultural gaps. “We exchange experiences and address women's challenges that have to do with leadership and decision-making processes, especially in the underdeveloped countries,” Al-Saeed added. Undoubtedly, information and technology, when intertwined with experience and knowledge, can have an impact on sustainable development, something at the heart of MARLOG 5, the Fifth International Maritime Transport and Logistics Conference that kicked off at the institution last month. The conference, one of the most important in the field of ports and harbours, is being held in cooperation with the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH), Valencia Port Foundation and Suez Canal Authority under the auspices of Nabil Al-Arabi, secretary-general of the Arab League, and Minister of Transport Saad Al-Geyoushy. It addresses important topics such as smart ports and their impact on the maritime economy, along with the transportation system and logistics industry under the sustainability of port green strategies, technology and the development of maritime engineering. Since 2016 is the Year of Youth, every seminar, forum and workshop at the conference has been designed to involve young people as much as possible, encouraging them to work to achieve the better country that we all wish to live in. The writer is a freelance journalist.
