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Stride For Stride Study Visits in Catalonia: Skills Intelligence Implementation

17/05/2023

Skills Intelligence Implementation

The Stride for Stride project aims to build the concept of Regional Skills Ecosystems, ensuring regions align their education and training provision with regional smart specialisation strategies (S3). Within the scope of the interregional learning that the project foresees, partners visited the Catalonia region from April 24-28 in order to learn about the implementation of skills anticipation strategies that focus on the adaptation of the VET curricula to the needs of local companies.

 

Discovering best practices in adapting programmes to the needs of local and regional stakeholders.

On April 24, partners were welcome to the Education Department in Barcelona by Oscar Oscar Palazón Ferre. Partners then visited the Zurich Insurance headquarter in Barcelona and enjoyed discussing with Cristina Gomis Rüth, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Zurich in Spain. They learnt about the challenges for the sector to find the right skilled workforce and how cooperation with the Department of Education led to a new VET programme for insurance administrative experts.

On the second day, partners joined a guided tour of the City of Justice and an information session about the adaptation of a VET programme on administration to provide learners with the skills and knowledge needed by the Justice administration. This programme has been a cooperation between the Education and the Justice Ministries. One testimony that was shared was from the Provençana VET school, where Isabel Jimenez, a second chance adult learner told her story on how she is now working in the Court itself in the administrative and Procedural professional body. The school provides the dual VET system in Law where students carry out internships under the programme ‘Administration Management: professional profile in the field of law.

VET schools and centres visits:

On April 25, partners visited Institute de la Mercè. The innovative VET school was introduced by Juan Francisco Cardona, professor of mechanical engineering. The partners visited two workshops in the institute, on automobile design and watchmaking.

On April 26, partners toured the Vilafranca VET school of Wine Tourim. They were welcomed by the Counselor for Education and International Relations. They learnt about the unique VET programme on wine tourism specialization and how it has been an initiative that responds to the needs of the local companies but that has also been supported by the local authorities.

On the same day, partners saw the Torres Winery , thanks to one of the students who is working in the Bodegas Torres. Partners noted how it is an impressive example of businesses adapting to climate change and sustainability and how the VET programme on Enology tourism can provide the sector with the skilled employees that they need to promote their business further.

The day ended with a lunch cooked by the Joan Ramon Benaprés VET School’s students followed by a visit to the school itself. The school is a good example of an education provider that is part of the local community as it has a shop, a bakery and even a restaurant that is regularly visited by locals.

Links to industry and ALE

On Thursday and Friday, Stride for Stride partners visited VET centres and agencies dealing with Industry 4.0, mechanical engineering -mechatronics and avionics.

DFactory is a hub that combines education providers and companies dealing with Industry 4.0 and Advanced Manufacturing and support companies to implement their digitalisation strategies. VET school Andreu Nin has an agreement to implement the programme IDIADA where students in the last cycle do the traineeship in the main automotive sector companies in the area. At the Illa de Banyols 4×5 School, partners learnt about aeronautics and the training of professionals who take care of our safety when we are flying.

It was a fruitful and comprehensive week devoted to learning, not only about skills intelligence implementation applied to different sectors and implying several stakeholders, but also to network and cooperate with regional organisations.

You can find the presentations shared in the project here: