FPEmpresa attended a meeting with the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) at the Embassy of Canada in Spain. The event, held on thursday 21th of september, consisted of creating a networking space dedicated to international collaboration with Canada. The event was attended by secondary schools and vocational training centres as well as public and private universities, both spanish and canadian. Among the attendees were the associated centres IES Clara del Rey, IES La Arboleda, IES Isaac Peral, CIFP José Luis Garci and IES Antonio Machado.

In addition, this is the second meeting this year between FPEmpresa and Canadian associations to promote partnerships in relation to international mobility. Carlos de Olagüe Smithson, International and Madrid coordinator of the Association, was in charge of presenting FPEmpresa to the representatives of the Canadian and Spanish educational centres.

International alliances

The international representative of FPEmpresa was the second to speak, explaining the function of the spanish education system; the different training options available to students; and how vocational training works in Spain. Finally, Olagüe explained the structure and projects of the Association.

“This meeting allows us to deepen and improve relations with vocational training institutes in Spain. It is a great opportunity for the schools in Barcelona, which were there at the beginning of the week, and the schools in Madrid to make contact with schools in Canada. In this way, links can be established on student and teacher mobility, scientific collaboration and skills development,” said Carlos de Olagüe.

The event was held with the support of FPEmpresa, the Spanish Service for the Internationalisation of Education (SEPIE) and the Canadian Commercial Delegates Service in Spain. Likewise, here the Association has been able to generate this meeting together with CBIE in order to open the borders between both countries and generate new experiences for higher education students.

The last Tuesday, 28th of March, FPEmpresa VET Schools Association gathered in Madrid with a Brazilian VET Schools delegation formed by Instituto Federal de Alagoas (IFAL) and Instituto Federal de Pernambuco (IFPE) belonging to Conselho Nacional das Instituições da Rede Federal de Educação Profissional, Científica e Tecnológica (Conif) to explain the function of the Association. This meeting is the first real mobility since FPEmpresa and Embajada de España en Brasil encourage the international cooperation between centers. What’s more is delimit on the aim of the Association for internationalize the VET. In this way, the Brazilian centers have visited the high schools IES Capacitación Agraria and IES Hotel Escuela, two VET centers associates to FPEmpresa.

The encounter, that has initiated in the center IES Capacitación Agraria, has allowed to the Brazilian delegation presents itself and publish the reality over how is organized the VET in Brazil. Also, the meeting has permitted to the visitors get close to the professional agrarian and environment families. Furthermore, they have known the most innovative projects that has the center as the vertical garden and the compost system. Finally, the session has concluded with a guided tour of the facilities of IES Hotel Escuela, where it has the hotel, the restaurant, the kitchen, and the travel agency.

Carol Bello, responsible of the international relations of IFPE, has rated as “very pleasant” the experience to know the function of the Vocational Education and Training in Spain. “After the visit, we have some ideas about new collaborations in the future. In addition, the way of work in the centers is impressive and we have found models that could be applied in Brazil”, add.

On the other hand, the visits, that has taken place in Madrid, open a new way to FPEmpresa and Conif. Both organizations want to boost this type of encounters that provide a knowledge’s exchange between the VET of different countries. In this way, they have involved to leverage the virtual tools that save the distance.

The actual meeting has taken place after the virtual reunion of the last 17th of March, where FPEmpresa was presented virtually to the centers that form Conif. Apart, FPEmpresa explained in detail how works the VET in Spain. Additionally, all the actions answer to the objective of the Association of helping to the associated centers in its internationalization. FPEmpresa facilitates that the members approach to the VET of those countries that are beyond the European Union as Brazil, too.

Since 2021, the Association and the Embassy of Spain in Brazil intervene in different activities to give the opportunity of cooperating between Spanish and Brazilian centers in different educative projects. Among them are the eTwinning projects that connect the centers of both countries in a virtual way.