The Asociación de Centros de Formación Profesional FPEmpresa took part in the 33rd EfVET Annual Conference held in Amersfoort, Netherlands, from October 23 to 26. Titled “Training Generation Z: New Horizons for VET”, the event aimed to discuss ways to prepare young people for the job market and the new skills needed for future professions. Javier Serrano, FPEmpresa’s regional coordinator for Andalusia, IES La Zafra school’s teachers and EfVET treasurer, has stated that “the event is an important meeting point to build new networks, learn about projects being developed in other countries, and introduce new dynamics to national VET.”

More than 320 experts, educators, and international VET professionals gathered to explore how the next generation of students can prepare for the future job market. Serrano highlighted “the potential new generations bring to innovation”. “As digital natives exposed to international culture, they become highly proficient with digital tools”, has added.

Leerhotel Het Klooster, a hotel school run by VET students, served as the venue where attendees could share their ideas, projects, and experiences.

EfVET’s Vision for VET

Joachim James Calleja, president of EfVET, has emphasized in his opening speech the three key pillars for the future of VET. First, he stressed “the importance of focusing programs on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and cybersecurity, as Generation Z understands that these skills will be crucial for their career development”. He also has highlighted “the entrepreneurial spirit of this generation, which aspires to create its own businesses, making it essential for VET to foster management and innovation skills”.

Finally, Calleja has addressed “the relevance of global competence, promoting international exchanges, language learning, and intercultural skills for a generation increasingly aware of globalization”.

Development of the EfVET Annual Conference

The Annual Conference tackled the challenges of future jobs, skills, and qualifications, providing attendees and the VET ecosystem with concrete tools to successfully adapt to new educational and training realities.

Internationalization in VET, focusing on building strong local business networks; well-being in VET, emphasizing diversity, inclusion, and student engagement; and gender equality guidance, addressing inclusion issues, were some of the workshops in which EfVET members participated during the event. Additionally, innovative educational methodologies such as virtual reality and mobile-based learning were explored, giving participants hands-on experience in the digitalization of Vocational Training.

Among the different sessions, Laureen Rwatirera, Vice President of Organizational Development at ASML; Nick Jordan, Head of Learning at Vestas; and Chiara Rondino, Head of the European Commission’s Education and Vocational Training Unit participated as speakers.

2024 General Assembly

Alongside the Annual Conference, EfVET members attended the 2024 General Assembly, where the Strategic Plan through 2026, the annual activity report, the annual work plan, and the 2025 economic plan were presented by Javier Serrano of FPEmpresa’s Board of Directors.

One of EfVET’s main goals is to strengthen its representation in Europe, opening the possibility of international collaboration. Finally, all shared documents were approved by an absolute majority, allowing the Executive Board to continue working to address current challenges.

The Asociación de Centros de Formación Profesional FPEmpresa has participated in the 9th Annual Seminar of the European Alliance for Apprenticeships (EAfA) and the European Training Foundation (ETF), in collaboration with the Albanian Ministry of Economy, Culture, and Innovation. The event took place on October 17-18 in Tirana, Albania, and was attended by FPEmpresa representative, Mª José Fernández, along with more than 80 participants to discuss the evaluation and training of apprentices. “These sessions have been essential for gathering representatives from the education and labor sectors, as well as addressing the new challenges and opportunities facing vocational training,” Fernández stated.

‘Apprentice Mentorship’ and ‘Adult Learning’ were the primary themes of the sessions. Policy updates, such as the participation of Olta Manjani, Albanian Minister of Economy, Culture, and Innovation, and examples of work-based learning in EAfA member countries offered a broad overview of current practices and challenges in these areas.

Among the interventions, Beatrice Biolcati from the European Commission welcomed Bosnia and Herzegovina and other new members to the EAfA. Additionally, thematic panels focused on the two main topics: the first covered mentoring modalities, tools, roles, and responsibilities of mentors, while the second addressed the potential of adult learning.

Different Spaces to Address Learning

As a new feature, this year’s seminar brought together diverse stakeholders, including government agencies, businesses, social agents, chambers of commerce, and educational institutions. All participants, from EAfA member and partner countries, had the opportunity to exchange ideas and best practices on vocational training and apprenticeships.

To incorporate different perspectives, the annual meeting included discussion panels with new and long-standing EAfA members. Fernández noted, “It’s interesting to receive the latest policy updates on apprenticeship training in other EU countries.” “Participants analyzed new teaching opportunities and shared opinions, allowing us to deepen and update our knowledge on these important topics for vocational training.”

Visits to Educational Centers in Tirana

Alongside the program presentations, the 9th Annual Seminar offered study visits to vocational training centers in Tirana, including the Economic Technical School of Tirana, the Gjergj Canco School, and the Hospitality and Tourism School of Tirana.

The visits to local technical schools provided firsthand insights into student practices, offering a closer look at Albania’s vocational training system.

Fernández noted the value of “gaining a close-up view of the work developed by schools, businesses, mentors, and students, as it allows for a greater understanding of their educational programs”.

The Association of Vocational Training Centres FPEmpresa has attended the final gala of the 12th edition of GIRA Jóvenes this Tuesday, 25th of June, held at the Coca-Cola offices in Madrid, in order to announce the winners of the rural and urban categories. This project, which aims to promote entrepreneurship and support youth employability, has counted for the second consecutive year with the participation of FPEmpresa and its 38 associated centres. In total, 764 young people from 31 Spanish localities have participated in the 2024 edition.

The ‘Beeda’ project of the EFA Fonteboa de Coristanco (A Coruña), in the rural category, and the ‘Proyecto Isla’ of the IES Escuela de Hostelería y Turismo de Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), in the urban category, have been chosen as winners of the award for transformative entrepreneurship projects in the 12th edition of GIRA Jóvenes. Both initiatives have stood out for their ability to respond to environmental and social challenges, and also for generating a positive impact on the environments and communities to which they belong. The winning teams were also awarded technological equipment that will help them to enrich their future careers.

The winning projects beat six other finalists in rural and urban areas, which were the following schools: IES Consuelo Aranda (Valencia), IES Alonso Quijano de Quintanar de la Orden (Toledo), IES Puente Ajuda (Badajoz), CPIFP San Blas (Teruel), Institut Pedralbes (Barcelona) and CPIFP Los Viveros (Seville).

Yolanda González, Deputy Director General of Vocational Training at the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, and Carmen Gómez-Acebo, Director of Sustainability at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Iberia, highlighted ‘the effort and dedication of all the participating teams’. ‘We are very proud to be able to contribute to your personal and professional development’, added Gómez-Acebo.

Winning projects

The project called ‘Beeda’ proposes a solution to guarantee pollination and, therefore, the biodiversity of our territory, ensuring the availability of sufficient pollinators both in the ecosystem and in the existing fruit and vegetable productions. To achieve this, it is proposed to connect beekeepers, farmers, society and technology in order to improve fruit and vegetable production, honey production and the social valuation of beekeeping as a means of conserving biodiversity.

For its part, the ‘Island Project’ aims to promote actions to reduce unwanted loneliness. To this end, they propose the creation of an association to implement a programme of leisure, culture and nature activities for socially vulnerable people in the town of Alcalá de Henares, serving as a model for many others. The programme includes indoor activities in a cultural centre of the city, sports activities in the facilities of a municipal centre and the organisation of cultural and natural routes to discover the heritage of the town.

On the other hand, the eight finalist teams, during the next few days, will have the opportunity to visit and get to know closely leading companies in sustainability, social impact and rural entrepreneurship such as Chep, Soulem or Mobu.

In addition, all the participating groups have received training in transversal competencies provided by the Fundación Universidad y Empresa, as well as a practical learning process led by Youth Business Spain and AlmaNatura for the development of their impact projects.

The Association of Vocational Training Centres FPEmpresa maintains its commitment to internationalisation. FPEmpresa has attended the first face-to-face meeting of the European project SiT – Sustainability in TCLF on 21-22th of February of 2024 at the premises of IHK Leipzig (Germany).

This initiative, coordinated by ITKAM – Italian Chamber of Commerce for Germany, is part of the Erasmus+ Innovation Alliance funding programme and will run until 31 January 2027. In addition, the SiT project involves 15 partners from 8 European Union (EU) countries: Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovakia.

One of its objectives is to promote innovation in education, training and the textile, clothing, leather and footwear sector. Therefore, the European project focuses on the potential of the green transition and the development of new training modules in educational institutions to address green skills gaps.

European companies in the textile sector require technical profiles with digital and green skills

In the first part of the meeting, the project participants presented their roles and the activities they carry out in each entity they represent. Afterwards, an analysis of the green skills required by companies in the textile, clothing, leather and footwear sector was carried out, together with a study of emerging professions with advanced knowledge in sustainability. In addition, ITKAM presented the administrative management of the SiT project and explained how the European partners should carry out the implementation of the project.

FPEmpresa explained its role in the European project. The Association will be in charge of Work Package 4, which involves the development of a MOOC focused on promoting the acquisition of various functional, transversal, digital and green competences. This MOOC aims to enhance the development of students and professionals in the textile sector. Furthermore, FPEmpresa has detailed the initial process that will be followed to implement the MOOC, as well as the informative aspects related to the training, such as the access process, duration and content, among others.

During the second part of the meeting, the other partners presented their contributions to the SiT project, while the Chamber of Commerce of Padua shared the dissemination and communication plan of the work. At the end of the session, several meetings have been scheduled to discuss the next activities of the project, in order to meet the implementation objectives of the European SiT project.

The Association of Vocational Training Centres FPEmpresa has attended on 30-31 of January in 2024 the first face-to-face meeting of the European project ENNEPlus – Enhancing VET National Networks Through Ecoinnovation at the All Digital office in Brussels (Belgium).

This project is the successor of the previous ENNEPlus project and will run from 2024 to 2026. The aim of ENNEPlus is to enhance the capacity of VET providers to contribute to transformative and sustainable change in their local communities through networking, capacity building and challenge-based activities in the field of eco-innovation.

The project meeting was led by Egina (International Academy of European Fellowships), the project coordinator in Italy, and was attended by the other European partners, including WKO Steiermark and FH Joanneum from Austria; EfVET and All Digital from Belgium; Sereco from Italy; Innogestiona from Spain; and Apemeta and Arts & Skills from Portugal.

Empowering European VET networks through Eco-innovation

During the first session, participants learned about the specific objectives of the project and the work plan that will be followed during the process. In addition, the main dates of meetings and work deadlines were established, and the Social Hackathon, which will take place in Umbria (Italy) from 4 to 7 July 2024, was presented.

Afterwards, FHJoanneum presented the studies of its educational institution, the projects in which it participates and the different learning scenarios. Innogestiona explained their environmental role and how they approach their management and community participation in the ENNEPlus project.

During the second session, Egina presented the administrative management of the ENNEPlus project and explained how partners should present their activities. Subsequently, FHJoanneum showed the steps of the excellence assurance plan and the next tasks related to it, while EfVET shared the dissemination and communication plan of the work.

To conclude the meeting, the partners participated in the last activity, divided by countries to discuss other possible actors that could join the local actions. They also shared their social networks and told the partners about the activities and projects carried out by each of the organisations.

The Association of Vocational Training Centres FPEmpresa has attended the meetings of the Executive Management of EfVET held on 18th and 19th of January at the Escola de Comércio de Lisboa (Portugal). FPEmpresa was represented by Carlos de Olagüe, EfVET coordinator for Spain and member coordinator for Madrid and International of the Association.

The day’s agenda included discussions on various topics such as: policy, conferences, financing, projects and teamworks. However, one of the most important topics on the agenda was the preparation of the next EfVET 2024 Conference, which will take place on 24-25th of October in Amersfoot, the Netherlands, as well as the presentation of several proposals on the theme of the EfVET 2025 Conference.

The EfVET team also carried out an evaluation of the EfVET 2023 Conference held in September 2023 in Rhodes, Greece. The Board members have highlighted those areas for improvement to be introduced in the next congresses and welcomed the activities that have been a success among the participants.

EfVET network increases with the addition of new members

During the meeting, the President of EfVET, James Calleja, welcomed the new representatives from Estonia and Norway, “highlighting the growth of the Organisation and the importance of having more perspectives that serve to enrich our reflections”, said the FPEmpresa Member Coordinator for Madrid and International.

After the EfVET members presented their work plan within the network, the Board of Directors established a new update of the EfVET Communication Plan, stressing the need to update the priority communication channels of each EfVET member.

To conclude the meeting, James Calleja has shared with the territorial coordinators the next dates and venue of the EfVET Board meetings, as well as the realization of different working groups to respond to their concerns regarding the next Conference.

“Once again, we thank our colleagues from Portugal for organising this event, which aims to promote Vocational Education and Training under European values. We continue to work for quality VET beyond our borders, and this is evidenced by activities of this nature”, concluded Carlos de Olagüe.

EFA La Malvesía (Valencia), a centre associated to the Association of Vocational Training Centres FPEmpresa, participates in the Circular Bricks project with the aim of contributing to the training and education of new generations about the circular bioeconomy. This project, co-financed by the European Commission through the Erasmus+ programme, will run until february of 2024 and involves the collaboration of VET centres and entities from Spain, Italy, Greece and Romania.

This initiative, led by the University of Rome Unitelma Sapienza, highlights the importance of education as a driver of change in the bioeconomy. “Through innovation and training in work and production processes, the bioeconomy can be consolidated as a key tool in the creation of new sustainable business models and in the fight against climate change”, has said Miguel Guasp, from the International Department of EFA La Malvesía.

To this aim, VET teachers in the agri-food sector will be trained through pedagogical materials. This will enable them to train students in the acquisition of green skills, essential for both current and future industries operating in the European circular bioeconomy.

A green and sustainable future

In december of 2023, EFA La Malvesía met in Italy with the rest of the team to present the results of the work generated by the students of the agri-food sector of the VET centres involved. These results have been very well received and valued by both the VET students and the technical committee of experts.

Moreover, during this meeting, the partners planned the final activities of the project and started the preparation of the final report to be presented at the Final Conference in Rome in february of 2024, marking the culmination of this European project.

“Our aim is to transform our students into real agents of change, and with this project we will achieve this. Without a doubt, this represents a new step forward in the internationalisation of the school and will contribute to improving the professional skills of both teachers and VET students at our school”, has concluded Miguel Guasp.

The Asociación de Centros de Formación Profesional FPEmpresa has held an online session to disseminate the results of the PRALINE project with its affiliated centers. Following the closing session in Rotterdam (Netherlands) in December 2023, FPEmpresa’s International Project Technician, Guillermo Gonzálbez, has led the meeting and has shared project materials with attendees on Tuesday, January 9, 2024. Gonzálbez has explained that “the Association is expanding more and more internationally. Proof of this is the projects and contacts being carried out in different countries, such as Thailand.”

Throughout the presentation, Elena Argudo, Project Director at FPEmpresa, has stated “the work of the European project strengthening transnational networks of Vocational Training through mutual learning, peer counseling, and capacity building”. This objective has been added to consolidating the EUproVET network, established in 2009, collaborating to support strategies that improve learning and education in participating countries.

Project Results

Over the 3-year course of PRALINE, various meetings were held to define 18 recommendations based on Good Practices, identified during Peer Learning Activities (PLA). The selected cities where results were collected include Valencia (Spain), Lisbon (Portugal), Dublin (Ireland), Tallinn (Estonia), La Rochelle (France), Helsinki (Finland), Zagreb (Croatia), and Rotterdam (Netherlands).

These recommendations, conveyed in FPEmpresa’s dissemination, aim to align with different national, regional, and institutional circumstances. Similarly, they promote continuous learning for all European citizens and contribute to building an inclusive society.

The presented results include:

Learning opportunities
  1. Ensure that all students, independent of socio-economic background, have access to quality education and training in order to provide them with the necessary skills, in particular those required by the digital and green transition. Less common approaches to reach out to the ‘hard to get’ target groups might be fruitful.
  2. There is a need to be more innovative in delivery models for adult education, creating flexible models for personalised learning paths including the recognition of prior learning and work experience. This should be reflected in a choice of access to learners – face-to-face, online or a mix of both.
  3. Ensure that salary goes on during study leave. This must be regulated through law with a requirement for employers to comply.
Labour market and other stakeholders
  1. Ensure a stronger link between educational institutions and the demands of the labour market in order to increase the responsiveness of education and training systems to meet the needs of learners and the rapid changes in the labour market and society as well as enable smooth transitions.
  2. Advocate and support flexible and adequate work-based learning opportunities for adults as an important step in occupational progression for every individual.
  3. Encourage and promote stronger cooperation in public-private partnerships to make lifelong learning a reality for every individual.The importance of these partnerships was again underlined during the Covid-19 pandemic, when work disappeared in certain sectors, but arose in others The crucial role of VET/adult education providers in supporting SMEs with business innovation, productivity, and product development deserves more recognition.
  4. Promote Vocational and Educational Training courses and other forms of lifelong learning as a means of integrating migrants and refugees in their host countries and leading them to the labour market.
  5. Facilitate strong sectoral dialogue (providers, authorities, social partners) and meaningful, sustainable cooperation in education and training by fostering peer learning among European, national, and regional/local partners in education and training.
Quality, VET providers and teachers
  1. Improve the quality of adult learning- and VET institutions to enhance good learning environments for students and supportive work environments for teachers, trainers, school leaders and other education personnel in relation to digital and green transition of VET institutions and in light of the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
  2. Adult education programs that support wellbeing, mental health and integration of mentally or physically challenged people should be a shared responsibility of providers and stakeholder services.
  3. Increase attractiveness of the profession of adult learning educators, VET trainers and other education personnel by improving recruitment processes and ensuring their retention, decent and challenging working conditions and stable employment.
  4. Ensure that adult educators receive training on adult education that includes topics such as: principles of adult education (andragogy), adults’ motivational orientations, adults’ reasons to withdraw from training/education, use of materials in adult education, psychological counselling and guidance applications in Adult Education. Ensure also that the training will be systematically repeated.
  5. Encourage and support the continuous professional development of teachers, trainers, school leaders, supported by necessary reforms in consultation with social partners, governments and other relevant stakeholders, in order to provide skills that co-align with the needs of the labour market and are accessible to all.
Status
  1. The profile of VET/adult education needs raising at government level. Too many people are taking a path through to university and then end up coming back to the VET system to retrain. This is an unwise use of public funds. The Covid pandemic and global conflict has shown that the VET/adult education sector is extremely resilient. Governments should build on this and support growth.
  2. There is a need to consider both the social value as well as the economic value of adult education. Governments should consider the importance of both. Leisure or social adult programmes can be a first stepping stone back into education and training for hard-to-reach adults.
Finances
  1. If a variety of learning access is offered, i.e., hybrid learning, to increase adult participation, then infrastructure and technology needs to be in place and the funding to cover this. Ensure also that the funding system encourages more effectiveness and transparency of learning rights and opportunities.
  2. Invest in supportive learning cultures for lifelong learning, in schools and companies. Combining younger and older learners contributes to a supportive learning culture and makes provision financially viable.
  3. Covid has resulted in better sharing of resources and learning materials. A move towards collaborative working between providers and teachers should be positively encouraged.

Finally, the Association has shared the PRALINE website and FPEmpresa’s website on the project, as well as resources developed during the initiative such as the study on “Adult Learning in Europe” or the informational brochure on PRALINE.

Promoting Adult Learning in Networks (PRALINE)

After being introduced in February 2020, the Promoting Adult Learning in Networks (PRALINE) project was approved in 2021, specifically under Key Action 3: Support for policy reform, and within this, in the sub-action ‘social inclusion and common values: contribution in the field of education and training.’ A project that has involved the participation of 11 partner organizations from 10 different countries and has been coordinated by the Dutch association MBO Raad.

Access the recorded session at this link.

The Association of Vocational Training Centres FPEmpresa has participated in the last PLA (Peer Learning Activity) of the European project PRALINE (Promoting Adult Learning in Networks), held on 30th of november and 1st of december in Rotterdam (The Netherlands). An end of project organised by MBO Raad, the coordinating institution, which has collected all the previous work to present the results to the participants.

Three years after its inception, the Erasmus+ Key Action 3 in which FPEmpresa has participated has completed the face-to-face working sessions with the importance of digitisation and initiatives that pursue the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), among other topics.

During the sessions, the different speakers have presented solutions and good practices in Dutch VET, such as the improvement or retraining of workers’ skills. Likewise, Andesh Harnam, director of the Zadkine Logistics College, has explained the need to incorporate new technological trends in the development of professional skills, especially in Transport and Logistics training.

Other activities and farewell to the project

This last meeting has presented the different points of view of the participating organisations on the topics discussed during the previous sessions: establishing integration and learning strategies for immigrant students, promoting learning in the workplace and the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence and Automation in the digital skills of future professionals, among others. In this way, they have managed to establish some aspects to work on in each country, with the aim of transferring the policies to the EUproVET network.

At the end of the conference, the European partners have analysed the results and recommendations of the project through the ‘PRALINE Survey Report’ and have made a final evaluation of the last meeting as a conclusion of the European programme.

PRALINE has been presented as a project with the aim of strengthening and boosting European networks. By learning about good practices in Vocational education and training, FPEmpresa continues its work with the internationalisation of the Association and its associated centres.

The Association of Vocational Training Centres FPEmpresa and FENIE had organised this Tuesday, 7 November, together with CaixaBank Dualiza, the conference “Present and future of Vocational Training in the installations sector” held at the headquarters of ASPRINELPA, the provincial association of employers of electrical and telecommunications installations in Palencia. This meeting, which stems from the collaboration agreement between FPEmpresa and FENIE signed in July 2023, is the first pilot test in Palencia and will later continue to expand the project throughout the rest of Spain.

Representing FPEmpresa was María Ángeles Bernal, the Association’s coordinating member in Castilla y León.

The aim of this meeting was to promote collaboration between vocational training centres and companies in the facilities sector in order to develop synergies between the business and training worlds.

Thus, the participants in the event included companies such as Electricidad Fergal SL, Electricidad Vicente SL and Elgosa Instalaciones y Montajes SL, among others, as well as the professional families of Electricity and Electronics of the Castile and Leon educational centres Centro Don Bosco, IES Santa María La Real and IES Trinidad Arroyo, a partner centre of FPEmpresa.

Programme

The event, inaugurated by Miguel Ángel Gómez, president of FENIE and ASPRINELPA, included various working groups where the participants, both representatives of installation companies and the education sector, raised different questions about the current context of student training and their employability in the sector.

After the networking session, activities were carried out with the aim of creating actions to improve the employability of young people in the installation sector. To this end, the advantages that VET can offer in installation companies were presented, as well as the opportunities that can be generated by educational centres to offer VET talent and boost the workforce in the installation sector.

To conclude the programme, those involved in the conference explained the opportunities that can be experienced if projects are carried out jointly, as well as the specific needs that companies of different sizes (between large and small companies) can demand. For this reason, visits by the entities to VET centres will be promoted so that students can get to know first-hand the job opportunities available to them once they have finished their studies, among other initiatives.

“We want to continue to develop activities of this kind together with FENIE, as they are key to continuing to focus on vocational training. It is important to keep up to date in all productive sectors, but especially in those that are constantly changing, such as the installation sector”, concluded María Ángeles Bernal.